Bay of Biscay

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    • Day 22

      Sea Day #2 on way to Cartagena, Colombia

      December 27, 2023 ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Getting used to grilled salmon salad for lunch. Hitting the gym, sauna, and spa pool almost daily too to combat the great food abundance😳. Nice walking ring on board too. Looking forward to a day at Cartagena's Old City UNESCO site tomorrow, then on to Panama Canal.Read more

    • Day 2

      Arrival in Spain

      September 18, 2019 ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      The Pyrenees to our left and Santander in front. We have had a beautiful crossing across the bay. No whales unfortunately.

      The Pont Aven was a very pleasurable experience. The cabin was comfortable and served our needs with an en-suite bathroom, towels and toiletries provided. The food was reasonably priced, €20 for two breakfasts and €40 for two two course dinners with cheese and biscuits and wine. We saw no whales but according to more experienced travellers of the route this is normal and it did not affect the enjoyment of looking for them.
      At 550 miles the trip costs just 20 pence per mile each which is a bargain. This would make a ticket on the Red Funnel ferry £2.20 per person and you don't get a bed or private toilet on the Red Funnel.
      Do expect to have to wait in the public areas at both ends if you are a foot passenger. They have 67 staff to clean 600 cabins in 3 hours so many are not ready when you board but all are ready before departure. At the destination you are asked to vacate the cabin 45 mins prior to arrival but there is plenty of space and seatingvwhilst you wait.
      All in all a great experience and a wonderful way to start a tour of Europe.
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    • Day 2

      Not the kind of roll I like....

      September 18, 2019 ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

      So there we were... napping away.... in our bunks... and the boat started rocking.. now sitting after 4 hours sleep drinking tea out of a plastic cup waiting for the sun to come up and hoping for the vom to stay down.. only 10 hrs left!Read more

    • Day 2

      1. Seetag

      October 28, 2023 ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

      28.10.2023 Samstag Seetag
      Früh 7 Uhr schleppe ich mich zur Joggingrunde. Es ist kalt, regnerisch und dunkel. Dann zum Studio auf das Laufband. Leider erschließt sich die Bedienung nicht und ich mache 20 Minuten Workoutprogramm und schwitz wie Doll. Laufband ist blöd, aber besser als nichts. Frühstück um East, dort ist es nicht so voll. Dafür stopfen wir uns voll. Muss aufhören. Danach fallen wir ins Bett bis zum Mittag. Mittag Salat und Obst. Eine gute Teemaschine.
      Nachmittag Kaffee und Kuchen. Alkoholfreier Cocktail. Abends im Bella Donna. Nach zwei Blumenvasen Vino Tinto zur Sol Bar gewankt. Eine Band spielt Disko Fox. In der Pause mit Tanzlehrerin Anni AIDA Line Dance. Wir reihen uns ein und ich versuche erfolglos dort mit zu stolpern. Noch einen Gin Tod und dann gegen 23 Uhr ins Bett.
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    • Day 2

      Day 2 - Orca Spotting

      June 12, 2023 ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      We had an excellent night sleep in our bijou cabin. Around 10am we left the cabin & bought a coffee in the ferry’s Tapas restaurant which we had with a croissant bought from home. (Jackie had read reviews to say that the food was really expensive on the ferry with a full English breakfast being €19, hence we brought our own food, when in fact the full English actually cost the very reasonable €8.50). Whilst having breakfast, we briefly spotted,out of the window, a dolphin or huge fish in the water.

      After breakfast we headed up to the sun deck and we were surprised to see that we were so close to land. We were just passing the French coastal town of Porspoder, which is in the north western corner of Brittany.

      We also found a man looking out to sea with a pair of binoculars, a long lensed camera around his neck and a blue tabard with the grand title of ‘Orca Spotter’ across the front. I asked Mr Orca Spotter if he had seen anything & he was just telling us that he had seen a pod of about 20 Harbour Porpoises in the distance, when I said “Like that one down there?” Immediately below us was a porpoise that surfaced a couple of times before disappearing in our wake. Upon this sighting, Mr Orca Spotter bellowed “Harbour Porpoise” a couple of times for the benefit of the other passengers. I didn’t manage to get a photo of it.

      After helping Mr Orca Spotter do his job, we had a wander round and found a sign with information about the species of dolphins & whales we could possibly see on the crossing, including Orcas, particularly in the Bay of Biscay.

      It was an overcast sky, but regardlessly we pulled up 2 plastic reclined chairs & watched France and a few assorted islands pass by. Disappointingly we didn’t see any more sea life, but we did see clusters of small brown birds that were awkwardly attempting to rest on the sea presumably whilst on their migration north. We also spotted ‘tw*t’ who true to form had a special cabin on the 9th deck.

