Biscay. Please dispel the hype.

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nickfabbri

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Tuesday looms long and large and i've set about once again passage planning to get to the med. We have always intended to drop the mast and go through the French canals. However someone asked me yesterday why we werent " doing Biscay". I have always discounted it as I hear horror stories all over the place about how bad it can get.

So, can we please shed some light on this for me please? If you pick your moment to cross from North to SOuth, look at the incoming weather from the Atlantic and stay a long way ( how far exactly?) from the coast, is it that bad?

Many thanks.
 
There are 3 ways of crossing:

Straight across Falmouth / Camaret to NW coast of Spain keeping outside the continental shelf usually takes 3 to 4 days, so you should be able to get a reasonable forcast that should hold good for 3 days. At this time of year expect to be doing a bit of motoring and you will be unlucky to see strong winds although be carefull when you approach the Spanish coast.

The other two are a sort of half measure and cut the sea time down to 2 days or so and rely on coast hopping to Belle Isle or Isle de Yeu and then across to the Spanish coast.
Or going down as far as La Rochelle and then across mid way along the Spanish Biscay coast and thence day sailling from there onwards perhaps only 36 Hrs at sea max.

So at this time of year if you have the time to choose your point of and departure time you would be very unlucky to see any adverse conditions.
 
Yes. It's that bad.

Read Adlard Coles' 'Heavy Weather Sailing' ( two earlier editions ) to understand how bad.

It's ocean, close to a continental land mass. Serious weather elsewhere sends in big seas from deep water, which get bigger, more confused and more dangerous over the much shallower continental shelf 'drop off' as they feel the relative shallows. Then the serious weather whirls in....

Both your boat and your own self need to be up to coping with such heavy ocean weather, for days on end. If not quite up to it, then don't gamble on a lucky weather break.

That said, some do gamble on the weather staying benign and manage to get away with it. Some others don't....




clickonit
 
I've crossed twice ,once from Schull ,Eire, in a Bene 40cc with a seasick frightened and pretty useless crew. Lovely weather,but boat was wet(window seals leaked) and slammed on ripples.5days 4hours to A Coruna.

Second time in my own Nab 35 from Milford Haven to A Coruna solo .Rougher trip,spent 12 hours hove to,dry as a bone,arrived in Spain fresher than the last time. 5days 6hours.
Both trips end July beginning August.
 
Lady Campanula said:
Yes. It's that bad.

Read Adlard Coles' 'Heavy Weather Sailing' ( two earlier editions ) to understand how bad.

It's ocean, close to a continental land mass. Serious weather elsewhere sends in big seas from deep water, which get bigger, more confused and more dangerous over the much shallower continental shelf 'drop off' as they feel the relative shallows. Then the serious weather whirls in....

Both your boat and your own self need to be up to coping with such heavy ocean weather, for days on end. If not quite up to it, then don't gamble on a lucky weather break.

That said, some do gamble on the weather staying benign and manage to get away with it. Some others don't....




clickonit
Click to expand...

Yes Biscay CAN be bad it can also be exceedingly boring and flat and costly in fuel to cross.

There are hundreds of boats that cross each year with no problems they are not lucky they by and large plan for what is ahead of them. A well found boat with a competant crew be it a singlehander or several members should not have any problems at this time of year if they study the weather patterns that are present in the atlantic and act accordingly. If they can't do that or have not had time on the boat and done several night passages then it's probably not for them. That said many people cut their teeth on crossing Biscay and go on to sail far greater challenges, the atlantic being one of them.
 
nickfabbri said:
Tuesday looms long and large and i've set about once again passage planning to get to the med. We have always intended to drop the mast and go through the French canals. However someone asked me yesterday why we werent " doing Biscay". I have always discounted it as I hear horror stories all over the place about how bad it can get.
Click to expand...

Biscay is not that bad if you find the right weather window. Best to have the wind on your aft quarter, you do not want to be beating. Going South it is easier because you can time your departure on the Biscay weather forecast. Allow plenty of fuel to motor because occasionally you may get becalmed. Know your engine and fuel consumption and make sure to have always enough left to motor the last 150nm when you get in sight of Galicia.

The worst leg is from Baiona to Cascais. Stay well out in waters deeper than 150m. Anything else and you will end up in a dangerous minefield of endless fishing gear.

