Bayona to Povoa de Varzim

An early morning start was needed to try and get into Povoa before a cheeky low pressue system reached the coast later in the afternoon.
As dawn broke we slipped lines and began to leave Bayona. The night pilotage had been awesome but it was a relief to leave in daylight, if nothing else to try and spot the many lobster pot flags which lay in wait to snare unobservant boats.

Leaving Bayona at first light

Enterprise (Russ and Jazz)

Most of the morning was a mixed bag but the winds got up in the aternoon and we had a great sail to Povoa. As the winds had picked up, the marina entrance was a little tricky but within a short while we were safely on our mooring and looking forward to relaxing at the rally dinner which was starting shortly, or so we thought....
As we had developed a small tear in the mainsail on passage, we were one of the last boats to arrive but still out at sea was Chris and Frances on Usqubae. The Rally used Channel 77 as a ship to ship frequency and we heard a call from them to say that the engine had failed and they were 6 miles away, requiring help.
A few minutes later, Nick from the WCC put out a call to all boats to see if any would be able to assist. Steve responded straight away and picked up Andrew Bishop (MD of the WCC) who had experience in towing. Lynne had already left the boat and did not hear the call but John was on board to help.
Under Andrew's expert guidance, Scarlet Lady made her first pass to get the tow on board Usqubae but the motion of the sea was too strong, so a second attempt was made. This time is was successful and within an hour Usquabae was safely moored on the waiting pontoon. This would have been the end of the story but for a sudden rapid increase in wind gusting 25-30 knots. Scarlet ended up going into her downwind berth in almost full reverse but thanks to all those on the pontoon, managed to get on safely. Sadly no pictures. A bit busy at the time!

The next day we joined a coach tour to Porto and a visit to the Taylor Fladgate Port Lodge.

Sign at the entrance to the lodge

Port as far as the eye can see!

Taylor, Fladgate and Yeatman or Taylors for short, is one of the best known of all the Port lodges. Situated in Gaia, the town facing Porto over the Douro river, it was one of the highlights of the Rally shore based programmes, especially the chance to have such an interesting guide and the opportunity to have a taster at the end. If you like Port and happen to be in Portugal this is definatley a tour for you.

Porto is a fascinating place, steeped in history and in many ways it would have been nice to spend a little longer looking around.

Porto

On return to the marina we had a lovely meal on board Katerina with Scott and Julia and Scott kindly repaired the tear in the mainsail. We thought we had most things on board for emergencies but a sewing machine was not one of them.

The next day we will head to Figueira de Foz.

Steve and Lynne x

Falmouth To Bayona

On Saturday the 9th June at 14.13 we crossed the start line just outside Falmouth on our Biscay adventure.  Prior to the start and with only short notice, Lynne had prepared some meals in port as cooking on passage can be challenging at the best of times.  Our watch keeping system meant two shifts of four hours which we started soon after crossing the start line.
The temptation is to stay awake but rest is important.  We had equiped Scarlet with two sea berths in the saloon with lee cloths, a bit like sleeping in a cot but very comfortable.
The night watches are probably the hardest but in June the nights are shorter which helps.

Peter on watch!

Friends and family could view our progress via our Yellowbrick satellite link but we had no idea how close or far other rally boats were. The low pressure system that had now blown through would have left some lumpy seas so it was decided to follow Rally advice given at the previous skippers meeting and head west of the rhumb line.

The Rally team had told us to expect a significant change to wave patterns and a change in the colour of the sea to a deep blue once we crossed the continental shelf. As we did this at night we did not notice the colour change until the morning but the waves certainly got bigger but not as close together.
We were lucky with the conditions and by day three, had settled into our routine.  Peter took the footage below on his new GoPro camera and managed to get a few glimpses of dolphins which was great.



Night watches took on a new perspective as the sea was full of phosphoresence making it an almost surreal experience.

Sunrises and sunsets were spectacular.

Biscay sunrise

Biscay sunset

After four and a half days at sea we began to approach Bayona.  By now it was night time and the pilotage to the marina was a little tricky as it involved identifying a North, East and West Cardinal mark against the light pollution from the town. Thankfully, our chartplotter confirmed what we saw and soon we were being guided to a slip in the marina.
We had heard that Russ and Jazz on Enterprise were only a few hours away so after we finished our cheap bubbly, we headed off to the showers and returned to wait up for them. As we ourselves had been greeted by Caroline from Moonstream, we knew only too well how good it was to have a fellow Rally friendly face after so long at sea.  Russ and Jazz were delighted that we had stayed up for them and were grateful for the celebratory wine as soon as they stepped onto the pontoon.

Bayona was to be the only marina on the rally that required Med Mooring. This involves reversing in, picking up a sunken line and cleating it off at the bow.  As this line spends most of its time under water, it gets covered in accumulated sea life, so gloves are essential when picking this up.
The other aspect of med mooring is the stern does not always get as close to the pontoon as you would like. No problem for us as it gave us a chance to deploy our new passerelle.

Med moored in Bayona

After a fantastic sleep and attending to a few items on the yacht it was time for an evening meal, or at least it would be in the UK.  The Spanish tend to eat much later which is fine but we were still tired from the crossing.  Having wandered into the town it became evident that not much was open.  The restaurant we had been given directions to was closed, with no signs of life.  As we stood outside pondering our next move, a delightful old lady appeared from accross the street.  As we did not speak Spanish and she did not speak English, it meant that comical sign language ensued.  Perhaps something was lost in translation but she walked up to the restaurant and started shouting loudly trying to get the owner, Enrique to open for the hungry English customers. Depite her best efforts, Enrique was either asleep on on the loo so we tapped our watches and said we would be back in half an hour.

Enrique, open up you have customers!

What characters!

When we did go back, Enrique was in the doorway to greet us like long lost friends and we had a fantastic meal, even though we were the only ones there!

Bayona was quiet that night but the streets looked fantastic all the same.

Bayona street at night

The following day we attended a tour to nearby Santiago de Compostela.  The highlight of the tour was a visit to the Roman Catholic cathedral built on an ancient burial site reputed to contain the remains of the apostle St James.  The cathedral was considered to be one of the most important sites outside the vatican and even today pilgrims from all around the world gather to pay their respects.
The cathedral is also famous for its Botafumeiro and on the day we visited a special mass was being held and we were treated to this amazing experience.
It is the larget incense container in the world weighing 80kg and measuring over 1.5m tall. When in full flight it can reach speeds of over 80km/h.

Once the tour had finished it was time to explore the rest of the town and we found a really nice place to stop and have some tapas.

Steve sporting his new hat!

In the evening we had a Rally dinner and prizegiving at the Monte Real Yacht Club.  It was really nice to see Lynne win a prize for her blogs for the Rally website, as she had invested a lot of time trying to keep them up to date.
The dinner was not a late one as the following day's forecast would mean we would have to leave at dawn in order to get to Povoa de Varzim before another low pressure system set in.

Steve and lynne x