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Thursday, August 8, 2024

Bay of Biscay, 299NM S of St. Helen's Pool

The night brought variable winds and shooting stars. The windvane kept meandering with the wind and we manoeuvred us through the main shipping lane in the darkness. Only once we needed to hail a tanker on VHF to define how they were going to pass us.

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In the deep water we haven’t seen any wildlife apart from a few birds. The calm conditions and warm sun gave us the chance to take a much needed shower. Now the boat is yet again filled with fresh smelling sailors.

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The sea state is still moderate, but the swell period is so long that the 2 to 3 meters are not bothering us at all. As the wind is light, the wind waves have reduced to a ripple, so we can make use of the 5 knot wind. So sailing is still continuing. It’s nice to have enough food that a extra day or two at sea is not an issue. We are a sailboat afterall.

The latest forecast has the high preasure filling overnight only to reappear with the sun. We hope we can ghost along with sails, but as in the ocean always, it is the sea which decides, not us.

From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
08.08. 0:00 Z 46°22'22"N 7°41'15"W 201° 3.8kt 6010.7NM wind 11.5kt 243° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 0:11 Z 46°21'38"N 7°41'23"W 195° 3.9kt 6011.5NM wind 12kt 229° clouds 3/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1019 hPa Watch change. Suski on duty.
08.08. 0:16 Z 46°21'17"N 7°41'29"W 195° 4.8kt 6011.8NM wind 11.3kt 227° baro 1019 hPa Shooting stars on the clear patch of sky.
08.08. 1:00 Z 46°18'2"N 7°41'16"W 197° 2.8kt 6015.1NM wind 13.2kt 228° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 2:00 Z 46°14'8"N 7°40'1"W 106° 4.4kt 6019.3NM wind 10.6kt 223° baro 1019 hPa Confirmed with Folegrandos that we go starboard -starboard
08.08. 2:51 Z 46°11'20"N 7°39'15"W 151° 3.1kt 6022.2NM wind 6.7kt 213° baro 1019 hPa Difficult to get Starbuck to steer to a wind angle..the wind keeps going between 7 and 12 knots, so adjustments needed.
08.08. 3:00 Z 46°10'52"N 7°39'8"W 151° 4.5kt 6022.7NM wind 8.9kt 245° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 3:27 Z 46°9'26"N 7°38'48"W 206° 2.1kt 6024.2NM wind 9.3kt 227° baro 1018 hPa Orca lost the route and would only take it in on the nav-tablet. Would not reset to route set on the phone.
08.08. 3:35 Z 46°9'1"N 7°38'46"W 166° 3.5kt 6024.6NM wind 9.1kt 221° baro 1018 hPa ISS flew over.
08.08. 4:00 Z 46°7'49"N 7°38'17"W 159° 2.7kt 6025.9NM wind 7.4kt 215° baro 1018 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 5:00 Z 46°4'53"N 7°36'35"W 152° 3.8kt 6029.1NM wind 8.3kt 214° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 6:00 Z 46°1'47"N 7°35'25"W 207° 2.3kt 6032.3NM wind 9.6kt 249° sea state 4/10 clouds 1/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1019 hPa Bergie on watch
08.08. 7:00 Z 45°58'20"N 7°33'54"W 146° 4.8kt 6035.9NM wind 7.5kt 208° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 7:44 Z 45°55'36"N 7°32'17"W 167° 4.3kt 6038.9NM wind 6.7kt 220° baro 1020 hPa This is a milestone, too: A Coruña is now closer (170NM) than Brest (190NM). This means our closest diversion ports are now on the Spanish peninsula east of Coruña, at around 120NM
