Sailing across the Bay of Biscay was a sailing adventure that created challenges and struggles along with excitement and reward. It was difficult, to say the...

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in our last episode we took advantage of

a few strategic moves and worked our way

through the English Channel to camera

Sumer on the northwestern tip of France

in this episode we weight import for

nine days for a favorable weather

opening to take on the challenge of

crossing the infamous Bay of Biscay

otherwise known as the valley of death

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we were lucky we had the best possible

conditions we could hope for during the

worst possible time of year to make this

crossing but even on a good day the Bay

of this guy is ruthless fdisk a very

challenging body of water Michele

mentioned the valley of death I mean

that might have been true in the Second

World War

today we don't have to fear bridge

bombers anymore but we still have some

challenges in the most recommended time

to cross the bay off this case early

summer May June July the least for

coming a time as fall after early winter

starting with the equinox and the

falling still and of end of September

that's when it will be some say left

over hurricane left overeating because

hurricanes and the Caribbean move

northeast and become depressions they

gotta hit the Bay of Biscay first on the

hit Europe and they bring with them a

high swell traveling thousands of miles

across the Atlantic and when they hit

the continental shelf when the sea bed

raises from 5000 meters to 15,000 feet

to only 100 meters it's like 300 feet

and those long harmless well gets deep

and create breaking seas that are very

feared among sailors Biscay was the one

thing that scared me the most and I was

anxious about it and anticipated it and

but at the same time I was excited about

it because it's such a great challenge

and I know that there are some seasoned

sailors out there who would look at me

and say what's the big deal of a you

crossed the Bay of Biscay at a bad time

of year but in pretty good conditions

but for me not being a very experienced

sailor this was monumental and it was

scary and it was torture at times I

cannot tell a lie but it was also beauty

full and magnificent and it was amazing

to be in this body of water and getting

through it it's surviving it and you'll

see there are times when I don't feel

very well at all but I still appreciated

the beauty that was around me and in the

experience

we're getting ready for our departure at

a couple of hours and we're ready and

I'm excited that today I am feeling more

excited than nervous and I think that's

a good sign of course I'm a little

nervous because it's the Bay of Biscay

and so we have to respect that but we

have good passage plan and we think we

have a great opening we've been sitting

here for nine days waiting on it and now

it's here so we're ready at times it was

a glorious passage filled with playful

dolphins a whale sighting a full moon

lighting our way each night in bright

sunny weather

at other times the constant pounding of

the 3 to 4 meter waves rocked our bodies

and our minds and as breaking seas I

mean a wall the worst possible winter

ation in one across the Bay of Biscay

from the North Sound is Southwest

because this is what brings the heaviest

storms to the brave Biscay and this

brick is what brings the heaviest season

to the Bay of Biscay which makes me miss

Kate we just discussed one of the most

challenging but in waters so what we

were waiting for nine days and kama mr.

mayor is easterly or not only winds and

they would allow us a straight course

and set a straight course toward Laconia

and also would create seas that would

not be too high breaking because they

were coming from the continental shelf

into the deep sea enough from the deep

sea onto the continent of jails we

departed with calm waters into the

Celtic Sea

we had another opportunity to play with

the dolphins but this relaxed calm

atmosphere did not last long in the

beginning it was pretty smooth sailing I

mean I actually took a nap out on the

deck with the puppies and everything was

fine and but I knew that that was gonna

change I knew better than to think this

is how it's gonna be the whole way and I

remember at one point I asked Mike

when will we be the babies guy and his

response was you'll know it when we get

there and I have to say okay pretty soon

after that the waves started really

rolling and getting bigger and the boat

started really moving a lot and yeah you

have to remember that there are much

larger heavier ships than see Falcon

sitting at the bottom of the Bay of

Biscay and don't think this wasn't on my

mind but yes when we rolled it to the

Bay of Biscay we knew it and things

started rocking and things started

getting uncomfortable immediately after

about 12 hours of the constant pounding

of the waves and the neverending rocking

and rolling all night long by the next

morning the Bay of Biscay finally got

the best of me but I tried to stay

positive

it's a beautiful morning but it's been a

rough morning for me sick ever since had

to cover my shift in bath 8 o'clock but

it really is beautiful the waves are

really high

the weather's really nice it's just very

windy and I'm just two days two nights

yeah this passage was rocky and

uncomfortable at times and I wasn't

spared for seasickness either but I must

tell you I must tell one thing is this

as good as it gets at the Bay of Biscay

this time of year

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inside this drum plant right here has

