Bay of Biscay, 209NM S of St. Helen's Pool
In the evening we were hit by one squall gusting 30kt, though only for some seconds. When the next one was approaching, we prepared by reefing. This time it was a dud, but we still sailed into the darkening night with a reefed main and the staysail.
With it being new moon, the night was really dark, with stars mostly obscured by the humid air. Overnight the wind became lighter, and we could again carry full sail.
Morning brightened with a very nice setting: the sea was quite calm and there were only some puffy clouds between us and the sun. Warm and light conditions continued throughout the day.
At the edge of the continental shelf we had to do some manouvers to avoid the big fishing fleet, but otherwise the day has been uneventful, allowing the on-watch to catch up with some reading and crafts projects. Now we’re in proper ocean conditions, with some 4000m of water below the keel. Accordingly, the sea state has become even mellower, with only the long mild 2-3m Atlantic swell keeping us company. Boat goes up the hill, boat goes down the hill…
We’re now around the halfway mark for this passage. Forecast has us reaching the persistent high pressure ridge sitting north of the Spanish coast sometime overnight. That will likely require some motoring to punch through, as there will be absolutely no wind for weeks in that area.
- Distance today: 101NM
- Total distance: 2742.8NM
- Dinner: feta salad
- Engine hours: 0
| Time |
Position |
Course |
Speed |
Log |
Weather |
Remarks |
| 07.08. 0:00 Z |
47°50'59"N
7°11'44"W
|
181°
|
5.3kt
|
5917.3NM
|
wind
16.8kt
263°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 0:28 Z |
47°48'48"N
7°11'46"W
|
153°
|
3.8kt
|
5919.5NM
|
wind
12.8kt
228°
baro 1016 hPa
|
The night is even darker tonight. New moon and clouds. Passing ships are the only visible item outside Lille Ø
|
| 07.08. 1:00 Z |
47°46'47"N
7°11'58"W
|
272°
|
3.2kt
|
5921.5NM
|
wind
11.8kt
249°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 1:27 Z |
47°45'42"N
7°12'49"W
|
195°
|
3.1kt
|
5922.8NM
|
wind
11.6kt
256°
sea state 3/10
clouds 3/8
visibility 7/10
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sky partially cleared.
|
| 07.08. 1:37 Z |
47°45'21"N
7°13'7"W
|
233°
|
2.2kt
|
5923.2NM
|
wind
10.2kt
269°
clouds 8/8
baro 1016 hPa
|
Back to no stars.
|
| 07.08. 1:49 Z |
47°44'58"N
7°13'26"W
|
220°
|
2.9kt
|
5923.6NM
|
wind
9.2kt
253°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sails set: Main, Staysail. Let's see when I need to roll out the genoa. Prepping for this change found first dead fish on the deck. Long an narrow, very much dead as it was already stiff.
|
| 07.08. 2:00 Z |
47°44'37"N
7°13'44"W
|
235°
|
0.8kt
|
5924NM
|
wind
7.9kt
255°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 2:03 Z |
47°44'32"N
7°13'47"W
|
180°
|
3.4kt
|
5924.1NM
|
wind
10.4kt
264°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sails set: Main, Genoa 1
|
| 07.08. 2:43 Z |
47°42'34"N
7°14'58"W
|
178°
|
3.1kt
|
5926.3NM
|
wind
9.9kt
252°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sails set: Main, Genoa 1 (20% furled). Gust over 15 kn and a slight drizzle in my face.
|
| 07.08. 3:00 Z |
47°41'40"N
7°15'2"W
|
164°
|
2.9kt
|
5927.2NM
|
wind
7.9kt
260°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 3:03 Z |
47°41'31"N
7°15'2"W
|
191°
|
3.1kt
|
5927.3NM
|
wind
11.3kt
248°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sails set: Main, Genoa 1
|
| 07.08. 3:04 Z |
47°41'28"N
7°15'2"W
|
209°
|
3.1kt
|
5927.4NM
|
wind
11kt
239°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Securite (weather) in french. Pretty much garbled mess so far out.
