Sailing the Atlantic coast 2022

Sailing the Atlantic coast 2022

Friday 1st April to the 5th April “In our excitement to leave France we had neglected to check what Spain’s Covid regulations were”

Friday morning we gave ourselves a huge fright by looking up the regulations for entering Spain. Google told us we should have applied for a PLF before leaving France – bugger we had not even thought about checking Spanish check-in rules! After quite a few hours of trying to fill in the form online, a typical government form, it kept locking us out at the last page. Eventually after many failed attempts, Marcel decided to look on the Noon website (a website for boaties) it appeared that private boats can just enter and report in on arrival without having filled out the form, so we had no choice but to try checking in without the required documentation.
It was another very cold day we stayed on the boat resting and doing odd jobs. The plan for Saturday was to design & make a shade cover for the back of Kiri a job that should keep us busy for most of the day. Hopefully, I will be a lot better on Sunday / Monday so we can head down the coast to “Muxia” before predicted bad weather hits us.
At this stage, we were very happy that we had stocked up with plenty of groceries in France and were used to cooking every night. Even so, we were really looking forward to eating out and sampling the local Spanish cuisine.

Footnote: It seems our check-in destination keeps changing daily.

There is a saying amongst sailors in the Med “you are a prisoner of your boat”

Saturday, for the time being, we were still prisoners on Kiri thanks to Covid which proved to be awful, we were in a new country at the beginning of our sailing journey ready to explore and thanks to Covid we have to stay put.
All the way from France we were so looking forward to arriving in Spain and enjoying everything Spain had to offer.
Adding to our worries; a Spanish Coast guard boat had anchored out in the bay not far from us. We had heard plenty of stories about the Coast Guard and immigration boats boarding yachties if they come and check us out we could be in a lot of trouble.
In the evening, our kettle caused Marcel a bit of a problem by blowing a fuse, when all else fails check the manual, thankfully the Lagoon manual came to the rescue. There were two fuse boards in the generator locker, the one Marcel had been looking for was well and truly hidden.

Still at anchor in Ares Bay, will we ever be able to check into Spain?

Sunday, I am still not well & Marcel has a sore throat again we have decided to stay for another day. In the afternoon we got out the sunshade fabric that we had been carrying around with us since 2018 and designed the sunshade for the back of Kiri. The design process took a lot longer than expected, I made a start sewing it up but didn’t quite get it finished, a job for another day.
The mornings were very cold but most days at 3 pm our cockpit turned into a hothouse which was super nice after freezing for most of the day. It was staying light till about 9.30 pm so dinner & bedtime was getting later and later.

Bad news Marcel has tested positive

Monday, This was not good as we really needed to check into Spain but of course, we couldn’t go ashore while we were testing positive, another day in limbo. The question was did we risk staying in Ares on anchor and possibly have the Coast Guard check us out or did we go to the nearest marina & check-in?
Today our Rocna anchor was put to the test! Winds gusting around 40knots hit us in the afternoon for three to four hours it was very scary. While Kiri held fast, it soon became apparent that we had another potential problem on our hands! The Code Zero was still up, fortunately, it was in a bag, however, there was still the potential for it to be ripped to shreds. As soon as the time between gusts lengthened, we leapt into action, brought it down, and stored it away without any dramas.
Being unable to go to shore to stretch our legs and the cold was starting to get to us. We were really looking forward to getting over the Covid hurdle & moving on. A life saver was being able to talk to friends and family every day. As well as knowing that our friends from Les Sables had finally left France and at this rate would probably catch us up.

We have decided to wait another day

Tuesday, due to Marcel testing positive the decision was made to wait another day before moving to the marina across the bay. I wished I had a crystal ball, it really felt like there was no end to the situation we were in.
Fortunately, there were plenty of odd jobs to keep us busy. I updated our safety manual and, in the afternoon, Marcel got out my sewing machine to finish sewing the shade cover. A lot of time and energy was put into this project, and at times it felt like the shade cover would never be finished. We were very happy with the end result, but not keen to make another one in a hurry.
The weather was still unpredictable we were experiencing summer and winter all in one day, very cold overnight and in the mornings 6 to 8 degrees, in the afternoons the cockpit and saloon would get up to 29 degrees for a few hours.
Sailors' lives are controlled by the weather, an extremely bad weather system had been predicted to hit this area for the next few days. Thanks to the approaching bad weather system there was no choice but to head to the safety of the marina across the bay tomorrow. In all honesty, we were both relieved even though we were extremely worried about the check-in process at the marina it was time to stop imaging all the possible scenarios that could happen.

