We left Gibraltar with a strong easterly wind on 6 Beaufort. In the Strait we got the wind exactly from the behind and the waves were about 3 meters. But with only the foresail up we did a good speed and had a comfortable trip out to the Atlantic. Outside Tarifa we changed course from westerly to northwesterly. We planned to sail to Culatra in Portugal.
We stayed a week in Algarve and meet some old friends in Lagos before we sat sail for the west coast of Portugal. This coast line is famous and known for its northerly winds, but we were lucky to catch a wind from southwest for two days. Together with another Swedish sailing boat we made this distance in 50 hours.
In the bay outside Bayona in Spain we dropped our anchor. It was a very special feeling to have done this distance because of the unfavorably winds which are preveling here. After a good meal and a cooled bear we went to sleep in the cockpit.
Bayona is a very nice town and we did a lot of walks in the old town. It was in the middle of June and we were now planning for the midsummer celebrations.
We day sailed up north on the Spanish coast and in a few days we arrived at Camarinas. We came here on our way down to the Mediterranean. It is a very safe bay to anchor in so we planned to go into the bay outside the town to seek protection from the winds. In this area we must beware of the winds and the tides and of course a good sandy sea bottom for our anchor.
We had a nice time here together with sailors from all over the world, but we celebrated the Midsummer Eve bye ourselves in the cockpit. We had Swedish “matjessill” and together with new potatoes from the market in the town it was a unforgotten moment in our life.
We planned the trip to cross the Bay of Biscay and one day we decided to go the day after. The winds should be weak and westerly. About 5 boats left the marina, and the bay were we anchored, and sailed towards France.
We had a pleasant trip over the bay and after about 65 hours we saw the French coastline in the horizon.
Now we had made the most difficult distances on our trip back home to Sweden. Hopefully the rest of the trip should be in favorable winds……….
Posted by sailforfun 