Purely for personal achievement reasons, my fiancée Sam and I are keen to achieve our Yachtmaster Ocean certificates to cap off a range of qualifications, including cruising instructor for Sam and Yachtmaster instructor for me.
Last year storm-force winds forced us to seek shelter in France (PBO, November 2022), coming ashore for running repairs and rest, and therefore our 600-mile passage was broken into two voyages and not submittable for qualification.
Undeterred, we set about trying to cross the Bay of Biscay again in June with two-thirds of the previous crew and our new friend, Jerry.
Malcolm, Smithy, Sam and I were excited to put to bed the disappointment of the previous trip, Nigel and Charlie being otherwise engaged – though Nigel, was meeting us in A Coruña to skipper our Beneteau Cyclades 39.3 back to the Channel Islands where we intended to have a family holiday before sailing home.
Preparations
With Sam’s Clipper Round the World Race experience and both our time instructing at Elite Sailing in Chatham we are fairly risk averse and try to prepare for every eventuality.
We serviced the engine including all new filters, a new impeller and a complete replacement of the oils. We replaced the mainsail with a new one from Resen Sails in Denmark, had her lifted for inspection, Sam serviced all the lifejackets, and conducted a top-to-toe check of the rigging from the bosun’s chair. We also made additional purchases to last year’s upgrades:
■ New storm jib, with a sleeve to go over the furling gear from e-sails
■ New Seago Ocean liferaft with SOLAS B grab bag
■ IridiumGO! Exec and upgraded subscription to PredictWind.
Equipped with our new gear, a fierce determination, and a tracking fan club (of three) we set