Also you may be tempted to pass between the Peniche peninsula and the islands out of it (there is a lighthouse on each of them). DON'T. The swell gets into steep breakers. Clear those islands well to the West.
 
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Biscay's reputation, is more about being difficult to exit, once having been blown in by predominant westerlies!
I crossed 2 handed in a Hustler 25.5 in 2009. Over the 4 and a bit days across, we had everything from becalmed like lots of people, to 12 hours with a f8 W (strangely enough!). The down side to being a small boat is the inability to do much else than go with it, in seas and wind of that level. We ended up 60nm further east than originally planned!
 
It's OK

Having crossed three times, once coast hopping, which was very enjoyable, to go straight across is of course much quicker.

Get yourself over to Camaret and get a favorable three day weather forecast which will give you time to reach A'Coruna. Three days is about as long as you can rely on a forecast. You can then enjoy the Spanish Rias and get some good sailing down the Portuguese coast on the trades.

The French canals are a delight and should be on the itinerary sometime in ones life. In a sailing yacht there is always the eternal problem of what to do with the mast. The ideal boat is a motorcruiser 30' to 40' with a motor powerful enough to stem the stream but economical enough not to run out of fuel between the very few fuel stops.
 
nickfabbri said:
So, can we please shed some light on this for me please? If you pick your moment to cross from North to SOuth, look at the incoming weather from the Atlantic and stay a long way ( how far exactly?) from the coast, is it that bad?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Thats the risky way. If you wish to do Biscay the easy way, bear in mind that weather forecasts become more unreliable the further they are in the future. So chose the shortest route - probably the Gironde to Bibao ( about 30 hours) - and chose a good weather forecast. That way you will never get caught out.

Likely to be a lot less dodgy than the canals and the tripper boats.
 
We have recently completed our first crossing. Our plan was to coast hop down to La Rochelle and then cross to Gijon but on the way down I noticed a period of high pressure with North Easterlies of F4 -5 so we modified our plan and went from Port Heliguen which was about 2 days.
 
nickfabbri said:
Tuesday looms long and large and i've set about once again passage planning to get to the med. We have always intended to drop the mast and go through the French canals. However someone asked me yesterday why we werent " doing Biscay". I have always discounted it as I hear horror stories all over the place about how bad it can get.

So, can we please shed some light on this for me please? If you pick your moment to cross from North to SOuth, look at the incoming weather from the Atlantic and stay a long way ( how far exactly?) from the coast, is it that bad?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Try http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Crossing-Biscay-Meteorologists-Advice
 
For your reasurance and for good seamanship, buy a copy of the atlantic routing chart. The one I have (although I can't lay my hands on it!) is spiral bound, A3 ish size, and is month per day view to show statistical wind and current info. Once you've convinced yourself that horror stories are statistically just that, start checking weather patterns and go when conditions look favourable. Don't go against the pressure of the calendar.

Reading Heavy Weather Sailing is always wise, as is being appropriately prepared. Pilot books are good reading, too.

Depending where you plan to make landfall, the TSS around the Cape needs to be respected for a host of reasons.

You will not need a depth gauge to tell you when soundings are about to make their return. :D

It's not something to be done lightly but in a well found yacht with experienced, prepared and competent crew, you should have a ball. Good luck.
 
Not crossed it in a yacht, but have been there in a square-rigger. F9 / F10, thoroughly enjoying it but looking at the huge waves thinking "glad I'm not here in a yacht" :)

Sample of one though - not trying to dissuade you if the forecast is OK.

Pete
 
We did it last July. We had some fairly windy times but two things surprised us: firstly the amount of traffic - we took a route a bit west of a straight line from Brest to La Caruna since the forecast was for big winds to come from the west so we wanted as much westing as possible within reason early on, and secondly the changeable conditions. We had wind on the nose most of the way but the seas came from all over the place and changed regularly. The gribs were good - not completely accurate but if you studied them for a while you could detect the trends, and certainly the big winds came as forecast. Overall a great trip - one to be recommended. We got a bit bounced around but nothing dangerous. Pick your weather window and know your limitations and all should be ok.
 
I've done it twice as crew on deliveries. Both times a bit bumpy at the start, and flattening out further south. May just have been me, but Biscay was far less scary than the Portuguese coast. Never mind the fishing pots, it seemed to blow old boots every night, and it was a tiring sleigh ride!
 
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