Blog Brest – A Coruña

Brest – Morgat 22,8 nm

The sun is shining! But it’s still chilly. The heating is on for breakfast and Axel clears the boat while I disappear into the on-board office in the morning. Then we finally set off again. We untie the lines and leave Brest after 10 days. Overall, there is a great sense of optimism. The first yachts have already cast off early in the morning and set off to the south-west. We still only want to round the corner and not make the big leap across the Bay of Biscay. Although the weather on the Bay of Biscay itself is forecast to be calm, a 25 kn wind from the east is predicted for our arrival in A Coruña. Due to the orcas, it is recommended to approach A Coruña from the north-west. So we would have the 25 knots on the nose and would have to work against the 2-3 metre waves. We don’t fancy that. We also think that the risk of an orca nibbling on our rudder on the last stretch is definitely relevant and we don’t need to be without a rudder or unable to manoeuvre on a rocky coast either.

So today we continue a little further. We leave Brest around midday and once again motor in the absence of wind. We sail past Camaret sur Mer along the impressive coast. We pass the Pointe de Toulinguet with its rocky arch, sail past the Pointe de Pen’hir and turn into the bay of Douarnenez at Cap de la Chevre. With a slightly freshening wind, we can even set the genoa as a support and thus reach the anchorage bay of Morgat quite comfortably at 4 pm. We drop anchor with a view of the Pointe des Grottes, which is crowned by a stately villa. The seaside resort of Morgat was developed as a holiday resort by the industrialist Peugeot, so there are several mansions and old hotel complexes here. Today we enjoy the view of the village from the sea and pick up our mate Jens from the Marieke with the dinghy for a beer at anchor followed by a barbecue. In the evening, we also „meet up“ with our friends Andrea and Pit via video call. It’s nice not to lose touch with home in this way! The evening is crowned by a group of whales (not orcas!) on the horizon and a beautiful sunset.

During the night, things get restless at the anchorage. The wind has shifted and La Ola is suddenly at right angles to the wave. Although the wind is still very light, a disgusting swell has spread across the bay, making the anchormen dance. It rattles, squeaks and wobbles. Once awake, it is difficult to fall asleep again. Instead, we have the opportunity to watch a huge moon set behind us and observe a magnificent starry sky. At some point it calms down again and we sleep until we are woken up by the heating kicking on. The sun is already shining and it promises to be a beautiful day. Ideal for a shore excursion. And so, after a delicious breakfast, we set off with the Gummisau. We pick Jens up and drive together to the marina in Morgat. There is a free dinghy jetty and an easy way to land. From the marina, we walk along the beach promenade towards the town centre. A sports competition with running and swimming is taking place in Morgat today and there are lots of people out and about. We therefore walk a little off the main road and discover many very nice corners. Back in the centre, we stop off at La Guinguette du Toul Boss beer garden and enjoy a cold beer and a huge platter of cheese and cold meats. Marvellous! We then head to the U-Express supermarket, where we buy a few groceries. Back on board, we first take a siesta. Then Axel and I set our mainsail and check that everything is running properly. Axel has made a few changes to the reefing system, but they all fit well. The sail, which was barely operable during our passage from Falmouth to Cuxhaven, now runs super smoothly and is very easy to set and retrieve. What a difference a little care and Teflon spray can make. Meanwhile, behind our stern, the athletes are swimming along and in front of us, the sailing school is busy training. Both sailing instructors and sailing students never fail to tell us what a great boat we have as we pass by! Very nice of the French, especially that they say this in German! In the late afternoon, Axel picks up Jens from Marieke again and we enjoy galettes together again after a sundowner in the cockpit. We discuss further sailing plans and, of course, check the latest weather forecast. It looks good at the moment and we hope to be able to set off across the Bay of Biscay in a few days.

Morgat – Sainte-Evette 26,3 nm

It started to get restless in the middle of the night again today. Fortunately not quite as bad as yesterday, but still enough to wake you up. The morning is also a blueprint of yesterday. Heating on, sunshine and a delicious breakfast. Axel picks Jens up and the two of them go shopping again. Tonight is pizza night on the Marieke! I stay on board, do the washing up, tidy up and entertain the cat. A Frenchman comes paddling past with his two small children just to tell me how much they love our boat. First in French, then in perfect English. I can’t confirm the prejudice that French people only speak French and don’t (want to) speak English. Almost everywhere they switch to English without any problems when we explain in French that unfortunately we don’t speak the language. Once the boys are back, the anchor is raised very comfortably and we make our way to the next cape and the Raz de Sein. The Raz (pronounced Raah) is a strait between the mainland and the island of Sein, through which there’s a good current. In bad weather and wind against the current, a passage is strongly discouraged. Today, however, there is virtually no wind and we have no problems at all during the passage. At Point du Raz, we turn south-east and continue along the coast. It changes, becoming less rugged and more gently undulating. In the afternoon, we finally reach the bay of Audierne and anchor off the long beach of Sainte-Evette. Unfortunately, the anchorage is quite choppy and the boats are dancing on the waves. We therefore sincerely hope that the weather forecast is right and that the wind will change and the waves will subside. Unfortunately, there are no alternatives for another 35 to 40 nm. At around 6 pm, we get into the dinghy and head over to Jens and Marieke. The smell on board already smells promising, as Jens has already preheated the oven. Thanks to the stainless steel plate, his Force 10 oven reaches a whopping 400°C – ideal for a crispy pizza! The pizza is then available in different flavours and we leave our buddy boat late in the evening, full and very satisfied. Fortunately, the weather forecast was right and we anchored in a mirror lake. A beautiful evening atmosphere with a setting sun and a rising mirror moon – what more could you want?

