Wind, waves & seasickness

Since we had spent the day preparing everything, including pre-cooking food, for the next days of crossing Biscaya, we didnt want to cook more and decided to all go out for dinner. Well funny idea, because with 7 people, on a saturday night, after a big event in the city center all day, well not easy. Also with some people having very strong opinions on food (dont we all love that scenario when people reject all offered options but dont suggest anything new..), even less easy. We walked around the center, which was super busy but also really pretty for an hour, everywhere we got there was maximum a table for 2 or mayyybe 3 people available spontaneously. When we finally found a place with a table for 7, the next challenge came up. We were in spain, in a tapas restaurant, with 4 vegetarians. Only vegetarian options on the menu: the side salad or the starter tortilla. So... out again, keep looking. Next place we found that was empty enough, had a 1,5 star review average on google, so we decided against that also.
The place we ended up in, when we were all very much close to the border of letting hangry take over the mood, ended up being a really nice place, quiet and serving some nice mix of asian foods. Luckily i am used to dinners around 10/11pm in my everyday life, the others in the group though usually eat dinner at 6/7, so it was for sure a close call to starvation 😄.
Seeme like without leaving the harbour we are still starting our adventures.
The next day, our unexpected extra rest day was really good though. After sleeping in properly, we spend the day in a café, with reading+farsi/working and went for a nice walk on the beach.
Somehow i ended up in 3 atlantic coastal, spanish cities this year, i love all of them - unexpectedly this region really comes high on my list of potential places to live for a while. This phenomenon of being in the city center and suddenly stumbling onto the beach with waves, surfing and tides.. amazing.

Since the soles of my boots started to come of in the last sailing night, we decided to give Zika Flex a try. It managed to seal our windows and glue back in our winches, so why shouldnt it work to make sure my feet stay dry (and i wont trip over the soles due to not lifting my feet properly)? :D

The evening we decided not to repeat our mistake from the day before and ordered pizza to the harbour - everyone got exactly what they wanted and we had a cosy night in, before getting up early (breakfast at 7 the next morning). We also discussed the upcoming next couple days in detail.The plan: cross the Bay of Biscay in the 48 hour time window we had between the worst of two lowpressure systems. The idea was to kind of follow just behind one of them, and hope to make it to the other side, to Brest, before the next one hit full force.
I have to admit, i was more than nervous. Everyone else seemed quite excited though and since i trust all of them and their sailing experience, and also didnt have much of a choice anyway, well i guess this is happening now.
Early night before getting up for breakfast at 7 was next.

The plan was to leave at 11, but since the Baumarkt was closed yesterday, Muki had to go today to buy some last utensils to finally make sure all the windows are properly sealed.
The task for the rest of us: prepare the boat in anticipation of 6m waves and 35knots of wind. So: nothing lose allowed anywhere, everything had to be stored. Also we had to anticipate the fact that seasickness could hit all of us bad in this weather and to make the conditions of that as comfortable as possible we placed tissues, water, vomex, pre-cooked ginger tea in thermoses, cola, and a solid mix of fast snacks everywhere on deck and in all the cabins - as wasily accessible, while still stored properly, as possible. We covered the couches in garbage bags, to create the option to just go under deck and pass out immediately, with all the "Ölzeug" the oil skins (jacket, pants and shoes made for tough weather), no matter how wet.
Moving under deck was challenging enough with the 2m waves we had had so far, 6m would make it very unpleasant, so keeping distances as short as possible, would be a benefit for all of us. Funny how sailors seem to fully anticipate throwing up for a couple days and still chose to go sailing again and again and be happy and excited about it.. i am still forming my opinion on this one.

So prepared for the worst, hoping for the best, we finally undocked at 3pm.

Not before another round of Vomex for everyone - this medication blocks your histamin and therefore helps for not feeling seasick, but it has to be taken in advance - once you start throwing up pills wont have much use anymore.
The start was smooth, the wind still bearable and the waves honestly really fascinating. I felt fully fine and enjoyed watching this massive body of water making waves and lifting us up and down, no land in sight - again makes you feel really small and you can really feel the power of the water.

