Trying to find a weather window to cross the Bay of Biscay has been all consuming. I just can’t seem to relax and enjoy daily life as I’m constantly thinking about it and worrying about how I will cope – I just need to go.
After what seems like a long wait, we decide to cross to France and wait there for a chance to cross to Spain. Although I’m feeling nervous about the crossing, I also really want to do it, to see if I like offshore sailing.
HIGH HOPES
Finally, we are off, setting sail on a summer afternoon. I envisage a lovely downwind sail on the 125-mile trip, with perhaps a couple of dolphins. My hopes soar. This is my first overnight sail and I am nervous about standing my watches but excited to ‘get it done’.
However, the wind soon drops off, not even filling the sails. And thus the rolling begins – side to side through 20° either side of vertical, constantly, all night.
After hours of mind-churning rolling, and, before one of us decides we can take no more and will jump overboard, we decide to sail, altering our course by 20° to put us on a beam reach. After around five hours of reasonable sailing, the wind drops further and we are forced to furl the sails again and continue rolling to France.
Denne historien er fra Summer 2023-utgaven av Yachting Monthly UK.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2023-utgaven av Yachting Monthly UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Midsummer on Hanö
This wonderful little island in the south-east of Sweden is a real gem off the beaten track
ADVENTURE SAILING TO HAITI
After spending two months in the Dominican Republic, Andy Brown sails west to Haïti bringing medical and school supplies to the town of Mole Saint Nicholas
In celebration of bad sailing
New owner Monty Halls tests his sailing skills with his family aboard their Colvic 34 ketch, Sobek. A recently qualified Day Skipper, Monty faces a few unexpected challenges...
Winter brings excitement and opportunity
Oddity’s double glazing, insulation and heating create a warm, homely environment as I bash out this column.
ADVENTURE MAISIE GOES TO GOES
To depart or not to depart? That is the question. Is it safer to stay, or suffer the wind and weather of a rough North Sea?
'MAYDAY, GRANDAD OVERBOARD!'
When David Richards and his grandson Henry went out racing from lowey, they didn't expect their sail to end with a lifeboat rescue
VERTUE
For a 25-footer, the Vertue has a huge reputation and has conquered every ocean. So what makes this little boat quite such an enduring success? Nic Compton finds out
Sailing siblings
Mabel Stock, her brother Ralph, a friend Steve and an unnamed paying passenger passed through the Panama Canal in December 1919 on the sturdy Norwegian cutter Ogre. They were towed to a quiet anchorage in Balboa away from the boat traffic but within rowing distance of the shore.
TECHNICAL MAINSAIL MODIFICATIONS
Safety and performance improved hugely when Mike Reynolds reduced the size of his mainsail and re-configured the systems controlling it
PILOTAGE DONE PROPERLY
Chartplotters are an amazing aid, but can detract from your real-world pilotage if not used with caution, says Justin Morton
