Sailing Season 2019 - Part 1 From Granville (Normandy) to Ceuta (Africa)
First of all, I have to dot one's i's and cross one's t's. In my story, solo navigator does not mean alone. When I say "we", it means Petit Prince 2, Blondie the tireless autopilot (because without it this adventure would not be possible) and me. Spread it abroad !
From one year to the other things are different. The last year's trip went as planned but this year's project had to be modified. Of course I knew that everything was depending mainly on the weather but I wanted to be resolutely optimistic. After all, we were at the end of the spring months... and summer was coming. The departure, scheduled for early June, saw the depressions passing one behind the other with strong winds and the weather remained unstable. My plan to reach La Coruña from Granville in one go was dwindling. But every day, we hope for a change... After two weeks waiting, used for the last preparations on board, I had to make a decision about the strategy to follow, to look for a breach through the bad weather to move forward. This breach will be this lull after the storm, this changeable sky that is often short. Yes, we will use it to move forward in small steps, to reach the blue waters of the south.
Three stages on the Côte des Abers (Northern coast of Brittany), selected because they allow access at any time of the tide, day and night, were necessary to reach the western end of Brittany. The first one was the picturesque port of Lézardrieux on the Trieux river where I will find an unusual tombstone on a pavement, then it will be Roscoff where I will arrive for the last stage of this legendary race, the Solitaire du Figaro, bringing together almost 50 sailboats. And finally, the Aber Wrac'h, the northernmost aber, on the borders of Finisterre and the Celtic Sea, flanked to the north by the island named "Île Vierge" and its highest lighthouse in the world ! It is a very calm haven and a very safe refuge in bad weather. It is surrounded by the countryside. The marina provides access to the small town called L'Aberwrac'h. Then, it is the fog which envelops the coast. Visibility is down to a few yards. From the boat the quay of the small port is blurred and shrouded in mist. Another wait, but nothing changes. The notice of a rise in high pressures from the Azores anticyclone towards the Bay of Biscay encourages me to leave. We have to seize the opportunity. We must find the blue waters...
We leave the aber in the fog, trusting the GPS. The ship's course is set to the island of Ouessant and then it will be the crossing of the Bay of Biscay ! A weak muggy wind pushes Petit Prince 2. Near Ouessant the mist is still thick. Ouessant Stiff radio station broadcasts a regular message asking ships to keep a carefull lookout when they are in the vicinity of the island, visibility is only 50 yards. With caution, we will pass the island on the windward side. And what a great idea! On this side, little by little, this mist disappears and the horizon appears. In front of us the Atlantic Ocean and 330 nautical miles to reach A Coruña in Galicia. The wind gets up under the effect of the high pressure moving north from the Azores. Under fresh breeze with the mainsail furled and the gennaker set for a beam reach, finally we sail to the south. A blue sail for blue waters...
From now on, almost all the rest of the trip will be done in using foresails and mainly the gennaker. There are several reasons for this strategy. Firstly because, to move in the right direction, the wind will blow mainly from behind the boat and the mainsail will prevent the wind from reaching the foresail. Then because the boat quickly reaches her maximum speed velocity, often passing slightly over it, and her displacement length ratio places this design between a racing sailboat and a cruising sailboat. So there is no necessity to put more sail area than needed. Sometimes the wind blows in very strong but short and inconstant gusts, justifying to take reefs in the mainsail. Reducing a sail with a furling system is much more easy, and does not endanger the crew. It should not be forgotten that I am alone on board and that my primary concern is the safety of the ship and her crew.
Four days were required for this ocean passage. Becalmed most of the third day under the burning heat of the sun, the boat far of everything now shows no reaction on this calm, blue, smooth, oily vast expanse of the sea. An east wind rises in the evening reaching rapidly to force 7. And it is under a leaden sky, a gray and stormy sea where rain and wind mix together, that we get to A Coruña.