|
| 07.08. 3:17 Z |
47°40'48"N
7°15'34"W
|
206°
|
3.9kt
|
5928.2NM
|
wind
14.5kt
284°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sails set: Main, Genoa 1 (30% furled)
|
| 07.08. 3:38 Z |
47°39'28"N
7°16'14"W
|
216°
|
3.5kt
|
5929.6NM
|
wind
17.1kt
279°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Arrived to the edge of the continental shelf. Lumpy sea state is back. Also a lot of fishing boats to our starboard.
|
| 07.08. 4:00 Z |
47°38'17"N
7°16'30"W
|
193°
|
2.6kt
|
5930.8NM
|
wind
11.2kt
304°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 4:58 Z |
47°35'35"N
7°17'41"W
|
199°
|
3.3kt
|
5933.7NM
|
wind
9kt
293°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Sails set: Main, Genoa 1
|
| 07.08. 5:00 Z |
47°35'28"N
7°17'45"W
|
188°
|
3.6kt
|
5933.8NM
|
wind
12.9kt
286°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 5:47 Z |
47°32'37"N
7°18'31"W
|
187°
|
4.1kt
|
5936.9NM
|
wind
10.2kt
276°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Autopilot activated
|
| 07.08. 6:00 Z |
47°32'5"N
7°18'38"W
|
232°
|
2.4kt
|
5937.4NM
|
wind
6.7kt
255°
sea state 4/10
clouds 4/8
visibility 8/10
baro 1016 hPa
|
Bergie on watch. The huge Spanish fishing fleet to our starboard even brought their own SAR
|
| 07.08. 6:45 Z |
47°30'23"N
7°18'52"W
|
182°
|
3.8kt
|
5939.1NM
|
wind
6.9kt
234°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Small pod of dolphins went by
|
| 07.08. 6:57 Z |
47°29'57"N
7°18'49"W
|
176°
|
3kt
|
5939.6NM
|
wind
9.5kt
231°
baro 1016 hPa
|
Autopilot deactivated, windvane steering
|
| 07.08. 7:00 Z |
47°29'47"N
7°18'47"W
|
178°
|
3.3kt
|
5939.7NM
|
wind
10.4kt
240°
baro 1017 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 7:21 Z |
47°28'38"N
7°19'29"W
|
205°
|
4.3kt
|
5941NM
|
wind
12.6kt
258°
baro 1017 hPa
|
For the first time ever there is over 1000m of water under the keel
|
| 07.08. 8:00 Z |
47°26'1"N
7°21'43"W
|
208°
|
4.8kt
|
5944NM
|
wind
13.1kt
270°
baro 1017 hPa
|
We're now past the fishing fleet at the shelf
|
| 07.08. 9:00 Z |
47°21'42"N
7°23'15"W
|
200°
|
3.4kt
|
5948.5NM
|
wind
8.6kt
241°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 9:39 Z |
47°19'48"N
7°24'18"W
|
213°
|
3.3kt
|
5950.6NM
|
wind
8kt
262°
sea state 4/10
clouds 5/8
visibility 8/10
baro 1018 hPa
|
This is a slight taste of ocean sailing: windvane steers, there is nothing near us, water is deep, the swell big but a gentle up-a-hill, down-a-hill. And, it is warm!
|
| 07.08. 10:00 Z |
47°18'38"N
7°25'7"W
|
228°
|
3.7kt
|
5951.9NM
|
wind
10.5kt
252°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 11:00 Z |
47°14'44"N
7°27'19"W
|
188°
|
5.8kt
|
5956.1NM
|
wind
11.2kt
243°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 12:00 Z |
47°10'3"N
7°28'25"W
|
176°
|
5.4kt
|
5960.9NM
|
wind
10.9kt
243°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 12:01 Z |
47°9'58"N
7°28'25"W
|
191°
|
4kt
|
5961NM
|
wind
11.9kt
247°
sea state 4/10
clouds 2/8
visibility 8/10
baro 1018 hPa
|
Watch change. Suski on duty.