      At lunchtime Jackie brought up a bladder of wine & some sausage rolls, which we completely consumed throughout the afternoon in the now beating sun. Around 6pm Jackie informed me that she had sun block cream in her bag, which was probably about 6 hours too late. At 7.15pm, we finally called it a day & retreated to our cabin….me with a bright red face & Jackie with strap marks. We slept & watched Netflix through the evening and night.

      Song of the Day - From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea by The Cure.
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    • Day 15

      Passage from Brittany to Galicia

      July 26, 2021 ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      We say goodbye to the lovely Port la Fôret, turn on our engine and put us up the sails. We have more than 50 hours of passage to make across the bay of Biscay.
      Donal O Driscoll has given us many wise words over the years and they frequently come to mind and guide us. His advice on passage making is make it as fast as is comfortable. Weather and conditions can change on passage and in the Bay of Biscay there is no where to go but through it. Based on this we leave the engine on, while we sail and make 7 knots rather than slowing back to 5 knots without it,
      This passage, like our last, is rolly. The kids are dosed up with seasick medication and yet still feel a bit queasy and sleepy. They are troupers and always perk up with any bit of distraction. They can’t read or write because of the motion but they have podcasts downloaded and it’s lovely to see them laugh away to themselves when they are wearing their headphones. We also enjoy playing music on the speakers and we are all loving Queen at the moment. Later on night-watch it seems all I have downloaded to Spotify on my phone is Prince - so I listen to Purple rain about 5 times!
      Colm joins Ronan on the first watch after dinner when day turns to night. he brings a blanket and his band of toys up with him and they all have a lovely few hours together. Later in the night Ronan spots the ‘Green Isle’ fishing boat he on the AIS and talks to a Donegal man on the VHF. Later a Cork fisherman nearby contacts Ronan for a chat on the radio.
      When the first night is turning into the second day on passage, the wind comes up and there are squalls and dark clouds about. I have to bear away to prevent Régal becoming overpowered and rounding up into the wind. We put two reefs in and the boats settles back down and is comfortable on her course again. Colm is up with me when I see the blows from a Whale in front of us. I think she is sleeping because the 4 blows come from the same spot. I bear away to Port and as we come closer her huge back and fin come up and before she dives down. I hold my breath until I am sure we and she are out of harms way. I let out a ‘holy …..’ when I breath out, she was a big one - Probably a fin whale.

      We continue on our journey through the vast infinity pool, which is how Ruby describes where we are. Hour after hour all we see is sea and a 360 degree horizon.
      Later on, on day two there is a bit of excitement as our AIS screen becomes dotted with boats. We are out in the middle of the Bay of Biscay when all of a sudden we seem to be surrounded by traffic. We investigate the chart and see we are near the Gascogne Knoll, a shallower part of the bay and near the French/ Spanish boarder. We avoid getting too close to anyone but see some of the boats in the distance.
      The swell is dropping by the hour we all welcome the reduction in roll and the improvement in sleep.
      At 8am on day three, Colm declares ‘Land ahoy’ - He is the first to spot the Spanish Coast, dead ahead. As we get closer the heat comes up and we have a sun -filled 7 hours before we drop our Anchor in Cedeira.
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    • Day 6

      A great destination

      July 17, 2021 ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      After passing through the Raz de Sein we continue our passage from Camaret to Loctudy . We were hoping to go to Anchor for a few days in îles de Glenan but the wind forecast lead us to believe Loctudy was a better option. It is a long day at sea and thankfully by lunchtime Ruby and Colm are over the worst of the effects of the sleep inducing seasickness medication.
      We pass Phare D’Eckmuhl, the lighthouse at Penmarch - ‘gateway to the sun’. We see an extraordinary athletic display from
      Dolphins as they are hunting around the point. They are torpedos moving through the water and we see them jumping and diving, bounding towards their prey. The seabirds swirling and diving add to the whole excitement of the scene we find ourselves in. We have no photos as the dolphins were much too fast for our amateur photography.
      Later in the afternoon there is only a light breezy and the sun is beating down on the boat. We jury-rig the back canopy to shade the helm. Our ETA in Loctudy is 6pm. We see the mainland on our Port and on our starboard we begin to see îles de Glenans. Everyone had been disappointed in Camerat when we had made the decision to change our destination from anchoring off islands of the Glenans. Now we could see them right there and they were indeed ‘Caribbean-like’ ,as the good guide book said, it made it even more difficult to head to Loctudy. Ronan and I had a private pow-wow at the bow and came back to Ruby and Colm with the good news that we were changing course to Starboard. We anchored below the lighthouse on île de Penfret with little wind and hot sun delighted with our decision.
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    • Day 110