08.08. 8:00 Z 45°54'34"N 7°31'59"W 183° 4.5kt 6040NM wind 9.8kt 230° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 8:40 Z 45°51'57"N 7°32'18"W 200° 4.8kt 6042.6NM wind 9.5kt 240° baro 1020 hPa Sail in the horizon! Starboard of us, heading opposite direction. First vessel without AIS we've seen since Scilly
08.08. 9:00 Z 45°50'36"N 7°32'54"W 185° 5.4kt 6044.1NM wind 10kt 237° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 10:00 Z 45°46'30"N 7°32'56"W 158° 5.5kt 6048.2NM wind 7kt 211° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 11:00 Z 45°42'52"N 7°31'35"W 178° 4.5kt 6052NM wind 8.4kt 208° baro 1020 hPa All hands enjoyed a freshwater shower now that we're heeled less
08.08. 11:07 Z 45°42'26"N 7°31'34"W 169° 4kt 6052.5NM wind 8.6kt 221° baro 1020 hPa Very nice that both weather routers (Orca and LuckGrib) agree with the course we had already taken: stay close reached on starboard tack until wind dies, then punch through towards destination under engine
08.08. 12:00 Z 45°39'1"N 7°31'17"W 184° 4.4kt 6055.9NM wind 9kt 255° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 13:00 Z 45°35'21"N 7°30'43"W 184° 3.6kt 6059.6NM wind 8.4kt 216° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 13:55 Z 45°31'56"N 7°31'2"W 170° 4.8kt 6063.1NM wind 8.5kt 251° sea state 4/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 9/10 baro 1021 hPa Wind is still holding. The waves are small and the swell big and the period is long, so this feels more like 'binnen' sailing.
08.08. 14:00 Z 45°31'38"N 7°31'4"W 188° 3.5kt 6063.4NM wind 7.1kt 259° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 14:43 Z 45°29'21"N 7°30'31"W 205° 1.5kt 6065.8NM wind 6.3kt 234° baro 1020 hPa Spanish weather forecast!
08.08. 15:00 Z 45°28'34"N 7°30'29"W 191° 2.1kt 6066.6NM wind 6.6kt 237° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 16:00 Z 45°25'54"N 7°30'59"W 212° 2.6kt 6069.4NM wind 6.1kt 249° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 17:00 Z 45°22'57"N 7°31'13"W 161° 3.9kt 6072.4NM wind 6.6kt 241° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 17:30 Z 45°21'34"N 7°30'38"W 147° 4.1kt 6073.9NM wind 5kt 219° baro 1020 hPa Autopilot activated
08.08. 18:00 Z 45°20'2"N 7°30'29"W 192° 3.7kt 6075.4NM wind 7.4kt 232° sea state 4/10 clouds 1/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1020 hPa Bergie on watch
08.08. 19:00 Z 45°17'22"N 7°30'41"W 187° 3.8kt 6078.1NM wind 6.4kt 239° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 20:00 Z 45°14'44"N 7°30'34"W 213° 2.3kt 6080.8NM wind 5.6kt 222° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 20:06 Z 45°14'31"N 7°30'33"W 161° 3kt 6081NM wind 5.8kt 213° baro 1021 hPa Two whales surfaced maybe 100m to our port side. Big ones!
08.08. 21:00 Z 45°12'9"N 7°29'57"W 184° 2.5kt 6083.4NM wind 8.8kt 227° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 21:22 Z 45°11'6"N 7°29'25"W 153° 3.9kt 6084.5NM wind 9kt 208° sea state 4/10 clouds 0/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1021 hPa Surprisingly good wind, was supposed to die by now
08.08. 22:00 Z 45°9'3"N 7°28'45"W 173° 3.8kt 6086.7NM wind 8.2kt 245° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 22:33 Z 45°7'0"N 7°28'32"W 197° 3.8kt 6088.7NM wind 8.4kt 234° baro 1021 hPa Very bright shooting star went by what must've been a Starlink train
08.08. 23:00 Z 45°5'21"N 7°28'41"W 179° 3.8kt 6090.4NM wind 5.2kt 208° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
08.08. 23:58 Z 45°2'25"N 7°28'30"W 188° 3.9kt 6093.3NM wind 6.8kt 220° clouds 2/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1021 hPa Watch change