Sainte-Evette – Cap-Coz 37,6 nm

In view of the advanced time of year, the already practised pyjama start takes place later and later. It is not until around 8 o’clock that it is light enough for us to weigh anchor and set off. With zero wind, we continue under engine towards the south-east. Getting up today is rewarded by a huge school of dolphins. The entire bay seems to be teeming with dolphins that are obviously on the hunt. The water is boiling and we are shown countless jumps. Great!!! But unfortunately we can’t get a photo. We finally reach the bay of Concarneau in the early afternoon and drop anchor off the Plage du Cap-Coz. Unfortunately, there is no room for us in the marinas of Concarneau and Forêt, although we actually like it better at anchor. We enjoy a quiet afternoon and evening on board today and are pleased that the weather forecast still looks as if we will finally be able to set off across the Bay of Biscay in the middle of the week. The reports from the sailors who set off a few days ago have clearly confirmed our decision to wait. There was talk of 30 kn winds and 5 metre high waves! In the evening, Axel cooks delicious tagliatelle with salmon and we are once again very happy with our new life.

The wind picks up during the night, but La Ola remains fairly calm for the most part. Nevertheless, I wake up and look out of my little aft hatch to check that everything is still OK. It is and so I continue to sleep until the sun wakes us up again. The heating is also running again, although it has actually got a little warmer. Breakfast for Lucky and coffee for me. Meanwhile, Axel studies the global political situation from his bunk. After breakfast, I get back to work. Later, Axel goes ashore with Jens and does some shopping while I clean the inside of the boat. In a small space, it somehow feels like much more dirt and dust accumulates much more quickly. Plus, of course, Lucky’s cat hair. Fortunately, the hoovering is done quickly. Work then continues in the cockpit. Axel returns from the shops with a heavy load and realises that he has forgotten avocados for dinner. But as the place is supposed to be very nice, we simply set off again together. We really like La Forêt-Fouesnant and the summer weather is perfect for the excursion. Back on board, we chill out a little before picking Jens up for dinner. We look at the weather map together and decide to finally set off the next morning.

Cap-Coz – A Coruña 370,3 nm

For once, the journey doesn’t start with a pyjama start! With a distance of 360 nm, it doesn’t really matter when you set off. So it’s all the more important to tackle such a tough sea voyage with renewed vigour! So we start with a leisurely breakfast of fresh baguette and egg. Then we clear up, pack up our seaworthy gear and get everything ready. Shortly before 10 a.m. we are ready and the anchor is raised. We set the mainsail and head out into the Bay of Biscay. We pass three racing trimarans, which would probably arrive in La Coruña much faster at a speed of just under 30 knots. But it’s all the more comfortable for us. Well, at least at first. The further we get from land, the rockier it gets. The sea is confused and there is not enough wind to fill the sail. It beats and rattles in every wave, so we eventually recover it. The engines keep running and take us mile after mile further. After just a few nautical miles, we are joined by white-sided dolphins. In contrast to the relatively short shows so far, today they continue endlessly. They accompany us all day and play around our bows. Great!!! We prepare a delicious tuna and rice salad for dinner. Easy to make and always delicious. The sun sets with a chic red colour in front of us, a little later the full moon rises behind us and accompanies us through the night. We don’t have a fixed wake-up system, but take turns when one of us gets tired. Axel takes off and I lie down in the saloon within calling distance.

Axel wakes me up just before 1 a.m. to hand over the watch. Lucky the cat also uses this moment to emerge from hiding. He has been sleeping cosily in his piranha basket in his forward cabin all day. Now he emerges meowing loudly. And can hardly be calmed down. Only when I sit outside at the helm does he calm down and join me. We sit together on the steering bench and keep watch! Well, I go on watch and Lucky lies snorkelling. He makes himself comfortable between my legs and purrs blissfully to himself. Amazing! After three hours, Lucky wakes up again and we wake Axel up together. He takes over at the helm while Lucky and I switch to the saloon cushion. While I fall asleep within a few minutes, Lucky is only now really waking up. It’s just a shame that he sees me under the duvet as a plaything. Well, sleep is overrated anyway… At some point, Lucky has had enough and snuggles up to me. Wonderfully cosy! It’s just a shame that Axel arrives and wants to be relieved of his guard duty. So I get out of bed and up onto the steering bench. Lucky follows me and we spend the next watch together. Morning dawns and the sun comes out again. Axel turns up a little later and prepares us some baguettes for breakfast. The day doesn’t start quite so sunny, but it’s still beautiful. Our dolphin companion has left us, but we have the company of a little bird, two butterflies and a bee. The waves continue to rock us a little roughly through the ocean. The waves criss-cross. Not pretty, but bearable. In view of the orcas, we keep a watchful eye on the sea and my pulse goes up a little when I see Blas about half a nautical mile next to us. However, at a height of at least 5 metres, it is definitely not an orca, but rather a baleen whale. I’m guessing fin whale, given the shape of the blow and the shallow dive. Otherwise, the day passes without any special incidents. We can set the genoa at some point and make good progress. In the evening we have the leftovers from the tuna and rice salad. We don’t feel like cooking today.