After some days it's a new departure, running downwind, destination Lisbon. We leave Galicia and its nice rias, which I already visited in the past, since there is still a long way to go. The Portuguese trade winds joined us under the sun and in fresh breeze we sail along the coast of Portugal. Off Cascais the wind weakens, disappears. The idea to use the engine to sail up the river Tagus to Lisbon does not please me. I decide to take a break at Cascais, a seaside resort very popular with the Portuguese. I will use the railway to go to Lisbon (the train pass for a week, on this line of which Cascais is the terminus, is very inexpensive). I like enough, for a time, to become again a landsman here.
After more than a week, we set sail to the Algarve and Lagos, under the sun, its heat and the strong north wind of the Portuguese trade winds. This time here we are in these blue waters, now everything is easy, stable (well ... not always ... we will see that later).
With a wind that could blow off the horns of the local bulls, the Lagos marina is an expensive stopover ... too much expensive! (like many others too, in the Mediterranean , but the indecent prices that some marinas ask should make them ashamed, and that's without mentioning the quality of their services or their facilities wich are not even superior). So be careful about the prices and do not stop in these marinas. Before everything else a harbour is a refuge, and not only in bad weather. These practices dishonor the marine traditions of warm welcome, aid and assistance.
After a meeting with two radiohams contacted during the trip it's time to leave and to steer to the Bay of Cadiz and the harbour of Rota. Located at the extreme north of the bay, the Rota marina is comfortable, calm and it is worth visiting the Castillo de La Luna which is also the town hall. And this time, the bus takes me to visit the beautiful city of Cadiz.
The next port of call is Gibraltar ! We follow a way passing near the Cape of Trafalgar, then at night we turn towards east in front of Tarifa located at the southernmost point in continental Europe. We follow a wonderful way to the east and a west wind is blowing between the so close two continents. On the starboard side the city of Tangier and the coast of Morocco sparkles with a thousand fires. On the port side the intermittent dazzling beam of the lighthouse of Tarifa island sweeps the black water. The starry vault of heaven twinkles, the sea shines to the rhythm of the swell reflecting the lighting of the lands. Here and there barely emerging from the waves some little red, green, white lights drowned in the gleaming of all these rays run slowly towards a distant destination. Soon we arrive in the bay of Algeciras. Aeolus falls asleep. The engine is activated. Now Petit Prince 2 zigzags between cargo ships and tankers at anchor, then we have to wait till the dawn before entering the port that leads to the first column of Hercules. I can't find the marina right away and the idea to go to Alcaidaisa Marina located in La Linea, comes in my mind. It is just across the "border". Wise decision because this marina is very comfortable. There is a lot of berths for boats. It is much cheaper than Gibraltar and on foot we are only 400 meters away from the border.
After discovering the Rock, its old town and visiting La Linea, Ceuta calls us. A moderate gale warning is announced. It is the same every day for several days now. While waiting for a change in the weather forecast that never comes, it is finally decided to leave to Ceuta. We will not watch the world go by ! The crossing is short, 16 miles ... The Poniente (it's the west wind here) blows over the strait. The boat is on a force 3 beam reach while leaving. At the exit of the Bay of Algeciras, it is a force 4 which picks us up. In the middle of the Strait the wind goes to 5 and as we advance it rises, like the sea by the way. A force 6 wind on the Beaufort scale is blowing now and what worries me is a drift due to the current and the wind that pushes us east, out of Ceuta Bay. I change the course, our point of sail is close-hauled now and the wind has gone up to force 7. The sea covered with white crests is growing. We have to reduce again the sail area, but in that case we lose speed. There is not much missing to enter the Bay of Ceuta to be behind the protection screen of the Jebel Musa mountains. I take the helm. Finally, paying careful attention to what is going on, crafty tactics with waves and wind, we succeed to come to Ceuta. Once in the bay, the wind gradually drops as we approach our goal. In the harbour it is dead calm. Petit Prince 2 will be the only boat to enter the Ceuta marina that day. We are in the land of the second column of Hercules, and also on another continent. Petit Prince 2 is in Africa!
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