Crossing Biscay - France to Spain

5th - 8th July

This is going to be our longest passage yet.  We seem to be ticking off things on our 'must do list' on this adventure quickly with the English Channel and now crossing Biscay.  We were obviously a little anxious but excited too.

It was a great start with slight winds as expected.  We passed Ilse de Glenan Islands, reputedly the Caribbean of Europe.  Unfortunately we do not have time to stop and will have to visit another time.

Gradually the slight winds dies and we were left with no wind, the sun out and motor sailing.  The water was like a liquid silver with the sea state so smooth.  Dolphins joined us for short periods but nothing like the Channel crossing.

The first night the winds picked up and we were able to sail a fair bit but overnight those winds died and the engine went back on again.  Steve and I took it in 3hr watches.  We would normally do 4hr watches but for some reason, excitement probably, we were unable to do 4hrs!

We were greeted in the morning by the most glorious burning red/orange sun and dolphins, dolphins and more dolphins from every spec of the horizon you could see them - it was magical.  Then to top it off mid morning we saw a family of Pilot Whales.  The parents were very large.  What a day, amazing!

The engine stayed on all day due to no wind.  We motored through more fishing boats than I thought existed.  Whilst fascinating to watch and see in the dark it is also quite nerve wracking to sail through and obviously the reason our seas of empty of fish!  This is just one small part of the planets oceans that are being fished empty.

The next morning we saw a mahoosive whale 50mtrs to our starboard.  Unfortunately we were not ready with the camera and it was a missed opportunity.  What an experience and another first 😃.

The highlight of the trip though had to be on our last night.  Matt called from Nomad and told us to turn our lights off.  It was 1.30am, no moon and we were launched into complete blackness.  We looked over the side of Cordelia and to our complete amazement we watched dolphins in bioluminescent water.  I can only describe it as a scene from a water based Disney Film or science-fiction film.  They were incredibly sleek and serene darting under the boat, away from the boat and jumping in the air leaving a sparkling glittering stream behind them.  Absolutely AWESOME!