To rest before my first night shift, i decided to sleep quite fast though - another useful side-effect of Vomex, it knocks you out a d helps you sleep at unusual times and with all the noise of the ocean around you.
When i woke up again i was still fine, but the moment i got up, things changed. When seasick, what helps the most i to lie down and close your eyes, standing usually makes things work, especially under deck. To get on all my clothes and oil skins, i had to get up though and immediately the waves made me feel so sick that i had to interrupt the process of getting dressed to run to the bathroom.
Once dressed and outside things were crazy. Completely dark and water splashing everywhere, 30knots of wind, rain and waves Muki told me "Fini you are not steering today, too challenging. Sit right here, closest to the sprayhood(the entry of the boat to go under deck), to protect yourself from the weather as much as possible and just be another pair of eyes on deck. If you move stay as much down as possible, of course always attach the safety belt and just be careful."
The next thing i heard was that 1 hour before our Fock (the small sail in front) ripped, due to a lot of wind (and probably quality of the material). So we were sailing with the riffed main sail, but the wind was coming from behind so the person at the helm had to focus really hard to keep the boat on course to avoid accidental gybes - the boom from changing sides in an unplanned way, one of the most dangerous things to happen on a sailing boat, especially with this size, in this weather). So, no steering for me, this was not a beginners task. I spend my shift sitting, watching first Kiarash and then Flo struggling to keep the boat on course, made more difficult with the massive waves, and.. well with a bucket in my lap, crawling around occasionally to empty it.
Usually the person not steering is supposed to do navigation, but we were on the open sea just going in a straight line for 2 days, no obstacles in sight, almost no other boats around, so navigation was not needed.
After one and a half, of 2 planned hours, Timo came up and told me he can start his shift early if i wanted to go to bed - i accepted more than gladly.
The moment i was back in bed, under a warm blanket (yes, i did go through the effort of taking of my oil skins, even though i would have to put them on again later), i felt immediately better.

I woke up for my next shift 4 hours later and everything felt immediately different. No rain, i could not hear much wind and also the waves had calmed.
I could get dressed no problem - but i saw i was for sure not the only one who had had a tough night : Marja was passed out in full rain gear on the saloon floor (not even the couch) Kiarash was lying next to me but also in rainpants and shoes (to stay in standy by modus), at least he had put towels under, and the whole boat was dripping a bit cause there was wet oil skins everywhere.
The outside world had calmed down massively, with only 7 knots of wind left the storm was somehow over, it felt more like the first couple weeks of this trip than anyone had dared to expect. The only difference were the big waves. But i could finally keep down the cola and some snacks and managed to do my shift as normal, just fine.
The next morning i spent sleeping, or doozing. Since some people were moving around, the motor was being fixed again and the waves and the wind were as always creating a solid noisy background. Around 1 i decided that i really had to try and put some actual food in my body again, and made it through 4-5 spoons of our precooked risotto before i gave up (Kiarash had the same with the precooked pasta). My stomach immediately felt funny again, and sitting up under deck really didnt feel good. I decided to get dressed and go on deck - usually on deck sea sickness is always better - fresh air and watching the horizon helps.
And it did help, on deck i was immediately fine again, watching the water and the waves was amazing and the sun even came out for some minutes every now and then. Poor Marja was still super sick, and was taken out of the shift plan until the next harbour - poor girl had just joined us for this part of the trip, taken holidays just for the Biscaya crossing..
Since Flo, Toni and Timo had spent the morning on deck, Kiarash and me (and Marja) were taking the afternoon shift. Since the weather had calmed down a lot we were using autopilot so we were just chilling and talking. Also hundreds of the portugese manowars we had already seen on the last leg of our journey, but this time the babies were swarming around our boat.

The night shifts were calm but cold. The second one past super quickly since the whole hour i was on deck (the water was so calm that the navigation shift could sit under deck in the saloon), i was watching dolphins play and hunt other fish around our boat. We had a lot of dolphins on this trip already, but it doesnt stop to amaze me to watch them from so close and to see more of them than just their fins when they jump out of the water.. 😊😊.
Maybe those experiences are why sailors put up with the seasickness.
The next day i slept in again, the night shifts always interrupting your sleep makes sleeping in necessary, at least for me. And since time really becomes a quite irrelevant concept when on a boat 24/7 the rythm changes anyway.
When i joined Flo, Toni and Muki on deck though we were down to the last couple hours of our leg. I was hungry, but also couldnt find the energy to make food, so i just had some snacks and fruit for now.
On deck i got to test my new oil jacket, and the borrowed pants and shoes (the zika flex had come of last night again sadly, but since i was only sitting it was okay) - because outside the wind was picking up again (cooold) and it was raining heavily.
But a whole nother scenario as during the first night since it was daylight, land was in sight and everyone was hyped to arrive.
The oil skins did keep me dry and making navigation a team effort and steering through growing waves, although we still used the motor to be faster, we finally arrived in Harbour.
We immediately hung up all our oil skins in the two bathrooms we have under deck, and made a big lunch - everyone was hungry.
1 hour after arriving in port the world outside was basically falling apart: we had just about dodged a proper storm eith 60knots of wind (double of what we had in our first night). Even docked in harbour we could feel the waves shaking our boat and except for running to the showers (for some reason there was no light, but at least they were proper warm showers), we all hid under deck.
Outside it was raining heavily, strong winds and inside we were just happy to not be out there anymore, playing a card game and snacking, everyone finally hungry and dry again.

During the night i really got a bit afraid of the thought of what would have happened if we hadnt made it on schedule to the harbour. It was pouring, the wind was clearly audible. And the waves, in harbour, was feeling like a giant decided to full force kick against our bed, every few seconds, making everything vibrate.
Wow. But at least no up and down. So after some well deserved netflix time, we finally (although still with airplugs like on the water) got a full night of sleep. And what kind of sleep. 10 hours non stop, like a baby... 😴😴😴Læs mere