Bay Of Biscay Crossing – Calms, Dolphins and Gale

The time has finally come. I can now say that the English Channel is finally a thing of the past. It was a much tougher fight from the Netherlands down to Brest during the North European winter time than I expected and the Bay of Biscay Crossing marks the transition into a whole new chapter. While the English Channel demanded a high level of mental endurance and constant adaption, the voyage now transitions into the typical strategic bluewater sailing.

Weather Planning

The forecast models predicted very light northerly winds with around eight knots for the first three days for which I’m to be honest thankful as it is still winter and in this time of year the Bay of Biscay is known for extreme unpredictable and rough weather. All major weather models, GFS, ECMWF and UKV predicted mostly the same situation which indicated, that this will likely be actually happening. Only on the fourth and fifth day the winds are predicted to pick up, still with a northerly direction to about 25 knots. Summed up it looked like a perfect weather windows for my first multiple day crossing.

Departure – Day 1

On the 26 March 2025 I cast off the lines and leave the Marina Camaret-sur-Mer. After all this time here since the accident it feels amazing to be finally moving again. Half an hour before me, a German catamaran, which I got to know during the time here also left and we said to meet up in front of the Pointe de Pen-Hir, which marks the most westerly point of the Peninsula of Crozon. While Wolf is motoring out of the windless Bay of Brest I enjoy the last views of Camaret. This chapter is now really closed and a new one starts.

Off the Point de Pen-Hir I actually meet up with the German catamaran. We sail by about 20 meters to each other and chat a bit over the VHF. After it was time to say farewell I turn Wolfs bow south and soon set the gennaker. With a spectacular sunset we race south into the first night while the coast of Brittany gets smaller and smaller. I have to alter my course a few times to get clear of approaching fishing vessels and after nightfall we leave the last coastal lights of Brittany behind and set out on the open bay of Biscay.

Day 2 – Battling Light Winds

After a mostly calm first night the second day, now out on the open Bay of Biscay starts with fog, which I only notice after the sun has risen. Also temperatures have dropped to the extend that I turn on the Diesel heater while I continue watching the radar for ships around. As it turns out I’m pretty much the only one out there and towards noon the fog finally disappears.

I notice that the shackle, which connects the mainsheet to the mainsheet traveler has broken open. Luckily I have a preventer set as we are sailing on a reach, which prevented the boom to swing out. I get the spare parts box out of the piloting berth and change the broken shackle to a new one.

Last night I had the engine running for a few hours to position me a bit further east, where, according to the forecast should be slightly more wind. At noon this decision turned out to have paid off and I hoist the gennaker. In about six knots of wind Wolf sails on a southerly course at whopping 3.5 knots. Well at least we are moving.

Agains my own rules I let the gennaker up also after sunset, as Wolf is making good speed south. If I switch to the Genoa instead the sail is just powerless slapping around while the gennaker stays stable and actually moves Wolf through the water.

I’m now way out on the Bay of Biscay. While I was sleeping in 15 minute intervals last night, I have now changed my schedule up to 30 minutes. As the sea is completely flat while Wolf is now even doing over five knots, I can comfortable sleep in the fore cabin. Suddenly I hear clicking sounds. First I thought I’m just imagining that but then the thought of Orcas shoots into my head. The bay of Biscay is feared because of Orca attacks on the rudder of sailboats over the last years, but when I venture up on deck and turn my searchlight on, I suddenly see a school of five dolphins playing in Wolfs bow wave.

Day 3 – Finally More Wind

In the morning the wind shifts just as forecasted. Wolf and I are now exactly halfway across the Bay of Biscay and after running downed for the first two days Wolf is now sailing upwind in the second reef and furled back genoa. Up to this point the weather forecast has been surprisingly accurate with every predicted situation exactly happening. For my naps I have not moved from the fore cabin into the lee side of the saloon as Wolf is rocking her way through choppy waves cause by the rising wind speed.

After messaging with my dad at home over the satellite communicator the wind goes back a bit towards the afternoon and ultimately calms down almost completely into the night, that I have to turn on the engine a bit to make way south as the weather forecast predicts a total calm zone at my current position.

Day 4 – The Second Last Day

My plan last night worked out once again. After motoring for five hours I have made enough way south to avoid the total calm area just north of me and Wolf is sailing under gennaker again making good speed towards Cabo Finisterre. The conditions stay mostly stable over the day and in the evening, while I’m getting closer to the Spanish coast I watch a movie on my laptop up in the cockpit while enjoying the golden afternoon light.

Immersed in my movie I notice too late that the wind has picked up dup to well 20 knots and I don’t have another chance than somehow getting the gennaker down safely on the foredeck. After quite a fight and having to drop half of the sail into the water it’s safely packed away and only while I’m turning Wolf into the wind to set the mainsail again I notice how strong the wind has actually became.

Day 5 – The Bay of Biscay Shows Its Real Face

Retireving the gennaker was no minute too early as the wind has picked up to storm force after midnight. I did expect that the windspeed diverts from the forecast around Cabo Finisterre upwards by about 30%. At 0300 on March 29, 2025 the lights of A Coruña appear on the horizon and also the radar now shows a land echo. Wolf is now only sailing with the reefed Genoa running downwind as the wind picks up further and further.

While I’m below deck for a few minutes Wolf suddenly throws herself on the port side so hard, that I’m getting thrown into the chart table. A breaker must have hit her straight into the side and nearly managed to knock her down. She quickly rightens herself again and the autopilot brings Wolf back on course.

After the almost-knock down I decide to bring more distance between me and the coast. For the next three hours it’s a wild upwind ride in the dark night with Wolf only sailing on a bit of the Genoa and the mainsail taken down completely. Towards morning dawn I can finally turn on a southerly course again and sailing on a broad reach it is a welcomed change to the sporty night. The conditions have now developed into a full gale with 38 knots sustained wind speed.

Wolfs rigging is howling the wind rushes through it. As soon as we are south of Cabo Finisterre the conditions would calm down again as the wind get’s pushed by the cape and therefore accelerated which is what I’m experiencing. Even with just a tiny bit of the Genoa up Wolf brutally heels over in gusts and after sunrise I can finally sport Cabo Finisterre about seven nautical miles east.

As expected the wind finally calms down towards noon as I’m now sheltered south of the Cape and closer to the coast. 20 Minutes later it even has changed so drastically that I have to turn the engine on, where an unpleasant surprise awaits. After a few minutes the engine speed begins to vary up and down. At some point the whole engine even stalls completely. After checkin through he fuel filters, while Wolf is powerless rolling heavily in the swell I can’t result the problem on the spot and I take the decision to divert into Muros on the Galician coast about eight nautical miles from my current position.

Green hills rise up from the coast as I make my way into the Bay. The sun is burning down on my skin after the last night has been pretty cold this is a welcomed change. In the early afternoon after 470 nautical miles and five days at sea I fasten the lines in the Marina of Muros.

Muros In Galicia

Somehow always the unplanned stops turn out to be the most memorable ones. Muros is a little town nestled in-between mountains and the Fjord-like bay leading in from the North Atlantic. I’m fascinated how everything has changed after just five days at sea. The temperatures during daytime have risen so much, that it is sometime unbearable below deck even with just a T-shirt while I was running the heater even during the day back in Camaret-sur-Mer.

The harbor master, Pedro, is a very special character with a typical Spanish style of humor. I definitely want to explore the area surrounding Muros here further, but first I have to find the cause of the engine problem and fix it.

The full YouTube Episode of my Bay of Biscay Crossing can now be watched!