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.
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.
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.
- Distance today: 90NM
- Total distance: 2832.8NM
- Dinner: pea soup
- Engine hours: 0
| Time |
Position |
Course |
Speed |
Log |
Weather |
Remarks |
| 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
|
| 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
|