Bay Of Biscay

Whales and Dolphins

Me and new crew member Malcolm Skalin sailed out of Holland on the 1st of August and headed for Dover in England. Before we left I had to take bath and remove rests of the rope that had stuck into the propeller during the stormy night, when that was all done we left the port. We had a quite calm passage through the English Channel, but the traffic was crazy and for Malcolm sailing for the first time in his life by night it was a real challange. Though we had to watch out for the large ships we had a good trip to Dover except that we entered the wrong hole into the harbour and had to be guided to not crash into the ferries. It had been an advantage to have the VHF-channel to the port but unfortunately had not. We arrived in the pitch black night and couldn't see too much as we came closer to the harbour entrance we were met by a huge ferry. They shone on us with the searchlights and we backed off. Then three more ferries came in and out but after a while a boat came out to us and guided us in to the marina. 

After a couple of days in Dover we left, heading for Plymoth. Though when we had sailed for a while we decided that we didn't need to go that far westward before going south to Spain so we stayed a night in Portsmouth. Next day we sailed out and headed for Coruna, but when we had been sailing for about a day we found out that the propane for the stove had ran out so we went in to Dartmouth. Though when we reached the port we discoverd that it was still gas left in the tube (the pipe must have been clamed or something). The stop was not in vain though since Dartmouth was a really picturesque little town. Anyway now it was finally time for the fearful Bay of Biscay. 

When you have crossed the bay of Biscay you are well worthy a glass of Champange! We have now reached Coruna in nothern Spain and the trip went really well. For more than a day we had company of dolphins, who checked the boat out. One day we were sitting inside watching a movie (we hadn't seen a ship for 24 hours and the wind vane rudder did an excellent job) when Malcolm went out to take a leak. Suddenly he cried out "It's a whale". I was rushing out and thought to myself, did I really fall to that lousy trick. But never the less there was the massive animal not far from our boat. Crazy feeling I have to tell you. 

Tomorrow we will continue the journey down along the Spanish and Portugal coast.

So if you are looking for an adventure you know who to call!