Biscay in April.

Vagabond

Vagabond

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Hi All,

My girlfriend and I are off to the Med at the beginning of April and I was wondering if anyone else here was doing the same?

Basic plan is to head to the West Country in March (weather permitting) and then when a suitable weather window comes up head for Northern Spain and then to hop along the coast and into the Med ending up in Croatia.

If you have similar plans pm me and we can maybe cruise in company across Biscay.

Cheers,

Clive.
 
I think there are options between UK and the Med either go direct from SC UK and cross Biscay in one hit - 4-5 days then cruise down the Spanish - Portuguese coasts on a more or less day sail basis or spend maybe a couple of seasons getting down there.

Whilst there are some lovely places in Biscay and the rias of the North Spanish coast are lovely and uncrowded I suspect you will not appreciate them until you have cruised around the Mediterranean.

Mind you there is no rush but getting south does ensure more of culture and more importantly climate change... I listed the possible routes on my web site so do have a look if you want... Crossing Biscay is pretty easy if you wait for a weather window - the 5 days it takes are forecast-able and frankly sailing into Gibraltar for the first time ready to explore the Med takes some beating...

Having said that you should take care in April - in northern latitudes it is quite early in the year and lots of bad weather can come in during that and May...

Michael
 
[ QUOTE ]
Having said that you should take care in April - in northern latitudes it is quite early in the year and lots of bad weather can come in during that and May...
Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

Or any time of year?

We crossed in August from Falmouth and, immediately before and after our window, (6 days), the weather caused all kinds of havoc for other people we have met.

In June 2004 waiting in Bayona to return to the UK, the forecast was for 35kt winds from just South of Ireland for days. I flew home... my father braved it. Survived, got home 2 days ahead of schedule, but badly battered!

The weather window seems to be the key, and well worth waiting for.

A quite pleasant route if heading from The Irish Sea/St. Georges' Channel is to spends a few days in Kinsale, and head almost due South down the 10 degree longitude. Not particularly interesting, but it avoids Biscay and Finisterre completely.
 
Last year i thought i became quite relaxxed until one evening off les sables d orlenne i found myself in the middle of a thunder storm!

I was never so afraid! I wished i had a steel boat with two very good engins and NO MAST at all!!!

Today it was a wonderful show of nature the dreadful terror gone but not forgotten it was that bad!!!The lightning crashing into the sea all about!

When the sky darkens the rain starts its a releif when it rains as rains ment to reduce the storm in summer its a memorable place and i wondered of the explots you hear of sailing during spring!!!

Please post your crossing might well be calm or it might not!But with a fast cat i could be fine or not??But if/when you compleat do post your findings
 
I agree with Barselman on the NW coast and the Rias except that I would up his scoring by at least 1 point on most of the places he mentioned. It is still very undeveloped as far yachting goes & that's it's major charm. Also be very wary about crossing Biscay in April, especially if you want to keep your girlfriend! Even the beginning of May is not always ideal as i found to my cost. With a 3 day passage you are stretching the 5 day forecast which at that time of year is always a bit of a gamble and not good seamanship. If you haven't been on the SW Brittany coastline, I would suggest that route and you might fall victim to it's charms if you are in no hurry - and if you are, why sail? Check out www.franksingleton.clara.net for Biscay weather advice, very good.
 
The Rias of Spain should not be rushed! We normally stop off at Camaret which breaks the trip up and gives you an opportunity to get a more current weather forecast. It is often very lumpy around Ushant untill the depths increase substantially.
One altenative is to day sail to South Brittany and then hop off to Northern Spain, although this coast can be very swelly and there are not a lot of safe harbours.
There can be some merit to go properly offshore and miss out the whole Biscay bit. The argument her was over a 5+ day trip you are bound to get one gale, and it is better at sea as against in Biscay.
Finally, when approaching Finisterre, dont breath a huge sigh of relief and think it is all over. Our experinec is that the wind always accelerates along the coast and the seas build up to an uncomfortable height as the depths decrease.
However, we have on one occasion motored the whole way in a greasy swell!!

The trip down the Portugese coast can be a bit boring, but there are highlights which the pilot books will point out.Peniche is one A must is to take a berth in the Lisbon Marina as you are bang in the middle of a great city.

The Argarve is boring and the water cold! (IMO) so kick on for the Med.

Good luck
 
And if you want a shorter hop across to Spain, don't forget La Rochelle, 'one of the most beautiful seaside towns in France' according to the Rough Guide - and I agree, giving it the rash rating of 10/10.

Weather windows for longer Biscay crossings: You should be able to find a reliable weather window of 3 -4 days in high summer. In May depressions are more frequent, but a 2 to 3 day window may be possible if you're lucky. In April, you'll be lucky to find a window - shorter hops are advisable.

A nasty for high summer is the high frequency of thunderstorms in the SE corner of the bay . . . hinted at in a post above!
 
Hey Michael,

Yes I was planning on playing it safe and getting a forecast from Simon K. and going to N. Spain.

I'm busy getting new sails and servicing the Prout(Cloud Nine) at the moment but I'm now itching to get going!
 
[ QUOTE ]
The Rias of Spain should not be rushed!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I've heard that. We have a goal to get to Croaitia for June and then work our way slowly back so we'll catch them on our return.
 
It's interesting how people have different experiences - I have done Biscay 6 or 7 times and its always been a good trip. In October and in May. The roughest was in August and that was 6-7 but northerly so it all rolled a bit.

