Countdown to the Crossing

Wednesday morning (tomorrow!) we’ll leave Vannes by the 9:30 bridge and head out of the Morbihan gulf, out of the Quiberon bay and into the Bay of Biscay for a 350 mile crossing to La Coruna, Spain.  ETA at 5 knots is around 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning.  The weather looks very calm (very very calm) and sunny, with no potential storm activity (CAPE and CIN zero).  We’ll make good use of our gennaker with light winds all the way down and will undoubtedly have long periods of motoring (motor-sailing-fishing).

For those who played along in the betting pool, the winner is Patrick’s pension papers, the last thing to arrive.  They have not and will not arrive before we leave but he was able to get a derogation.  The bike situation was a disaster – the guy couldn’t deliver on time so we canceled.  The gas crisis in France seems to have been resolved, and the Iroko hand railing miraculously arrived the week after it was ordered.  A new problem showed up during our last shakedown cruise.  One of the B&G Triton instrument panels has a button that seems to have a bad connection.  With the Jeanneau guarantee, they’ve decided to replace it but the part won’t arrive until Tuesday.  We had hoped to leave Tuesday with friends heading in the same direction, but we had too many delays.  Besides, Patrick wants to take advantage of the farmer’s market in town on Wednesday morning to get the last of the fresh fruits, veggies, and bread before we go.

The last days are nervous affairs of getting the house ready for abandonment and the boat ready for 6 months of sailing and 5 years away from home port.  We have to think about the stuff we’ll need for the cruise, but also stuff we’ll need for winterizing the boat and winterizing our clothes and other stuff we leave behind from November to April.  But since the boat is only a 5-minute bike from home, we’ve been able to get a lot of work done at a slow steady pace so we’re far from frantic.  With the promise of a very calm crossing, we’re really looking forward to heading off !  Hasta Luego !