Royal Air Force Yacht Club

Mark Breton & Amanda Pirie have been preparing ‘Blush’ a former racing yacht derived from an Oyster Lightwave for cruising for 6 years. Uninspired by Gordon Brown's Britain the time was right to leave and sail the Atlantic for a year.

We moved out on to the boat and carried out our final tasks which included returning a car kindly lent to me. As agreed with the car owner I posted the keys through his letter box as he and family were away on holiday.

First night on Blush with 365 more in prospect! We came back to the Club dock to put the dinghy ashore and tidy up the last few bits and pieces – but where was my mobile phone !!!???? We rang it – silence – a process of elimination took me back to the now returned car where it rang merrily away.

Banging on various neighbours’ doors revealed a key holder, but we didn’t know how to work the burglar alarm, however we managed without waking the local constabulary. Then we were off. 

We made it to Lymington only due to the poor forecast (this seems to hold for the trip so far).  Whilst Lymington Town Quay is good value for the Solent at £14 per night for a walk ashore berth including showers, 6 nights is a recipe to go stir crazy. You can get Berthon WiFi at the Town Quay if you want to pay, Café Nero wants £4 per hour but the library is free – if you can find it. 

By the following Thursday we had said repeat goodbyes to all of Amanda’s family some 3 times over. Suddenly the forecast looked better and we were off, so keen were we that we even stuffed wind and tide, giving us a prolonged view of Hurst Castle as we sped past at 0.3kt, but the tide eased and we got away. Unfortunately the wind didn’t do as predicted in the forecast so we were heading into the wind all the way across Lyme Bay. 

Later on in Lyme Bay the wind dropped causing us to motor sail, so with little to do I ran the radar to refresh myself in its operation and I found a weird shape coming right at us!  I had a look outside and could see the lights of Brixham ahead and the penny dropped. I returned to the nav station with the hatch shut – it was one of those moments for a lady to enjoy – all that time selecting the shape , size , colour, cost of the oilies - now listen to the squeals of delight as she gets to test them at 2am in Lyme Bay.  (I don’t squeal at the best of times – A) 

We decided to miss out Brixham with the plan of heading for Cameret but the wind did not fill in to the NW until about 05:30 when it then built and built up to about a F7 giving us a fairly boisterous ride. Speeds were up to 9 kts but the auto pilot really struggled with the quartering sea. The kicker strop parted with an almighty bang but that was fixed under way and the course resumed.  

We arrived towards the top of the Channel de Four in the late afternoon and the wind then eased too much to allow us to punch the tide and waves, so we altered for L’Aber Wrach which was a mere 6 miles away and where we visited the new marina.  The trip had taken 37 hours with an extra 40 miles due to tacking. 

There is a big improvement at the marina, which has good shore side facilities, even with 3 phase power at the service boxes so that even the most demanding hair dryers can be accommodated.  The showers etc work but remain very dated, there is a free bus up to the town, the marina staff are very helpful and WiFi is free. 

The next day was a further miserable forecast so we went up river to Paludin and picked up a buoy for 10 Euros (there is a really good restaurant there if wanted and a creperie run by the restaurant).  We were met by the old chap who only speaks Breton and a little English, without his usual dog.

It really blew most of the night. We pulled out the next morning and motor-sailed most the way to Camaret where we refuelled, shopped and considered our options.  We elected to go straight across Biscay due to the time of year, the forecast was to develop into light north easterly so off we went.  We arrived at the Raz de Sein on the dot for slack water but with almost no wind. I did fuel calculations several times for the bail out option in case of no wind, but it did fill in, allowing the engine a rest. 

Not long after we had shut down the engine, dolphins arrived, which made Amanda’s day, then a while after that along came something a lot bigger which came right up to us – say about 20 feet or so. Amanda’s I-Spy book of big floaty black things suggested it was a pilot whale. Now I’m no Ahab up for eating whale meat but this was too close so I made Blush sound disinterested  -  so I’m sure that our Volvo 2003 chugging into life must have sounded like snoring so it went away much to my relief. Also another chap we met had a similar situation but he played the whale some ‘Dire Straits’ with the same effect !!!!! The wind built steadily so we reefed before dark, even though it was only 20kts the sea was very difficult again for the auto pilot. During the night we took in the 2nd reef and rolled in the jib and were still surfing at over 10kts. A ship was closing us and I was keeping a close eye on him when on a large wave the tiller threw off the auto pilot, another big wave hit us and we jibed and I got smacked by the main sheet during the episode. So with 100 miles sea room I did a 360 in front of the only ship in sight. The jibe preventer was shredded and clearly we had to return to hand steering with over 100 miles to go. Amanda did a brilliant job steering and of telling me about the bump on my head – a bit of braid on braid on brain ! We arrived in Viveiro mid afternoon 301 miles in 48 hours, which was very well sheltered with helpful staff. Good facilities on the pontoon but the showers were weird – probably part of the sailing school next door but they worked. 

During the night we had the biggest & longest thunder storm I have ever been in – the whole boat shook and I got up and put valuable electricals into the oven just in case.We then left for La Coruna, which was yet another strange sail as we left with little wind from the South which turned rapidly into a strong SW wind so we reefed and made 8kts+ on a reach, then it was a beat, then motor sailing, then just motoring. 

We arrived in La Coruna late afternoon and anchored amongst about 6 other boats. NOTE – All and pass this on to any and all - despite La Coruna being marked as an anchorage which many of you will be aware of – if you anchor YOU ARE NOT WELCOME !  You are not allowed to moor your dinghy anywhere safe so if you cannot run a taxi service with your own crew then go elsewhere and hey Sada is great ! 

I have been into the new municipal side and was attemptedly charged 10 Euros to moor the dinghy but it turned out to be free if you eat in the restaurant.  I bought fuel in containers at the other side of the same dock but was refused permission for the dinghy to stay. You can sneak into the main marina and chance it on the fishermen’s pontoon but the harbourmaster will chase you off if he sees you.

I am not aware of any other options for safe locations for the dinghy. As I write this we are in the marina (costs rising) as its blowing old boots outside as we look to move further south, the Marina in La Coruna whilst sheltered still has large tendency to rock n roll the boat so with gale 9 forecast we pushed off for Sada.     When the sun has been out its been great and even when raining its still warmer than home, so join us for the next episode when we sail ‘The Coast of Death’ ( translated from the chart & surely a must for David Whitehead‘s rally programme )

Mark Breton & Amanda Pirie