Crew Join, La Rochelle, France

For the Biscay crossing we had recruited extra crew. Colin M., a friend who I went to high school with Scotland (a long time ago). Colin lives in San Francisco and had owned a boat and sailed the bay for many years. David is a professional skipper, known as "Mr Nautitech" who does deliveries and orientation for new owners.

Bad News From Home - 29th April

A sad day. On the Morning of April 29th, Cheryl got a call from her sister Deb, informing her of the sad news that her husband John had died suddenly from a heart attack. We had stayed with John and Deb for the three weeks prior to our departure (and many other times). We managed to get Cheryl on a flight back to Canada the next day. David had a car and drove Cheryl to the Airport in Bordeaux.

Preparation for Biscay - 30th April

Another intense round of (expensive) shopping, this time for safety gear, tools, extra. fenders, extra lines, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.......

Here the radar reflector is being installed;

Departure Biscay Crossing - 3rd May

In April, you can expect a mix of weather conditions. The winter storms are starting to fade, but spring can still bring heavy swells and strong winds. The wind patterns are variable, often blowing from the northwest, and can quickly shift to create rough seas. It's not uncommon to encounter gale-force winds, especially when low-pressure systems move through the area.

Temperatures can be cool, and fog is a possibility, reducing visibility. The seas, however, remain a key challenge due to the notorious swell generated by deep ocean waters, particularly near the continental shelf.

We delayed our departure for a couple of days, hoping for more favourable conditions. Alas that did not eventuate, so we had to do it the hard way. That is, short heavy seas and wind on the nose the whole way. We had to go further south that shown here, it was a long hard slog. It took us 4 days to reach A'Coruna, Spain.

Leaving La Rochelle, 20 knot wind and flat seas (the flat seas did not last long!

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