Duration: 5 days
Finally, we were ready to set off for the first leg of our trip to Brisbane Australia, and we were all super excited. Our team included Peter (Skipper), Sandra (crew) and one other crew member. With pre-sail checks and passage planning completed we left Les Sables-d’Olonne in high spirits mid morning of the 22nd July 2019. Calm seas and good winds buoyed our spirits to our first way point. And as if things couldn’t get better, two pods of dolphins swam alongside during the evening, with all of us heading to the bow to say ‘Hello’ to our visitors. Watches were of three hours duration, and we maintained a Log Book throughout the duration of the trip. Our planned course to Baiona, as is most common, did not follow the western coast line of France and northern coast line of Spain. Instead, hoping to make up some lost time we cut across the Bay of Biscay to northern Spain in a south westerly direction.
Day two saw the ocean mirroring glass with inconsistent winds requiring us to alternate between sailing and motor sailing. The next day was calm, but little did we know it was the calm before the storm. Day four began with a short, sharp, choppy sea which ramped up to squally conditions and 3+ metre seas with a short chop by mid morning. Conditions were such that Peter decided to head towards the coast and seek safe anchorage in Puerto de Corina, a small village with a sheltered horseshoe harbour on the northern-west coast of Spain. We spent two nights here resting and catching up on sleep while waiting for the storm to dissipate. Click here for further information about the Puerto de Corina harbour http://seagoddessadventures.com/puerto-de-corina-anchorage/. During our time here our crew member informed us that she was leaving and requested to disembark in A Coruna rather than Baiona. Peter worked out that we could motor to A Coruna in half a day, and whilst the sea was still choppy it was nowhere near the level we had previously experienced. The trip to A Coruna took about 5 ½ hours where we formally checked into Marina Coruna, and the hunt for a replacement crew member began. Click here for further information about Marina Coruna http://seagoddessadventures.com/france-to-australia-marina-coruna/
In a nutshell finding a replacement crew member for the next leg was a nightmare. We emailed as many of our personal and sailing contacts as we could in Great Britain, Australia and Europe, and also checked out the major crew websites. The main issue was the short timeline, most people who were interested were already booked, had work/family commitments, or just could not make it in our timeframe. As the days passed, we became increasingly frustrated and concerned. One morning we met up with Kieran, an amazing guy who works at the marina and told him about the pickle we were in. He immediately put out a call to a contact based in Madeira, and later that day we got an email from Paul who agreed to assist us in sailing to Tenerife (Canary Islands). Finally, crew problem for the next leg solved. (Yeah!)
As indicated above, in our search for crew we received interest from several people who were unable to meet the short timeframe but were keen to join us later in the trip. With Paul limited to the Canary Island leg, we took the opportunity to engage two additional crew members. One who would join us in Cape Verde and a second person in Colon (Panama).
We also took the opportunity during this lay over period to investigate options for engagement of an experienced delivery skipper to assist us with the Atlantic crossing sail. In our view this leg posed the highest risk as it was storm season, and whilst we had comprehensive passage and contingency plans in place it just made sense to have someone on board with Atlantic crossing as well as significant sailing experience. We had made some preliminary enquiries via our dealer, The Multihull Group, prior to departing Australia and their recommendation was Halcyon Yachts in Great Britain. Whilst in A Coruna we contacted four agencies via email including Halcyon Yachts who was the only agency that responded in a timely manner. We accepted their quote and arranged for the delivery skipper to sail with us from the Canary Islands to Cape Verde and onto Panama City. Things were getting back on track and the relief was palpable.
Paul, our new crew member, joined us on the 6th August, but weather conditions delayed our departure for Tenerife until the 11th August. During this time, we took the opportunity to get to know Paul, do some sightseeing, and provision up.
Check out our review of Marina Coruna and how much we enjoyed the town and lifestyle of A Coruna