We are keeping the traditional sundowners routine going on Jem ie drinks on the upper deck at 1800, whatever the conditions. So far this has been in sun, but things are about to change. On the evening of 9 August we celebrate the half way point and some cerveza helps to wash down a chilli con carne spiced up with some curry powder. More of a curry con carne. The Dorado that Nick is looking for continues to elude him. The closest we get to catching anything is an anchovy sized sardine that flies onto our deck. For the Friday fish lunch we have to resort to tinned tuna."quelle dommage". Nick has however mastered sleeping on board. He inserts 2 ear plugs and then enters his own fantasy world which means that he needs at least 3 shakes to wake him for his watches and he always has a smile on his face............what is he dreaming about.

 

On Saturday 10 August we are still in perfect conditions, averaging 6.5 knots under sail. Still the good old 3 metre Atlantic swell to ensure you know you are at sea. Our expert weather forecaster, Mark back home, keeps us updated on the weather during our daily 6pm sat phone call. He casually mentions increasing winds to the North, referring to 20 to 25 knot winds from the West helping us to romp home to La Coruna.

 

On Saturday 10th August we run out of bread from the Azores and our masterchef, Andy Elson, bakes 3 loaves of bread from scratch, a lattice loaf, crusty and split tin variety. The rest of us are humbled.  Later that night,  Andy fails to spot the subtle wind shift, both the main and mizzen are on preventers and for the sailors amongst you, you will appreciate that when gybed it created a reverse drive if the boat swings far enough. Chris pokes head up from his cabin hatch and casually mentions to Andy that we appear to be sailing back to the Azores. A quick adjustment and all is well with the world again. . We also notice that the barometer is starting to fall reasonably quickly and winds are starting to pick up. We still have full sail up (which we have had since we have left). By the morning of Sunday the 11th, during Chris's watch the bow lifts and we surge to 9 knots, a record speed at that stage. Time to put in the first reef of the trip we think. The wind steadily increases and after a succession of reefs we move to the mizzen and storm jib. The winds have increased to 30 knots and the seas are building and we still have 230 miles to go. By Sunday evening we are experiencing seriously big rollers. The 6pm call to Mark takes on a slightly more strained tone as we want to know is more to come. It is now gusting 35 knots and into gale force 8 territory. Mark's reassuringly tells us that the weather chart suggests a maximum of 30 knots but things should reduce to a more manageable 25 knots after midnight. We are now on the best roller coaster ride imaginable. Jem is behaving fantastically well and we all have faith in the boat. The other hero of this next 24 hours is the auto helm which seems to be able to cope with these seas incredibly well. The thought of having to hand steer in these seas fills us with dread and we all continuously toast our unsung hero. The other fact is that we were running before the wind and down seas. The whole situation would have been radically different if we had been going into this. Someone is smiling on us up there.

 

Over night we get gusts of storm force up to 46 knots, but as predicted by Mark the wind direction changes and although still gusting at 35 knots the fact it is blowing from a different direction appears to flatten the sea a little and Jem continues to carve through them unperturbed. Nick and David experience the top speed in the morning at 10.5 knots and one wave comes over the top in Andy and David's watch and fills the cockpit. Waves are breaking on the top of the waves and the striation lines on the front tell us that we have experienced some storm force conditions. The pictures in Aylard's book on "Heavy Weather Sailing" spring to mind and Nick is rather worryingly spotted reading it in the cabin below. However believe it or not we are all really enjoying this in a warped kind of way and no-one complains. Andy occasionally is spotted with a quizzical look on his phase as he looks over his shoulder and spots the next wave towering over us and the boat.

 

By the 8am on the 12th, the conditions are a little better and the barometer is rising. However there are still gusts up to 35 knots. However we know fell we are heavy weather veterans and this now seems plain sailing, also we are making very good ground to La Coruna. Only 100 miles to go. In the night we have all had our adventures. Andy has performed an involutary flight over the saloon table, David performed amazing juggling acts with cups of coffee and served up a speciality soup dish courtesy of Ainsley Harrison, pea, seat and sour and one packet with no name..the lucky dip. Nick, when he was not on watch.slept through it all. He had said his last Atlantic crossing was boring as there was no heavy weather. We should have realised that was a warning. Nick loved it all and again the smile was rarely from his face.

 

By midday and another on board time zone change we had reached the traffic separation zones off Cape Finisterre. At last we saw civilisation again. We had seen no shipping at all for 3 days. Suddenly huge tankers appeared and during Andy's watch we kept an eye on 8 ships steering at us in various directions. The seas were still big and Jem was loving surfing on the top of the waves. However the really bad weather was behind us and we started to think seriously of La Coruna and the beer we were going to have on arrival at 2am on the 13th (Our ETA). The swell stayed with us all the way to Coruna and it was only the evening when the winds dropped to 15 -20 knots. We were still making 7 knots with just the jib and the mizzen the mainsail staying down all the way. By 8pm we had also spied the Spanish mainland and that realisation that GPS really does work and is an amazing piece of kit. We had 3 sets on board so we were well catered for and Andy's chart plotter on his PC was about to come into its own as we entered La Coruna and its myriad of lights at 2pm. We had also timed it for the departure of the Coruna trawler fleet so exciting manoeuvring was still required. David and Andy΄s GPS pilotage ensured all was well and by 2pm we were alongside in the Marina as expected. We all felt elated at finishing the first stage of a real adventure. The pub beckoned. Thank god we were in Spain and 2pm meant that the evening was really just starting. By 4.30am, exhaustion had taken hold and despite being on possibly the noisiest berth in the harbour, nothing was going to wake us from the first deep sleep we had had (apart from Nick) for days.

On the 13th we stir at about 10am and we are greeted by Sun and the beautiful city of La Coruna. Catherine flies in at 8.30pm and we celebrate with a serious "run ashore".

 
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