The good news, later in the afternoon the Coast Guard finally up-anchored and disappeared into the sunset.

The weather decided for us, we have to get to the safety of a marina

Wednesday, The weather as forecasted changed to a southerly so staying on anchor in Ares simply wasn’t an option! There was no choice but to risk checking into the marina a short thirty-minute hop across the bay. All the while hoping like crazy that they wouldn’t ask too many questions relating to our health or the paperwork we hadn't been able to complete.
Arriving at Club Nautico De Sada, Marcel carried out excellent maneuvering backing Kiri into our berth through a very narrow channel between two rows of boats, even so, due to how windy it was, there was no way we could have tied up to the dock without the help of three linesmen. It was such a relief to have Kiri tied securely in our berth it took a while to realize we had a bit of a problem! there was a flaw in Marcel‘s passerelle (the plank to get on and off Kiri) yes it fitted nicely in the locker but it was too short to reach the dock. There was a massive pole at the rear of Kiri stopping us from backing any closer to the dock. Luckily there was a finger alongside Kiri that we could step onto.
Upon arriving at Club Nautico De Sada all the worries of the last few days were instantly lifted off our shoulders. The Mariners were very welcoming and happy to see us. Luck was on our side with just the normal check-in formalities required. No health declarations or Covid testing. Obviously, we still kept to ourselves and kept our distance from everyone. Nice surprises keep on happening, the marina was very reasonably priced 28 euros a day water and power included as well as a nice clean toilet block, laundry & lounge area with free Wi-Fi. Everything was very nice we were really happy we chose Club Nautico De Sada as our first port in Spain.
The marina was very quiet, actually, we were a bit disappointed as it appeared Kiri was the only foreign boat in the marina, probably due to it being quite early in the season.
The great thing about being in the marina was being to be able to step off Kiri & straight onto land. Basically, we had been boat bound apart from one twenty-minute walk in Ares for ten days. After, a quick walk around town with masks on, of course, we stopped at a garden bar for a beer. Another nice surprise two beers a small bowl of olives and chips for a grand total of 4.40 euros approximately $7NZ., not our estimated price of 18 to 20 euros.

What surprises would present themselves in the coming days?

Sailing the Atlantic coast 2022

Spain 29th March to the 31st March “It was such a relief to finally drop anchor in Ares Spain.

Tuesday, we sailed into “Ares bay” in Spain late in the evening, we were both so tired we had dinner and went straight to bed.
The bad news was I had tested positive for Covid! which meant there was going to have to be a change of plans, we wouldn’t be able to check into Spain till I tested negative.

“Thanks to Covid we would have to stay put for an indefinite period”

Wednesday waking up late, the decision was made to stay in Ares bay, have a rest and get a few much-needed jobs done. Crank up the water maker, learn how to use the washing machine, make a loaf of bread, and tidy up. We were very grateful that we installed a water maker and a generator before leaving France. The water maker filled up our tanks in no time at all and by running the generator we could have the heater going, run the washing machine, and have nice hot showers.
I was still not very well, and Marcel was very tired we stayed on Kiri for the day and started planning our trip down the coast of Spain.
Kiri had one other boat for company a French boat anchored across the bay “Belharra” it was nice to know we weren’t totally on our own.
Much to our surprise it seemed to be as cold here in Spain as in France. Before leaving France Marcel had told me once we got to Spain it would be a lot warmer, this definitely wasn’t the case. Therefore, we were surprised that it was so cold, giving the generator and AC / heater a good test run.

