6th July 2009

While you wait for the update of the trip from France to the Scillies, Carolyn thought it was important that you got the crew (real) version of the Biscay crossing – So here it is.

Hi there! The Biscay Crossing....
We're here! I know ... you may already know already but I'm shouting you see!
Well you can read the blog which gives you some idea of what it was like! ... or read on!
For the first 24 hrs we had the engine on and there was no traffic - no problem to me! Indeed I even thought to myself that one or two ships per watch would be good! Only down side was that as soon as I started my 9 - 12 watch then my batteries went on my mp3 player! Ach weel!It had been very misty so we had the engine on but we did have lots of phosphorescence in the water - it looked like blue coals flashing past. Fantastic! (It's actually the only good thing about a night sail) Then the dolphins came to play and for most of the night there were one or two dolphins by the boat. They looked like flashing blue torpedoes!
Day 2 dawned and the wind came round to a better direction and off went the engine. All sails up and of course the wind starts rising when I'm on watch and Trevor's having a sleep(well trying to) I'll be fine lah lah lah the usual - I sing when I'm nervous! Still rising, now gusting 18knots. Not horrendous but we do have all sails out. I poke my head in the cabin and say "I think we'll have to shorten sail" Nothing! - He's finally managed to drop off. I'll manage. I reef the genoa and keep looking at the wind speed. Gusting 20 knots. I poke my head in the cabin and try again but I really don't want to wake him. Nothing. Glad he's having a doze so it's more lah lah lah. Gusting 22knots and my head is in the cabin door and I have no problem with the volume now when I announce "I think we need to shorten sail" ! It was fine - up he got, reefed the main and Balchis leans less and seams more comfortable - nae bother! We do 3 hrs on 3 hrs off on long trips so there's no real time to go to bed we just get by with a couple of hours at a time. After all of the reefing Trevor can't sleep anyway and the boat is rolling a bit. We decide to try a snack and maybe eat later at 8 or 9. Yeehah I'm now off watch! Phew! This, of course, is not how it looks but how it feels! Anyway it's fine when we're both awake or even better when I'm asleep! I don't remember if I went for a lie down but soon it was time to balance a bowl of bolognese (with the spaghetti already cut!) With dinner over it's my watch again - 9 - 12. I dodge fishing boats, worry about how far away Di and Bob on Sheer Fantasy are and get by. No dolphins tonight but more traffic. I feel as if they are all heading towards me! Still, not long until I'm off watch at midnight and Trevor had charged up batteries for my mp3 player. Very quiet lah lah lah because Trevor worries about the funny noises!
Midnight and I can make Trevor a tea and give a traffic report - nothing actually came within 2 miles but it feels like dodgems to me! I'm off to bed. Phew! Still rolling about a bit but we have created a nest in the cabin and you can wedge yourself in! Well in no time at all it's 3am. More traffic around and Trevor tells the story of a mast head light and a yacht which hadn't noticed him and didn't have any low down lights. Apparently it was the other way round but sleep deprivation's a wonderful thing. After going up forward and using the 33,000 million candle flashlight on the sails and then putting on all our motoring lights he veered quickly away! Glad I was in bed!
Mp3 player on and still sailing without any engine. Use of the radar is limited to save electricity. Quite a lot of traffic. Red lights - oh yes "no port left"(port you see is red in colour) Green lights well they're not red so "no port left" - not. so must be starboard must be right. OK he's going left to right that one is getting fainter the other one is getting brighter can't see nav lights(red or green) on most as they are too far away. Nav lights on that one but it looks ages away. I'll just have a wee squint at the radar. All appears ok. I can't tell which radar blob or light is Sheer Fantasy but they're bound to be going the same way Lah lah lah. So it goes on. Then there is a bright light ahead but no nav lights. Mast head so maybe there's a red or green sector light showing - no! Bloody hell! Well Trevor's dozed off so I'll manage lah lah lah. The light is on a steady bearing... ok I'll alter..... No, still on a steady bearing. I'll alter more - 10 degrees this time. No! Still on collision course! Still no visible nav lights! No more lah lah lah - way past that! 20 degrees and that's all I can do as I'll lose the wind. Shit! No! Still on collision course! Still no nav lights. Cabin open " Trevor!" Quick explanation to tired skipper while the sweat trickles down my back! Have you checked through the binoculars? Emm no! Trevor checks through binoculars and ........ bursts out laughing tells me it is a star, well planet, and announces he's going back to bed!!!
I could tell you about how I then couldn't tell the difference between a yacht with faint lights 1 mile away and a lighthouse 8 miles away but I won't!
I'll need to go now and lie down as I'm exhausted just typing it!
Carolyn