The convoying part 2 : from Sines (Portugal) to Pornic (France)

(Google translation)
Here we go again! After a good week "vacation", we are back to Sines. Arrived in late afternoon, the "team" is divided. Operation fueling Pap and Olivier, fishing gear for Ludo and Diesel for Herve and Thom. Departure 21:30, facing a magnificent setting sun, no wind, but  waves who give sick just to look at it ... Starting the night with the engine, the boat bumps a bit. They make watches of 4 hours to two, with a turnover every two hours (you follow me?). 

First episode: a dolly mounting of wind breaks, we caught up with last minute gear pitching dangerously. 

The wind gets up quietly late at night. We (Ludo and Thom) enjoys a beautiful sunrise at eight knots upwind. Small craft on deck disrupted by the arrival of the dolphins ... Magic! 

The strategy is simple: to escape the 'Alizé Portuguese, strong northerly wind, it must go off. Some guides even advise not to hesitate to make up the Azores ... Our GRIB files (weather) we reveal a less radical. Cape to W, NW, hoping one will give us that reverses the crosswind. 

Navigation quiet, often with less wind in the morning, a little engine. It is much cooler than the Mediterranean. We eat more ready inside. The leaders excel. Gougères for Herve, tarte tatin for Ludo ... The afternoons are punctuated by parties of tarot played well. 

The wind goes as planned to the west, then north-west. Just enough to send the code zero. The boat goes fast, and in the right direction ...  we decided to keep all the canvas during the night (the weather is good, if not a change of wind direction quite frank scheduled for late night). Mistake! Around 4 am we are surprised by wind of 40 knots ... Can not roll the gennaker. It is the lowering, and take three reefs. All on deck, some in underwear and harness! Delicate maneuver, the boat stops, even receding. A piece of rudder actuator gives the driver freaks out, we lose control of the boat gybed ... The restraint boom case (a snap of 1.5 tons is folded) ... It's hot, but everything is in order : it is repaired with part that Jean-Louis had left in stock! 

The next trip is quieter, with a nice albacore tuna to 15kg charts, and a triumphant arrival in Pornic to the beach Sablons, the host of memorable Edel and Rhea.