Nick W.

We waited a night anchored off Sagres for the wind to calm down which is did around 5 am CET. We slept in a bit and left at 8 am. We had NW 10 kits and calm seas initially with the wind strengthening to 14 kits by noon. However the wind then dropped to <5 kits until 1600 when we had W 13 kts and we set the spinnaker. A large group of dolphins came to play in our bow wave. By 1800 the wind was 20 kts and we were running with main and jib with 2 reefs. Wind peaked at NW 25 kts around 2000 and we put another reef in the main before sunset. That was the signal for the wind to start to fade! By 0150 we were motoring with the main out, but stowed it later because it was slamming in the swell. We just motored the last 10 hours. Off Cape Trafalgar the tide was against us so we followed Reefs’ advice and followed the coast around the cape 100 m from the shore. No swell so no issue with breakers.

We had planned to sail directly to Barbate but decided to break and seek shelter off Sagres from an unpredicted 23 kt NW wind and choppy seas about 4 nmi E of C St Vincent. We left the anchorage just by the Sines fishing port at noon and set the spinnaker in NW 8 kts outside the main breakwater. The sea had only a slight swell and sky was clear. We had a nice downwind sail until the wind dropped around 1900 CET and we motored for 4 hours until it picked up again NNW 13. By 0040 we had rounded Cape St Vincent in some seas and had put a precautionary 3 reefs in the main in NNW 20 kts and rising. By 0130 the seas were quite confused and short and we had 23 kts and rising so decided to take down sail and return to Sagres to sit out the wind. We anchored in 7 m off Sagres beach in relative tranquility!

Set off in NNW 12 kts but wind dropped to 6 kts and we dropped sails 2 hrs in. It was misty along the coast around Nazaré but cleared as we approached Peniche and the wind picked up to NNE 18 kts. We were running with 2 reefs in main and jib. By Cabo Raso we had 26 kts and 3 m seas and had to go to 3 reefs which was tough given the conditions. We need to look into single-line reef at least for reef 3 to make it easier and safer. About an hour later the wind had died down to 10 kts and we shook out the reefs and continued with full sail until we reached Sines. We motor sailed for a couple of hours before the wind picked up to 14 kts. Again a pod of dolphins came and played in our bow wave when we had 18 kts and were doing 6-7 kts.

We started out with little wind at 16:25 and motored for 2 hours roughly SW to catch some wind. At 18:45 we had NNE 10 kts and set the spinnaker. The wind was variable thereafter with us changing every few hours few hours between sailing (mostly with spinnaker), motor-sailing, and motoring. The seas were calm to moderate and we had some clear sky most of the time. The first night was spectacularly clear and for the first time I saw Uranus, easy to find with binoculars and just visible with the naked eye. There were plenty of meteors and satellites too. A large pod of dolphins came and played for a while on the first day and we had frequent revisits by smaller groups all through the voyage except when we were off the continental shelf. Off Viana we responded to a call from John on Alenbar (?) as they were receiving unwanted attention from a group of orcas. Alenbar lay silent in the water and after a while the orcas left with the boat unharmed. We arrived off Figueira da Foz before dawn so killed a couple of hours sailing out and back arriving at the marina at 9:55 local time.

We cast off at 1215 and motored out NW to catch the wind setting sail at 1300 in ENE 8 kts. At 1445 10 nmi NW of Avilés we turned W heading for C Bares. The weather was clear with slight seas and NE 7 kts. At 1600 we had ENE 13 kts and set the spinnaker. The wind strengthened and at 1820 we switched to main and jib with 1 reef in 18 kts. The wind continued to strengthen and by 2020 we had NE 24 kts so went to 2nd reef. The wind eased a bit to 19 kts at midnight but the sea was rough. We passed out of the Bay of Biscay rounding C Ortegal at 0330. We entered Ria Coruña at 0730 but then decided to make use of the favourable wind and continue to Camariñas. At 1130 we had ENE 12 kts and ran with the spinnaker until entering Ria Camariñas. We anchored off Praia Lingunde at 2010 in 5 m at 2 m tide in the company of 4 other yachts. Another joined us an hour later.

Having rested 24 hours from the beating we took the previous night, we weighed anchor at 1105 and set sail with 1 reef in a pleasant NNE 14 knot wind. The sky was clear and sea calm within Baie Bourgneuf. Outside the bay heading south between the wind farm and Île de Noirmoutier toward Pont d’Yeu SCM the wind freshened to 18 knots. We had one 10 minute gust of 24 knots in the late afternoon and went to 2nd reef. During the night the wind weakened and we gradually shook out the reefs until by 4 am we started motoring. After tracking down the coast until 0720 24/9 off the entrance to Bordeaux by which point the wind had eased to NNW 8 kts we heading out SW to chase the wind. Further offshore the wind was NNW 20 kts around noon but then weakened until by midnight we had to start motoring in 5 - 10 kts. We motored the rest of the way helping with sail as the conditions allowed. During the first night we passed many relatively small fishing boats fishing individually. On the second night we passed through groups of larger vessels which appeared to be trawling together. We encountered several sail boats when crossing Biscay to Santurtzi mostly sailing in the same general direction. Unlike the earlier passages around the coast of Bretegne, we did not see any dolphins.

We intended to leave Le Palais as soon as the wind turned from S to NE which was forecast to occur around midnight. However, it had already turned and strengthen to NE 17 kts by 23:10 when we slipped lines from the mooring buoy. We set sail with 3 reefs in anticipation of the predicted strengthening and by 0144 we had NE 25 kts. We struggled on in poor conditions with a choppy sea, rain squalls and occasional lightning flashes. By 0535 the wind had veered to ENE 22 kts and we were not able to make 128 T which we needed to clear the wind farm so we decided to abort and seek shelter in Bay Bourgneuf. We tried to anchor off Prefailles but the bottom was rock so we move further SE and found sand in end of the bay before Pornic.

West 16 knots for first 6 hours and moderated to 13 knots towards the end. The sea was choppy 0.5 - 1 m initially but became more regular after we passed Basse Jaune. Swell predominantly from west. Sky cleared in the evening and we had a starlit night passage. We motored out from the estuary and set sail with one reef in La Forêt Bay. We kept one reef in the main the whole way but during periods when the wind moderated we let out the jib and taking in a reef again when the wind picked up. We kept the boat speed above 5 knots for most of the way sailing. Diah was visited during her watch by a pod of dolphins. We arrived off Le Palais at 0600 and picked up mooring buoy #32 in the dark without problems as we could pick out the mooring buoys in the glow from the town.

We had light to very light winds, initially from the north and ending SW. Because of the light winds we did very little sailing. We had 2 m swell on the north Brittany coast but it died away until by Friday afternoon it was almost calm. During one of my night watches a pod of dolphins came and chased the boat for about an hour before disappearing. We planned to stop in the Rade de Brest area on Friday to shelter from strong S to W winds on Saturday but decided to squeeze through Raz de Sein before the N-going stream really started and make for Port la Forêt which we did before sunset. Looking forward to some more amenable winds in the coming few days.

Low wind at the anchorage but about 8 kt from W after we left an islets. Sea was calm with slight swell from East. It started cloudy but cleared up by 11:00. Due to the headwind we motored all the way to Morlaix bay.