“Marcel is not feeling great”

Thursday, while I was beginning to feel a lot better and my energy levels had started to increase, Marcel had no energy at all, against all odds we hoped he hadn’t caught Covid as at that point he was still testing negative.
Our goal was to leave this bay in the morning for a 40nm trip to Corme or Lax. The weather gods still weren’t being nice to us, it was very cold with persistent rain “An interesting fact we learned from Google, apparently, the weather on the Spanish Rias is very similar to Ireland”
With the rain came lots of leaks in the cockpit, our enclosure was not watertight. The helm station and the cockpit would need to be sorted out on the best way to stop as much of the leaking as possible. Till we had figured out how to fix the annoying leaks the key thing to remember was not to leave pillows, hats & our life jackets out where they would get a good soaking.

Early in the afternoon Marcel had a spurt of energy and decided to put Slinky dinghy down so we could go to Ares town, that was till he realized we had a big problem! Where oh where was the safe place that the key for the outboard was hiding in? Eventually, the spare key was found enabling us to go ashore for the first time since leaving France five days ago. After a very quick walk through Ares, it was very quiet with not much happening only a few cafes open we returned to Kiri, feeling happy to have stretched our legs and seen a bit of the Spanish architecture. Arriving back on Kiri I hoped Marcel didn’t have Covid as he was very grumpy and tired.

Footnote: this isn’t the first time Marcel had misplaced a key. During our road trips, we had a few very scary moments when the all-important car key disappeared for a length of time.

Sailing the Atlantic coast 2022

27th to 29th March “Sailing across the notorious Bay of Biscay”

Marcel picked a perfect weather window for our sail across the notorious Bay of Biscay. Light winds all the way, admittedly sometimes a little too light, thus giving both engines a good run-in, with the added bonus of heating the hot water cylinder for lovely hot showers.

Little birds loved visiting us, driving Marcel nuts

Crossing the Bay of Biscay was only the third time I had done an offshore passage. In all the excitement of finally leaving Le Sables-d ‘Odlonne, I had forgotten that I get seasick & what it was like to feel constantly sick, then to top it off I had a cold. Even Marcel found it very tiring we spent most of the time alternating between sleeping, eating, and being on watch. At times we both felt very miserable, also it was very cold. Fortunately, we have an enclosure around the cockpit which was great at keeping us a little warmer and a deterrent for the little birds that loved to stop for a rest on Kiri. The funny little birds loved to sneak in whenever the door was open and have a look around. This gave Marcel a bit of excitement flapping around, desperately trying to get them out of the saloon and cockpit.

Kiri’s chart plotter AIS, radar, and VHF radio are very important pieces of equipment.

On the chart plotter, we can see other boats & possible hazards out on the water. Alerting us to all the potential collision possibilities, our system also has voice alerts yelling out "collision alert" whenever we are close to another boat with AIS. (We have named the voice “Agnes”) on the chart plotter, we could see a boat called “Moondoggie” traveling quite close to Kiri, even though we sailed closely most of the way Moondoggie carried on never to be seen again. The VHF radio is our means of communication within a certain range we can talk to other boats, or in an emergency, we use channel 16.

Dolphins swimming alongside Kiri definitely helped to lift our spirits

For most of Tuesday, we had a pod of dolphins and a very large basking shark swimming alongside Kiri keeping us company. A basking shark is the second largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. The basking shark casually crossed Kiri’s bow and then circled around us before heading out to sea. Seeing a basking shark up close was pretty scary; however, on the positive side, it wasn't an Orca that had come to check Kiri out. We were very much aware of a pod of Orcas that hang out around the Portuguese & Spanish coastlines, these Orcas are well known for attacking sailboats. Anyone sailing down these coastlines does their best to stay well clear of the Orcas, as an altercation with a pod of Orcas can damage a boat to a point that it has to be towed to safety.
There are many hazards on the water that a sailor must navigate around. Adding to the hazards are thousands of fishing nets that are scattered along the coastlines. It is not uncommon for boats to get their propellers caught in a net or line. Arriving in Spain in daylight made it a lot easier to motor down the coast safely dodging the fields of fishing nets to our planned anchorage in Ares Bay.

For all my fears about sailing the notorious Bay of Biscay, it proved to be a relatively easy crossing. (Little did we know how long we would be stuck in Ares before we could actually check into Spain)