We took the train from Zeebrugge to Aabenraa to join in on the yearly company party with Elvstrom, but also pack up the last things in our container to get it ready to be shipped south. Great party with sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, nice food and drinks! From Aabenraa we went to Norway to sail with White Shadow on the ORCi Norwegian championship. This year at Hankø, and after 6 races we discarded a second place and kept 5 first places. Of the 4 gold medals in the Norwegian Championship we have grabbed with this boat and team, this was by far the most solid one, which gives a great feeling!
Back on OctoPus in Zeebrugge the day after the ORCi championship, we only grabbed some lunch and then we set off because finally we had conditions that made it possible to move south west. Light winds from north gave some sailing with asymmetric and also a lot of engine. We saw that we were slightly too early for the perfect window to cross Bay of Biscay, so we stopped in Cherbourg for a day, and also in Camaret. Very nice places both of them, and it is nice to look around a little bit on this “delivery”. From Camaret we set off in the afternoon and after the first 25 miles with challenging sea state driven by extreme currents, we had fantastic sailing all the way across the Bay. When approaching Cabo Finisterre (End of land), the breeze increased in the acceleration zone as predicted. We got stable breeze in the low 30`s with gusts around 40. Of course the waves built up well too; 3-5 meters, and this gave us sailing speeds from 12 to 20 with highest number at 23,8 knots of boatspeed. Not bad for a house! The rest of the Spanish and Portuguese coast went on without any drama in light breeze from north or no breeze at all. In other words once again the engines got to do some work.
The plan was originally to go to Gibraltar or La Linea. When closing in, we saw that we were a little bit too late for that as the easterly breeze had started to push through the strait of Gibraltar. We decided to stop in Barbate, about 30 miles to the west. Never heard of the place before, but a very good harbor and a nice city!