Bay of Biscay sailing. The sailing that day was pretty good with wind around 15 knots on a solid broad reach (a knot is a bit more than a mile). Various kinds of Dolphins and whales are seen in the waters of Bay of Biscay. Another commonly found animal species are Cetaceans. The Bay of Biscay is notorious for bad weather and rough seas but how accurate is this reputation? This was quite the scare that a massive whale would hit us. The overnight was claimed uneventful yet exciting.P.S. A lot of laughs, sometimes a bit stressful, but it worked!’However many crew you choose to have on board for a Biscay crossing, taking the offshore route will involve a watch system and rotating crew to ensure everyone gets enough rest.Crossing Biscay can be a battle against the elements but with a favourable wind it will be a memorable passage.Dramatic pictures of waves crashing against and engulfing lighthouses abound but these are winter storms rather than summer conditions.Settled summer weather when the Azores high ridges to the UK gives SW winds in the Channel but in mid and south Biscay E and NE winds predominate.This pattern will be broken when a family of depressions cross the Atlantic passing close to the UK; this makes it difficult to find a favourable weather window as the wind veers from SW to NW then back again, hardly giving time to make progress on one tack or the other.The continental shelf extends some 60nm into the Bay from Brest; this shallower water forces the deep Atlantic swells upwards creating steep breaking seas.As the wind veers to the NW post cold front, a horrible cross sea can develop making it dangerous over the continental shelf.Crossing Biscay can be undertaken at any time of the year however during autumn and winter, waiting for a weather window can be a long process.La Coruna presents a slightly shorter alternative landfall, which some boats took advantage of this year to pick up fuel. It all started when we were “Borkumed” in Roscoff, France (Our family has invented a phrase of of being Borkumed with many meanings, one of those is being trapped in a marina and not out on the sea due to weather. Sailing Yacht Florence. Some challenging weather, coupled with steering problems (fixed by manufacturing a replacement component with a cut to size chopping board from the galley) and finding we were a bit too short handed when the rough weather hit meant the Biscay leg was certainly an adventure!’‘Our boat was slightly restrictive in that it’s smaller than most others and so therefore slower, when the swell picked up in Biscay we probably didn’t ride the waves quite as comfortably as some others in the fleet that are more heavy set cruising boats, it also meant that we got used to leaving early in order to get to the next place before nightfall. Will Bruton reveals the best ways to cross this notorious rite of passage Conquering Biscay is truly a rite of passage. Yes. During this post, we explore what cruising through the bay is like, how long it takes, why it has such a bad reputation and if it is dangerous. Alquiler de plazas. It started with me going: “We are back folks more with Benny’s first overnight. Additional Info. Sail with the Flo – from England back to England – via the rest of the world ... Uncategorized Biscay. The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal. After dinner I stayed up pretty late on deck chillaxing then went to bed at around 10 pm. Somehow I got out of bed and put on my overnight gear; – socks, sailing shoes (crocs), pants, water pants, T-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, and racing gloves on (to get in the spirit). Mom was so scared she braced for impact.
When I got on deck, I clipped my harness in which connects me to the boat by clipping to my life jacket. We just went straight across and avoided the inner bay. There was also one boat in the distance that was not in our way but we saw a little light. The south area of the Bay of Biscay washes over the northern coast of Spain and is known as the The average depth is 1,744 metres (5,722 ft) and the greatest depth is 4,735 metres (15,535 ft).The Bay of Biscay is named (for English speakers) after The main rivers that empty into the Bay of Biscay are In late spring and early summer a large fog triangle fills the southwestern half of the bay, covering just a few kilometres inland.