|
| 07.08. 13:00 Z |
47°5'54"N
7°29'52"W
|
191°
|
4.3kt
|
5965.2NM
|
wind
10.5kt
250°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 14:00 Z |
47°1'40"N
7°31'19"W
|
165°
|
4.6kt
|
5969.6NM
|
wind
11.7kt
238°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 15:00 Z |
46°57'25"N
7°31'40"W
|
174°
|
6.4kt
|
5973.9NM
|
wind
9.1kt
240°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 16:00 Z |
46°54'4"N
7°33'41"W
|
178°
|
4.9kt
|
5977.6NM
|
wind
8.1kt
271°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 17:00 Z |
46°50'23"N
7°35'40"W
|
219°
|
4.4kt
|
5981.5NM
|
wind
8.8kt
259°
baro 1018 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 18:00 Z |
46°46'44"N
7°37'58"W
|
196°
|
4.2kt
|
5985.6NM
|
wind
9.3kt
247°
sea state 4/10
clouds 2/8
visibility 8/10
baro 1018 hPa
|
Bergie on watch
|
| 07.08. 18:41 Z |
46°44'3"N
7°39'32"W
|
201°
|
4.5kt
|
5988.5NM
|
wind
7.3kt
230°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Pumped the bilge. Electric can't quite reach the bottom.
There is also a weird new creak at the mast
|
| 07.08. 19:00 Z |
46°42'46"N
7°40'16"W
|
210°
|
5kt
|
5989.9NM
|
wind
7.4kt
240°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 19:15 Z |
46°41'45"N
7°40'44"W
|
178°
|
4.7kt
|
5990.9NM
|
wind
8.8kt
245°
baro 1019 hPa
|
We're now properly in the shipping lane. Tankers and freighters passing us from both sides
|
| 07.08. 20:00 Z |
46°38'32"N
7°41'58"W
|
187°
|
4.3kt
|
5994.3NM
|
wind
7.4kt
240°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 20:26 Z |
46°36'42"N
7°42'9"W
|
181°
|
4.2kt
|
5996.2NM
|
wind
9.8kt
233°
sea state 4/10
clouds 1/8
visibility 8/10
baro 1019 hPa
|
200NM to go. Getting dark enough that I can distinguish the lights of passing shipping
|
| 07.08. 21:00 Z |
46°34'31"N
7°41'52"W
|
189°
|
3kt
|
5998.4NM
|
wind
9kt
232°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 21:27 Z |
46°32'54"N
7°41'23"W
|
156°
|
5.1kt
|
6000NM
|
wind
7.8kt
219°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Polaris between the aft stays, milky way overhead. And shooting stars
|
| 07.08. 22:00 Z |
46°30'44"N
7°41'5"W
|
172°
|
3.5kt
|
6002.2NM
|
wind
9.9kt
221°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 22:20 Z |
46°29'23"N
7°40'47"W
|
167°
|
3.6kt
|
6003.6NM
|
wind
7.2kt
205°
baro 1019 hPa
|
We start to be through the southbound traffic. Northbound next
|
| 07.08. 23:00 Z |
46°26'38"N
7°40'33"W
|
160°
|
5.7kt
|
6006.4NM
|
wind
8.7kt
206°
baro 1019 hPa
|
Hourly position log
|
| 07.08. 23:35 Z |
46°24'8"N
7°40'52"W
|
193°
|
5.4kt
|
6008.9NM
|
wind
11.5kt
226°
sea state 4/10
clouds 4/8
visibility 8/10
baro 1019 hPa
|
Some clouds rolling in, but thankfully also wind
|