Crossing Biscay

Witch’s log, 9th to 13th of June, 2018

You know you must have a loose screw when you decide to cross Biscay, one of the most feared and weather adverse passages in the world, in what is now an old, small, fragile and half wood sailing boat with only a tiller to steer. More so when the engine is knackered and sailing across rather than motoring is the only real option.

We did it though. Having looked at the weather forecast for the next 3 days (which in the end turned out to be partially wrong but hey, no model is perfect) we saw a weather window for reasonably making 300 nautical miles in roughly 3 days and so we took it.

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Saturday the 9th

Having stocked up in the town market earlier, Norbert, David and I left Audierne at 14:30. Norbert took the helm and motored us out the narrow channel until we reached sea where we hoisted sails and set a course of 210 degrees towards La Coruña in Spain. Well, almost, a still prevailing South Westerly wind forced us to steer a bit North West at first only to tack later to as close to 210 as possible.

The first few hours were pleasant and sunny, riding the waves smoothly, eating the delicious Bretagne Sausages and the Palmiers we had bought earlier. I can now say for certain that the French know how to eat and their food and cheeses are simply to die for.

As the day progressed towards its end the swell started to increase making the journey unpleasant and slow. Our forecast had told us we’d have an 6-8 second wave period but we were seeing something like 3-4 seconds which not only made it horribly bumpy but also limited our speed to 3-4 knots. I was reminded of what I’d forgotten, that I get terribly sea sick 🤢 when below deck and that I was only made for sunshine smooth sailing. Luckily it calmed down later and the wind was a constant SW3 – W3 which was ideal.

David, being the one that never gets sea sick, cooked chicken which we had for dinner. As the night came we started our first night of watches, having decided for 2-2-2 meaning 2 hours sleeping followed by 2 hours keeping company to the helmsman plus two hours steering. Was this hard? Oh yes it was. We were already tired from the night out the day before and sleeping only for 2 hours and experiencing freezing cold weather all night was not fun!

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Sunday the 10th

The promised calm / no wind weather turned out to be constant W3-4 with swell at times. We couldn’t complain as it allowed us to make good progress even if a bit unpleasant at first due to the swell. We sailed all day on a beat and into the unknown in the company of a considerably large family of dolphins which insisted on swimming along and surfacing as near as 1 metre next to us pretty much all day long.

The end of the day turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with high clouds. We then had over 4000 metres below keel, the deepest we’d ever had, observing occasional reports of 2-3 metres on the depth sensor; our dolphin friends no doubt.

Dinner came and then again the dreadful watches; the previous night had been too harsh so we decided to try something else; only one person on watch / helming for 2 hours, properly protected with life jacket, sailing gear, tethered with a life line and with a portable MOB AIS and blankets, whilst the other two slept, followed by 4 hours of sleep and then start again. This turned out to be a much better system for us 3 and allowed us to at least rest a bit.

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Monday the 11th

Another day sailing … all going well, only that the wind had dropped and became what we’d expected the previous day, dead calm, and we had to motor for 2 hours. It later picked up and allowed us to continue sailing now on a more comfortable reach, allowing me to write the first part of this blog post despite not having Internet connectivity to publish it yet. 100 nautical miles to go at 17:00 and time for some warmed up potatoes and salad to comfort our stomachs.

And then it happened … 40NM north of the Spanish coast, I came outside and saw what I had only seen in books depicting bad weather; huge NW waves with white breaking lines, an increase in speed up to 25 knots which felt more like 30-35. We knew then we were in trouble; we had to sail SW to Cabo Ortegal but in doing so we’d have waves from the side; sailing downwind would have been feasible but would have meant later crashing into rocks in an area with no shelter; we tried beating 45 degrees into the waves which was harsh but fine for as long as we could see them… but as it got darker and darker into a new moon astronomical date the prospect of sailing diagonally to something you can’t see seemed less and less desirable. Following our course would mean having waves from the side threatening to capsize us or causing heavy damage. We were definitely in trouble and the 2/4 watches were long gone, we knew we’d all have to be alert all night.

We tried sailing west as much as we could while in daylight, riding the waves on a strong beat. The Witch performed beautifully and it felt like she was dancing and enjoying it, with smooth movements despite the harsh conditions that were upon us. Unlike her we were scared, really scared! And I guess I now know why Biscay is feared for its unpredictability.

Fortunately Norbert had some experience and suggested sailing downwind with only a little jib and no main, trying to be as slow as possible so that we wouldn’t reach land before daylight at a time when we could see what lay ahead of us again. And so we did, all night, slowly and tired, in freezing cold, but safely and at times on a desired SW broad reach. David did most of the helming and kept a steady course at all times. Kudos!

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Tuesday the 12th

Morning came and everything became visible again; things had calmed down a bit. We were NW of Cabo Ortegal and saw land for the first time in 3 days! The feeling, which I expect has been experienced by thousands of sailors for centuries, is indescribably of joy and safety. We started to smile again 😊

The next 8 hours or so were spent on a downwind course to A Coruña, arriving at 16:44 having logged 359 nautical miles and 74 continuous hours at sea. We’d done it!

When you’ve been sailing this long you tend to forget changing clothes (or I did), shaving and other similar chores. Funnily you also lose the sense of smell and it really doesn’t matter that you haven’t washed for days. It was now however time for a well deserved shower and with the feeling of freshness and rebirth we later headed downtown for a delicious sea food treat.

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Wednesday the 13th

Norbert had to go back due to work so we had to say goodbye this morning as he took a flight back to Düsseldorf. Thank you so much Norbert for helping us cross Biscay! Today was also the time to do some laundry and just relax and do nothing all day, which we did, or didn’t, depending on which way you look at it. It’s sunny and warm and sailing south is starting to pay off 😎

And with these words we conclude the Biscay chapter of our little adventure. The next one: Spanish Rias. Until then! Witch out!