The night watch starts in a similar way to last night. Axel starts and I take over around midnight. Lucky is also back on the watch and is once again meowing loudly. So we climb onto the steering bench together and pay attention. Lucky sleeps through most of the watch again, but I still think it’s good that I don’t have to stare into the night all alone. And he keeps my feet nice and warm too. Compared to the first night, however, there is more going on today. A few freighters cross our path and as I hand over to Axel again, the first fishing boats appear on the radar. Not only do they keep Axel on his toes, as he constantly has to dodge them. They also cause a rude awakening, because one of them changes its route so unpredictably that we come dangerously close to its net and it radios us. We recover the genoa and change course as quickly as possible. Looking at the radar and AIS, we decide to give the fishing area a wide berth. Unfortunately, this takes us away from the Spanish coast for the time being. Not a good feeling when you actually want to get there quickly. The sun isn’t quite as bright today. The sky is cloudy and it is very hazy. As we approach the Galician coast again, thick sea fog rolls in. We don’t really have to have any more! The two of us stare at the water and head for Radar. There are still a few small fishermen to avoid. What’s more, we are now passing the Orca Alley. On their way along the Portuguese and Spanish coasts, the orcas follow the large schools of tuna. Their path should therefore be crossed by the shortest route and as quickly as possible. You should only travel parallel to their path in water depths of less than 20 metres or more than 500 metres. When the orcas are not busy eating tuna, they like to attack the boats in their vicinity and nibble at their oars. At the moment – hence the huge fishing fleet – it is the peak season for orcas in the Bay of Biscay and on the Galician coast. So you need to be doubly and triply vigilant! If you realise that orcas are in the vicinity, there are recommended standard procedures that you should follow. The first thing to do is to switch off the autopilot. Otherwise, if an orca attacks the rudder and the autopilot is engaged, there is a risk that the steering cable will come off the reel or even break due to the immense pressure. The boat would then be unable to manoeuvre. The next step is to motor away from the orcas as quickly as possible, so the engine should also be on standby, i.e. already running. As we believe that with our underwater hull, where the propeller is mounted behind the rudder blade, no orca would be stupid enough to bite into the rudder blade with the propeller running, we motor-sailed across the Bay of Biscay. Nevertheless, a certain amount of fear and uncertainty remains. Fortunately, it eventually clears up and the wind dies down completely. We sail through an oily sea that is lazily moved by a long swell. Ideal for spotting orcas early. And then they are actually there! Slicing dorsal fins chase towards us. We react as recommended. Autopilot off and course changed. We already have engines anyway. But as we approach, we quickly realise that these are not orcas, but just the friendly white-sided dolphins. Phew! So we switch the autopilot back on and head back to A Coruña. A little later, the alarm sounds again. Blas appears to our right and a black dorsal fin appears. Definitely a whale. So we repeated the manoeuvre, this time staying on course. The closer the dorsal fin comes, the clearer it is that we are probably dealing with a harmless minke whale. So the all-clear is given again. Nature continues to keep us on our toes. We are alarmed every time and luckily it is not orcas every time. We are visited by bottlenose dolphins, pilot whales and white-sided dolphins again and again. In addition, the sea is covered in places by masses of Portuguese man o‘ wars, a very poisonous type of jellyfish. At some point in the late afternoon, as we were beginning to doubt our navigation skills, the imposing Galician cliffs finally emerged from the haze in front of us. The last 5 miles remain exciting, as there have already been several orca attacks in this area. Only when we are greeted by white-sided dolphins shortly before A Coruña does the tension slowly ease. We enter the Marina Club Real Nautico and are allocated a lovely berth on jetty 7. What a trip! We could have done without the last day of crazy fishing fleets, fog and orca imitators! Nevertheless, it was a good crossing! In particular – and we don’t want to forget this despite the orca problem – we were rewarded with great marine mammal experiences. Never before have we been accompanied by dolphins for such a long time over a whole day. Never before have we seen so many different whales and dolphins in such a short space of time. The crossing was worth it for that alone. We will now spend the next few days exploring A Coruña and then sail along the Spanish coast towards Portugal.