      Robbie's, Islamorada, USA

      February 26, 2018 ⋅ 🌬 7 °C

      Tarponfeeding: Robbie fand einen verletzten Tarpon im Jahr 1976, der am Pier herumschwamm. Er dachte, er stecke im seichten Boden fest und stieg ins Wasser. Dort sah er, dass der Fisch die rechte Seite seines Kiefers aufgerissen hatte. Er brachte ihn in den Shrimptank und ein Arzt nähte dem Fisch mit der Matratzennadel den Kiefer zu. "Scarface" wurde einige Tage zwangsernährt und erholte sich gut und legte an Gewicht zu. Nach 6 Monaten liess Robbie ihn frei. Scarface kam immer wieder und brachte andere Tarpins mit.
      Für 3$ kauften wir 7 Fischhappen für die Tarpons und gingen auf den Pier. Sobald die Pelikane den Eimer in meiner Hand sahen, kamen sie angerannt. Der Fischverkäufer warnte uns noch vor den bissigen Pelikanen... Als sie sehr nahe kamen, warf ich ihnen 2 Fische zur Ablenkung hin (nützte nichts bei 5 Pelikanen), da ich die Fische ohne Bisswunden füttern wollte. Der Junge, der die Pelikane gnadenlos mit Wasser abspritzte, um sie zu verscheuchen, meinte trocken, dass es 500$ Busse gebe, wenn ich die Pelikane füttere... Ich warf die Fische ins Wasser, anstatt sie hochzuhalten und die Tarpone so zum Springen zu animieren...
      Ein Manatee schwamm unter dem Pier und unter den Tarpons durch... Nur der Franzose neben mir fand es ebenfalls recht toll;-). Der Fischverkäufer meinte beim Kauf auf meine Frage wegen Manatees, jaja, vorhin war mal eins da...
      Auf dem Heimweg ein Weisskopfadler auf einem Telefonmast gesichtet:-).

      Marktstände und Restaurants liegen ebenfalls am Pier. Ein schöne Plätzchen...
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    • Day 249

      Leaving Santander

      June 12, 2021 ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

      34 hour ferry trip from Santander to Portsmouth.
      After our last ferry trip we weren't expecting much... We didn't realise the boat was ran by the French. Our free dinner we expected to be like a school dinner ended up being the second nicest meal of the whole trip 😂 complete with silver service.

      Ringo much happier in the room with us this time too, rather than his locker 🤣
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    • Day 6

      7 aug., 2e dag in de G. van Biscaje

      August 7, 2020 ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      s' Nachts om 02.00 uur -bij de wisseling van de wacht- horen we een luid gesnuif, alsof er een stop uit een luchtbed getrokken wordt.
      In het donker zien we een grote zwarte rug vlak naast de boot. Duikt en komt weer boven, haalt diep adem en verdwijnt in de diepte. Het is waarschijnlijk een Pilot-Wale, kleine walvis van 5 - 8 meter lang.
      In mijn wacht zwemt een dolfijn een tijdje met de boot mee om even later weer te verdwijnen.
      De nacht breng ik door met mijn luisterboeken van storytel, het opletten en uitkijken over zee.
      In de heldere nacht is de sterrenhemel fantastisch, je ziet de wolkachtige band van de melkweg.
      Diep in de nacht verschijnt er een knipperlicht aan de horizon, recht voor de boeg.
      Na enige tijd kan ik met de verrekijker de contouren van een groot schip waarnemen, vissersschip, kabellegger?
      Voor de zekerheid ga ik er met een wijde boog om het gevaar heen.

      In de loop van de dag neemt wind steeds verder toe en draai naar het noorden.
      Nog 80 mijl te gaan, de windmeter wijst 25 - 27 knopen aan. (= winkracht 6 -7)
      De golven en deining nemen fors toe, af en toe slaat het buiswater over het schip , de luiken moeten dicht.
      We zeilen nu met twee reven in het grootzeil.
      De Janne (naam van het schip) doet het fantastisch met 8 knopen naderen we Spanje.
      We zien op de rand van het diepe water tonijnvissers, een grote groep dolfijnen kruist onze koers. Ze hebben andere plannen en verdwijnen in de verte.
      Om 20.30 uur varen we de haven van Gijon binnen een oase van rust na de wilde rit.
      Eten maken en slapen.........
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Bay of Biscay, Aquitanicus Sinus, Baie de Biscaye, Cantaber Oceanus, Cantabrian Sea, Golfe de Gascogne, Golfo de Vizcaya, Le Golfe de Gascogne, Mar Cantábrico, Mare Cantabricum, Sinus Cantabricus

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