been my friend about having to wait

morning it's really beautiful and we saw

huge little dump it again yesterday

one of these big huge wave surfing along

with this that's very cool

very good

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they don't one of us got much sleep last

night so I'm gonna let Mike sleep a

little later their spot for a while so

we got we took down the man last night

so windy and we right now have this

whole jib and the Jenna wah

so workers along

that poor hugging this drum winch and

hanging over the stock rail here that

will get better saying we weren't able

to get video that effectively shows the

size and consistency of the waves we

were too busy holding on and suffering

from the effects of them

just haven't had any break from the

waves the winds going the right

direction that's all good but these

waves have just gone on the entire time

we haven't any

and

so

yeah day three day three here I was

still the same the wind was coming from

the right direction but we had a 67 over

the last 40 hours which was tough on

both of us and Michelle was I being too

well but I must I must I must say she

showed up every shift I'm with or two

hours shifts then four hour shifts at

times because was just pretty heavy to

be out there for four straight hours

fishing in the night but no matter how

she felt she showed up for a watch and

she made to the end of the watch and I

must say I was not feeling too well

either

but it's what we do you know is what we

do we just get over it we we know how to

deal with it and we must function we

cannot except on a 2 and 2 crew in

challenging conditions we cannot accept

it for any one function no matter how

seasick

we're struggling but good news is we're

in less than 24 hours play

so tomorrow we'll be spanked maybe

hydration has said it a little bit my

legs are all not Ian's arms Sheldon I'm

sore just nod

it's brutal but in there on Thursday

morning after three days of constant

heavy waves battles with seasickness and

exhaustion

we finally saw land Hey see land which

is a mate I don't think I've ever come

alive but so happy to see land away

though but

okay starters almost yes

we got what about six more hours

already there

I don't think I've ever been so happy to

see layout in my life

still far away but who knows a tough one

we're not there yet

you're finally got some speed water

and I would make it the rest of the way

I always say this I'm I'm glad we did it

but I don't ever what to do it again you

don't want to say it's getting good you

asked me today yesterday ask me tomorrow

and

maybe there'll be different you remember

the guy from the Norrell in headlamp and

yeah sure

it helped me when I sat down there feet

open and he sailed miss Kay in October

and he told me that his wife still was

awesome

pourquoi France

hola espana but we were still seven

hours from our port and the challenges

did not end there

we were so relieved when we made

landfall in Spain and then all of a

sudden somebody just switched off that

ventilator

you know switched off the wind from from

from from 100 to zero in a few minutes

and a few hours later there was zero

visibility so we had a challenge of

another kind zero visibility it was hard

to see the stern from the Bell

I'm not kidding maybe another six hours

five or six hours from Laconia and we

were we were relieved that we actually

made it

we was just another another body 2530

miles and all of a sudden there was a

Friday I remember that very well

there was a Friday crossing us very

closely maybe half a mile and then to

Michelle see the Brits gone Bridge of

the Friday scans we just saw the little

part of it you know and then the whole

fried or disappeared behind a curtain of

fog and a few minutes later we were in

the same curtain of fog and it was just

it was you didn't see we were around

maybe two miles from land

we knew that because we need to like go

into that bathe we're lucky Rania's

located we were giving sound signals of

course and we knew that some of the

Fisher's they don't have a song you know

you just see them when they're already

kind of - too close - oh I had friends

sitting there waiting for us in Laconia

and he said yeah the weather's not that

bad like when the otherwise probably

just found a place to anchor or request

the radar assists from Laconia port

which is available probably wants to I

would have done but then

two or three hours in the thickest fork

that we had in this journey it cleared

up just a little bit just enough to see

where you are and what's around you

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I mean I loved it I mean no matter I

just said it I was seasick myself at

times but I loved it because I mean

every moonrise was just a spectacular

event by itself every sunset we had

clear skies for three straight days not

a single cloud on the horizon and the

lot the moon was so light at night it

was sitting in the cockpit and the moon

shadow it was just the most romantic

thing you could ever think of in us we

made it through the Bay of Biscay and

I'm pretty proud of that I would like to

know what some of those seasoned sailors

out there have to say about their

experience in the Bay of Biscay and I'd

also like to know what your advice would

be what is your advice for battling

seasickness and hanging in there and

when you're so tired it's so sick and

you have to keep going and we would love

it if you'd leave us some comments down

below and tell us what you do or what

your advice is and also what your

experiences were in the babies gay we'd

love to hear about this was the Bay of

Biscay on four very good days for this

time of year in our next episode we

explored the gorgeous Spanish coastline

and sail into Portugal on our way to

Morocco

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