We left Howth in June 2006 heading for Spain and the Mediterranean.
We reached Spain after a 50 hour trip across the Bay of Biscay which turned out to be pretty uneventful with practically no wind but biggish swells especially on the continental shelf. There was hardly any traffic at all - we saw a total of 2 sets of lights during the first night, a ferry passed by during the second day at sea and we saw only one target during the entire second night!
We left Royan which is about 30 miles south of La Rochelle 14.30 hours and landed in Viveiro on the Northwest tip of Spain at Approx 16.30. The much heralded fog was down and we would have had huge difficulty identifying the entrance to the Ria without our lovely new chartplotter. The only mishap on route occurred at around 0300 hours during the second night when our trusty but old Cetrek auto pilot went bonkers and refused to hold a course. This meant that we had to steer the boat ourselves for the final 14 hours - tiring!
We were initially going to head straight for Santander from France but we took on board the very sound advice of Paul Doody whom we met at Eamon Markey´s Liffey excursion before we left Dublin. He explained that as the prevailing winds were westerlies it might prove difficult to bash our way along the coast heading for la Coruna and then on down to Lisbon.
The weather remains foggy but very warm and pleasant. We met some really interesting people here on the marina who joined us for drinks and supper last night on board Safari.
That's all for the moment.
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