I think the trick is to find a good departure port - Falmouth area, Scillies and just sit there till the 5 day forecast is giving lightish northly winds and go for it - immediately.. I have waited 10 day for such a forecast and its possible to wait longer.. Bayonne is perhaps the place to head for (nr Vigo) it gets you around Cape Finisterre and is pretty easy to find and once in the bay you can anchor, pick up a buoy or go into the marina - certainly re-fuel and water there.. After Bayonne it is a breeze. Day sail south with the prevailing northly winds... The only other place you might pick up some 'weather' is getting into the Straights where it can blow like stink and funnel out but there are a couple of anchorages just round Cape St Vincent to wait..

Really good trip heading south - horrid heading north!

fair winds

Michael
 
Not sure whether you are intending crossing in a Prout? or a Corsair tri?
I have crossed in April and November (doh!) and May once each,its just a matter of patience(and luck,throughout April you might wait until early May!) to get the window that is right for you.
By staging yourself as far south as possible in France,or by doing some coasthopping around the edge and by really really being ready and rested to leave as soon as the window comes up-not''oh,well we should really top up the fuel,and they dont open until 9am tomorrow and some more fresh veggies would be nice,and we promised to visit that nice couple on the other boat''blah blah, etc then you will be fine,especially with the relatively high cruising speeds of a multihull.
I like to leave on the tail end of a minor depression, cos you get an even (though large) sea and nwesterlies pushing you along. If the next depression comes in too early and the wind backs to head you too much too some,bear off and scoot into one of the rias..
 
I sailed accross Biscay in may 1994, starting in Saint Denis d'Oleron. I decided "just" to go to Spain and, depending on the wind-direction, to see where I would end up. This turned out to be Coruna, where I wanted to go anyhow. During the crossing the wind changed direction and the first course was for Santander. When the winf fell away during the first day I decided to motor for a while and went for Gijon. When the wind came back it was again Santander. On the second day the wind fell away again, but I decided not to motor and wait till the wind would come back. This happened in the evening, and the possible course was for Gijon. Then again no wind and when it came back it was Coruna. It took me almost four days, but I enjoyed it tremendously, had dolphins playing around the ship and saw a lot of Orcas, but very little other ships.
While sailing along the S-Brittany coast I checked continuously the distance and course to Coruna and found that it was almost the same for the whole coast from Isle de Sein to Saint Denis d'Oleron, about 330 miles. This means that sailing along the S-Biscay coast to diminish the distance to Coruna does not make sense. If you decide to sail along that coast one has to go to a more easterly harbour in Spain, such as Santander or Gijon or one of the smaller harbours along that coast to diminish the distance and thus the time to cross Biscay.
I think it a pity to miss the spanish rias. They are much more fun for sailing than the Med. There is almost always some wind and nature is still rather unspoiled.
Croatia is nice, but the wind is often nil and when there is wind it is most of the times from the NW. This means that it is hard to go northwards. The islands along the coast are long and this means tacking in the sometimes very narrow channels between the islands (or motoring!!) I sailed from Barcelona to the Adriatic (Pescara) in 1997, which took about four weeks. We did some long hops, but also spent time in some places. The first long hop was from Barcelona to Mahon (Menorca), the second from Mahon to Carloforte on the SW-point of Sardinia and the third from Perd' e' Sali (S-coast of Sardinia) to Favignana (Island before the W-coast of Sicily). From then on it was mainly day-sailing. We went both times along the N-coast of Sicily, but I am not sure that is the right choise. Going along the S-coast gives one the opportunity to visit Malta, which I think is worthwhile.
Anyhow make sure that you do not have a tight schedule. It forces one to decisions, which should not be made. Enjoy it when you can and stay in places that are worth it, in stead of moving on to the next place, which most likely turns out to be no fun, just because of too tight a schedule!
 
We crossed from Plymouth to N Spain in July 2003 in our cat.

Following one of Frank Singleton's suggestions, we stopped near Brest (Le Conquet, in fact, but Camaret would be more usual) to wait for a weather window. The benefit of this is that you can reasonably expect to cross in around 48 hours from there, and forecasts today are usually ok for that. So, if you're prepared to wait, you are more or less guaranteed a good crossing.

In the event, we had a good forecast immediately, but when the wind veered from NW to NE, changed course for Ribadeo to avoid sailing straight downwind. We had winds from 1 to 6, but all NW to NE, and did the crossing with no motoring in 48 hours.

Good sailing

Tony
 
Agree with all, don't rush it. We had a similar plan to dash down into the Med. Advice from old hands on this forum advised to take it easy and we took four months to get from the Orwell to the Algarve where the boat is now lying.The Mewd has been postponed to this year. The long, slower way round gives you time for the Channel Islands, Brittany, N and NW Spain, the Rias, Portugal plus diversions to amazing places such as Santiago do Compostela, Porto, Lisbon etc. providing a memorable itinerary. Savour it. From what I have read recently, the place to move on swiftly is Mediterranean Spain. If you intend to get to Croatia in one season, you will have to go some and possibly miss so much
 
"My girlfriend and I are off to the Med at the beginning of April ...."

If you want her to be you girlfriend when you get there, I'd advise coast hopping in 24-36 hour windows, or deferring you crossing until later in the year.

While one can encounter rough weather at any time of year, weather patterns are generally more stable and predicable in the summer than they are in the spring. I wouldnt rely on a 3-4 day outlook in April.
 
we make this passage most years .even with the accuracy of modern forcasts i would not attempt the passage unless both boat and crew were capable of handling gale force conditions.personally and living on the west coast of the uk i have a distrust of the weather for long passages before may.last year wetterzentral topkarten proved very accuratefor our azores trip in that it predicted both the storms we encountered.good luck chris
 
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