News from Caladh

Rochefort to Gijòn

We returned to France on 22 April 2008 to resume our slow cruise towards the Mediterranean, travelling by overnight ferry to St Malo and then driving down to Rochefort in our little white van, laden to the gunnels with all our possessions for the next six months afloat. On arrival we were delighted to find Caladh had been well looked after over the winter by the very helpful staff of the Port de Plaisance in Rochefort and after a week of scrubbing, anti-fouling and polishing in the sunshine (a pleasant change from our normal fitting out in January/February at home) the boat was craned back into the water on Tuesday 29 April, just in time to mark Jo’s half a century! We spent a further 10 days in Rochefort completing our preparations for the summer and finally set sail on Friday 9 May. 

Our plan was to have a shake-down cruise in the local area to iron out any outstanding maintenance issues with the boat before crossing to northern Spain in early June. We therefore spent a pleasant few weeks visiting some of our favourite ports, including the Ile d’Oleron, Ile de Re and Ile d’Yeu. We were somewhat restricted in where we could visit for a time by a blockade of a number of mainland ports by the French fishermen, protesting about diesel prices. However by late May this was resolved by an offer of continued subsidy from the French government and we were able to visit Les Sables d’Olonne. There, we bought some boat bits we needed before sailing to La Rochelle to meet our friend Mike, who was flying out to provide extra crew for the Biscay crossing. While in La Rochelle, we were delighted and surprised to see our last boat Tarka (a Stag 28) and her current owner Brian who lives in the area. Having owned Tarka for 12 years and had many adventures in her, it was lovely to see an old friend again!

Caladh in St. Martin de Re

After making our final preparations, we left La Rochelle on the afternoon of Friday 6 June intending to cross to Gijon in northern Spain, a passage of 247 miles, which we anticipated taking about 48 hours. However, it was not to be on this day. The weather forecast had been indicating high pressure would bring settled north easterly winds over the next few days, ideal for our crossing. The forecast that day was for north-west force 4-5 occasionally 6, decreasing 3 later but as we left La Rochelle we found it was blowing westerly force 6 with a rough sea. Not only was this a bit stronger than was ideal for a long passage but more significantly, from a direction which meant we could not lay our course of 235 degrees towards Gijon. Beating to windward with the wind hard on the nose, the best we could achieve was 250 degrees. When the early evening shipping forecast indicated no immediate improvement was likely, we decided that rather than spending a tiring, wet and uncomfortable night going in the wrong direction, it would be best to run back into La Rochelle and try again another day!

Overnight the wind eased and an early morning search of internet weather sites indicated that high pressure and settled weather was expected through until at least Tuesday and that the predicted north easterly winds should materialise later that day, so with a forecast of north-west 4-5, veering north-east in Biscay later, we left La Rochelle in bright sunshine at 10.30am and set sail for northern Spain. With a north westerly force 3-4 at first, increasing to force 4-5 by the afternoon and a smoother sea than the previous day, we romped along, achieving 6-7 knots over the ground for much of the time. Later in the day we put a reef in the main and then a few rolls in the jib for more comfort during the night watches. We were able to sail until 4.30am the following morning by which time the wind had died to almost nothing and we had to put the engine on.

Jo and Mike in Bay of Biscay

By morning the wind had come round to the north but remained very light through much of the day so we motored on in bright sunshine, which gave the tired crew a bit of a rest. We weren’t the only tired travellers, being visited by a rather bedraggled swallow in the morning, who stopped for an hour’s rest on the coach-roof and then (with surprising lack of nerves) sat on the spokes of the wheel as Simon kept watch, before flying off towards the French coast.

Later we were joined by a very tame racing pigeon who also took a couple of hours rest in the cockpit before being “encouraged” to fly on towards Spain as it became rather too messy! Still we enjoyed the company, as one of the things which struck us about the crossing was how empty Biscay is – we saw only a couple of yachts, a few fishing boats and a couple of larger ships during the whole crossing.

Simon and swallow, Bay of Biscay

In late afternoon the wind freshened again but remained in the north, enabling us to set sail again on a broad reach for several hours until the wind died as the sun set. We suffered a very uncomfortable swell overnight but this gradually eased and by the early hours of the second night we were seeing the lights of the north Spanish coast. By the time Mike’s watch ended at 7am the mountainous coast could be seen clearly from about 20 miles off. 

After two days of lovely sunshine at sea, our landfall turned out to be on a grey and overcast morning with the threat of rain and the mountains quickly disappeared in to a murky morning mist. We were all glad to finally reach Gijon, motoring into the marina and onto the visitors’ pontoon just over 48 hours after leaving La Rochelle. We had sailed for about half the passage and motored for the remainder, averaging 4.8 knots with a maximum speed of 6.9 knots. Overall, we enjoyed the experience but found it very tiring, mainly due to the last nights swell. We were very glad to have Mike along, as having an extra crew member with plenty of sailing experience enabled all of us to have more rest than would have been possible with just two of us. If we make longer crossings in the future, investment in a hydrovane or windvane self steering system will probably be essential.

We spent a pleasant few days exploring Gijon. It is a large city with a population of about a quarter of a million and quite a lot of heavy industry, including iron ore and aluminium mining and chemical production. However, the port is adjacent to the very attractive old town and busy commercial centre and we enjoyed the atmosphere of the city. We also took a train trip to the lovely city of Oviedo, the capital of the region of Asturias, which has beautiful old buildings dating back to medieval times. 

Mike flew back to England after a few days rest, and we left Gijon on Saturday and sailed 65 miles west along the coast to the small town of Ribadeo, which is perched on a hill above an attractive river. We enjoyed a great sail on a beautiful sunny day, broad reaching in north easterly force 4/5 winds for much of the way. The coast of the Costa Verde is very beautiful, with high cliffs topped by lush green fields with small towns and villages dotted on the hills, backed by mountains. However, contrary to the words of the popular song, the rain in Spain doesn’t fall mainly on the plains, it falls mainly on the mountains and we’ve certainly realised why the coast is so lush and green and the locals never go anywhere without an umbrella! Not much English is spoken so we’re rapidly trying to learn a few key phrases in Spanish but most people are helpful and friendly and we’re enjoying exploring new places. From here we intend to continue west towards A’ Coruna and the rias beyond, hoping to reach the Spanish/Portuguese border by late July. We’ll endeavour to keep you informed of our progress, when and if internet access is available. 

Simon and Jo