.The 16th is a significant date.......16th May, Dads birthday, 16th August, Julia's birthday and 16th December, Lily's Birthday........and I have just remembered, 16th February, my birthday.
We left to cross the Atlantic on the 16 th December, 2013, relaunched after the hurricane season on the 16th December 2014. Tristan won second place in the single handed race in Antiqua Classics on the 16 th March, 2015, and we left St Martin to cross back to the Azores on the 16th May, 2015.
We set sail south again on the 16 th August, 2015, Julia's 30 th Birthday. Although we have seen all our family and some some friends, I felt heavy hearted. I really missed my kids and grandkids and want to share the beauty in the world with them.
It's hard to achieve and I hope they find their own beauty. I don't think by any stretch of the imagination I've raised sailors.
Biscay held fear for me, having been caught in a gale the last time we crossed in August 2012. Looking at grib files, light winds held some attraction. I would sooner motor than spend more nights with boats rafted against us whilst haemorrhaging Marina fees in Falmouth.
The warmth of the setting sun and darkness heralded my retreat to my bunk. The port side bank with it's lee cloth, narrow seat and sleeping bags cocooned me for four hours. Where does time go...you just fall asleep when it's watch change. This time apart from the cold, I was happy to be outside.
Oily seas, ribbons of turquoise phosphorescence and reflections, a complete surreal experience, uncapturable by a photograph. The bow wave created a glowing ribbon which occasionally had squid dancing through it. It's times like this I really wish I could paint.
So I sat in the cockpit and slapped the water with a knotted rope. Kept me amused for hours in between chart fixes, AIS spotting and good old DeLorme InReach text messaging. Sad to part with tradition, but a fun sign of the times where media reaches the people we love and care about.
As the lights of Cornwall faded into the distance, we went on into to black night. Sky and sea were indistinguishable apart from the green ribbons off our bow wave.
I never though the words would utter from my lips, but I really enjoyed the Biscay crossing! My daughter, Lucy and our friend Linda, texted us weather updates. There was a gale brewing in the Atlantic.......fortunately we were closing the Spanish coast. We decided to pay off and make the coast as soon as possible. So we steered away from A Coruña to hide up a Ria off Ceideria.
The harbour was full of fishing boats, no diesel or water for yachties but plenty of space to drop the hook. Setting the anchor was different....we drifted with the tide while Tristan took the angle grinder to the shackle. We dropped a danforth instead of the cqr as the holding was soft, then slept, and slept. It's a special sleep when you arrive somewhere, safely tucked in harbour. Stress flows away with the tide.
We had only spent four days at sea so water was no problem. Food stores were left over from an overstocked Atlantic crossing and would see us through weeks at anchor. We could stop, enjoy the sunshine and inhale the ecucalyptus trees wafting on the shoreline.
This storm seemed miles away....the weather was still, sunny, warm but we knew the air had been sucked into something big. The calm before the storm, beautiful to be in but scary when you are a sailor.
Then it hit.....for three days we waved to a French sailor on a catamaran as we popped our head out occasionally to empty the pots collecting water....inside the boat eating our way through overstocked supplies. We had spent three years in the tropics and heavy rain seeped in the dried seams. It's a wooden boat she will always leak, somewhere! At least Tristan had successfully solved the leaking hull and top sides, our leaks were paltry compared to previous......a mere gentle incontinence of the cabin top.
As soon as the weather calmed down we headed for Sada to water and fuel up.
Sada has a beautiful old tram station cafe which is now a bar covered in kiwi fruits.
The marina was close to a supermarket so we stocked up on essentials but not sardines. I wonder how long our surplus supplies will last for?
It was the first time for four years we had been able to buy MARINEROS biscuits......long lasting ships biscuits that never go soggy!
We left Sada to anchor opposite A Coruña for an early start, but Meriva had other ideas. Unfortunately for Tristan he had a cool dip at low water to unhook the anchor which had got stuck on an old mooring chain. Eventually we headed off to Caraminas and anchored off. Again we were boat bound for a couple of days until the wind and waves died down, then braved it ashore.......determined to change our dingy at the first opportunity. Getting wet in the Caribbean is fine but not in these northern climates! The walk around the headland was beautiful, reminded me of Cornwall.
The next stop was Muros and seeing as though we're were into the swing of anchoring we continued.....big mistake. The holding was poor and we spent four hours on fours hours off and several attempts to reset the anchor in 25 knots of wind, not a lot but we constantly dragged. The next day was beautifully calm but the peace was shattered by artillery fire.....that woke us up. It sounded like we were in the middle of a war zone.
We left not sure whether to hop around the corner but being indecisive we carried on and anchored off Corrubedo. We awoke to fishing boats hauling nets around us and fog. We decided to leave the anchorage and head for Bayona. Although we didn't go into all the Spanish rias it does mean next time we can go somewhere new. We met up with our friends Ralph and Henrika on Dolphin in Bayona.
After a few walks and pot luck meals together, we set sail in convoy down the Spanish and Portugese coast.
It was fun sailing with friends and I'm sure neither captains had a competive sail! I seem to remember a long discussion of hull speed, closeness to the wind and tacks over a few drinks later.
Porto was a place we missed last time we sailed this coast so we went into the marina at Lexious and bused into the city. The city is full of character and the port warehouses add a bonus.
This year we had calm seas but too much sea fog which made sailing a different challenge.
We couldn't sail the Portugese coast without stopping at Peniche, one of our favourites. This time we made time to walk all around the peninsula with its fortresses and stunning geology.
From Peniche we picked the weather, did an overnighter and headed around cape St Vincent to anchor off Sagres in beautiful conditions while Tristan gave up cigars (again).
Still no fish........but a kind cruiser passed a spare tuna like a rugby ball on board!
We decided to avoid Lagos but fuelled up and headed for Ferragudo, opposite Portimao. We anchored for a few days then decided to sail to Isle Culatra. For the first time in a couple of years, we had excellent conditions, eventually got the spinnaker to set and had a brilliant sail, Tristan landed a tuna and life was good.
Too good to stop, so we kept going through the night until we reached Rota, near Cadiz. We stopped here for a couple of months while I flew back to the UK.
It was easy to get to Cadiz from Rota as the ferry port is at the head of the marina.
A new museum in the walls has opened ....bit creepy with horrendous collection of ships medical toolsand a plankton display.
We also did a bit of Christmas shopping.......
We were quite happy in Rota and would have stayed longer but we were 'visited' by officials who reminded us that we couldn't live aboard our boat for more than six months in eighteen or we would have to pay matriculation tax, 20% the value of the boat! We left a few days later and sailed to Portugal.
We were not adapted to this cooler climate having been in the tropics, so spent most of the winter cuddling hot water bottles and using every duvet and sleeping bag on board to keep walm.
It was however an incentive to connect the diesel heater which had been in situ since 2012. Temperatures still haven't risen above 18 degrees on the coast and much cooler at night. We use to get cold going into Simply supermarket in St. Martin and that was 25 degrees. Still it is warmer and drier than the UK, so I will stop!
Being on the Guardiana river which divides Spain from Portugal, you have the option of visiting both countries. Being an hours difference between the two, it made for an interesting New Year......which ever year it is.
There is a fantastic salt marsh and woodland in Villa Real backing the beach and although not a huge diversity of Spring flowers , it's beautiful to walk through and inhale the fragrance of broom and pine.
And now we have the beautiful heady fragrance of orange blossom and mimosa. When the winds in a northerly direction, you also smell eucalyptus tree. Intoxicating, unless you suffer from hay fever.
