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Hugh, Anne and Hector's Sailing Adventures
Hi Folks
We did indeed get an easy crossing with light northeasterly winds and a fairly gentle sea. It was still a bit rock and roll in places and Hector has developed a very funny wide legged stance when he comes up on deck, but it was much more bearable than the earlier seas we've had.
Cooking (and eating) on the go is a bit of a challenge - mostly you need three hands to do anything and a few cups of tea have gone straight to the floor. Its also a bit disconcerting when pans of boiling water or hot sauces start leaping around on the hob, but it does make you super alert.
We took three days and two nights to cross Biscay. We had to motor for about 30 hours, but the rest of the time was running under sail; sometimes goose-winged (the foresail and the main sail on opposite sides) which I hate for the rolling motion it gives the boat. The night sailing was wonderful as we had clear skies and when the moon set, the stars were fantastically clear. The boys saw a few meteor showers and we saw several polar orbiting satellites.
The bioluminescence was also amazing. The effect is like millions of tiny fairy lights in the water that light up when you disturb them, so we had bright trails of light from our quarter wave and wake - it was quite magical.
In the early morning and early evenings, we were visited by several pods of dolphins - in groups of 15 to 20 at a time. They would come really close to the boat and would swim alongside us for around an hour at a time. They seem to like racing the boat and would come at us at speed, then dive under the bow and circle round to do it again. They were wonderful and immediately wakened you up.
We are now stuck in La Coruña as the winds have gone back to the south and are once again fairly strong (force 6 or 7 in the open). However, La Coruña is a lovely place to be stuck, and we are enjoying the rest along with some lovely Spanish food.
We still hope to get Tim to Lisbon in time for his flight home!
Anne
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