Bay of Biscay

First real sea experience in the infamous Bay of Biscay, 350+ miles (630km) to go, 25 kts (6 Bft) in a brand new boat...

We started this (for me) epic crossing on Wednesday April 19th. A day marked in my agenda for months. If everything would go well, we would be able to leave La Rochelle on this day. And as everything lined up perfectly, we were able to go. The Bay of Biscay I only knew from books about massive storms, shipwrecks and sailors with enormous balls.

After the skipper and first mate did the last groceries and I temporarily installed Starlink, we left the dock at 13:45h. The other Nautitech owners didn't even notice this momentous event, all too busy with their own boats. Unfortunately the owners of our older sister boat, the Nautitech 40 #248 (we’re build nummer #249), were to town so I didn't have a chance to say goodbye.

On the water we needed to go upwind a bit to get out of the bay of La Rochelle, after that we literally set sail for A Coruna and let the autopilot do it’s job. The expected wind would turn gradually so we would be able to stay on the same sail course almost all the way. We did an average of 8 to 9 kts, which is more than the top speed “my” first sail yacht “Jonas” ever reached.

As a precaution I (secretly 😁) took medication for seasickness, better safe than sorry. And kept looking at the horizon as much as possible (rule 1 of seasickness), that's the best trick to prevent seasickness. As the sun set the wind and sea were pretty rough. Very unpredictable waves sometimes banging loudly on de underside of the bridge deck (part between the two hulls), a perfect test for the boat. And for myself!

During the night we stayed warm and sheltered inside, as a few waves threw water on our front windows, over the boat and into our dinghy. We have AIS, so we see other ships on our chart plotter (screen that shows all necessary boat and wind information on the map with our position) miles before we see them by eye. It's a safe feeling knowing others also see us. As it got darker it got cloudy and more difficult to keep looking at the horizon, remember rule 1 of seasickness! Rule 2: if rule 1 cannot be applied and you feel seasickness coming up: close eyes, al long as feasible. Or even better take a nap.

Luckily we’re with 3, so there's always the possibility to lay down and have a quick nap. After midnight I was gettig tired and decided to sleep. That went surprisingly well! Great to see the waves rush by the window next to your bed. I fell a sleep knowing the autopilot was doing a great job in the wet and nasty conditions outside. Without it one of us would have to stand outside and manually steer the boat in the pitch black night.

Waking up around 3 o’clock I joined the crew and relieved our first mate so she could get some sleep. It was getting colder inside so we all had our sleeping bags or blankets to keep us warm. I noticed an email from my dealer informing me about a software bug in the latest version of the autopilot software causing it to disengage… and as a good security guy, I had installed the latest update in La Rochelle. We had been getting unlogical “Rudder Limit” alarms, so that might be related. Unfortunately we could do nothing else that hope it would keep working. Which is basically what we hope for every system onboard.

After a few hours the sun finally reappeared and it dawned on me that this would be the first day in my life of not seeing any land. Our skipper mentioned that for the first time in 20 years he had experienced seasickness! Possibly due to the strange rolling effect of a catamaran. I had no issues!

During the day the wind dropped and we started the engines, also recharging the batteries. And warming up water for a mid-sea shower! Lovely! A large group of more than 8 dolphins joined us. Great to watch them looking at us while laying on the trampoline (netted area, between the two hulls on the front of the boat).

The second night we had a more official watch schedule, I opted for the first (2100--0000h) and as a result also got 0300-0600h. We used a system with 1 hour overlap, so you're only alone for 1 hour per watch. The most exciting thing during my watch was a bowl falling from the table in 1000 parts. Luckily we have exactly 3 left.

On Friday we quickly saw land: Spain! Along the coast the wind increased and we set a new top speed of 18,1 kts, surfing off a massive wave! I felt fine, trusting the boat is capable of handling this, as long as we reduce the sail before the wind gets to strong. We sail quite conservative, and reef (reduce the sail area) quickly, so we are never “overpowered”. As soon as the boat hits 8 kts or more the rudders start singing/vibrating: a great sound and feeling!

Just before sunset we arrived in Sada, a small town in the bay of A Coruna. We're welcomed by a friend of our skipper and we have dinner together. On land it feels strange, everything seems like it's still moving. Exhausted I fall asleep. Now a sailor with bigger balls 😂