May the 12th …or maybe April the 12th? It has been quite cold and wet with thick fog and no wind all the way through the night. Temperatures ranging at about 10°C, humidity 85% and visibility almost zero. The Radar provided some sense of safety locating fishing boats operating without AIS (Automatic Identification System). The only dangerous objects that couldn’t be seen were the lobster cage buoys which are spread all along the Brittany coast. Such a buoy with its rope produces a distinct noise that you won’t forget easily again and forces the engine to stop immediately when caught and wrapped around the spinning propeller. Without any wind, your vessel is not under control anymore and drifting with the tide. Nothing you would like to experience in these waters.
Anyway, at about 8:00 in the morning the wind was suddenly switched on by someone. The fog was gone and it started blowing with F5. It took a while for the sun to clear up the sky and the day finally turned into what we had been waiting for from the beginning of the voyage.
The Atlantic Ocean seas, big but smooth like hills, were running in from the west. The boat adapted to the conditions steadily sailing its course. Everything felt lighter such as Matilda had broken free from the lines holding her in the gray wet and cold English Channel. A feeling of freedom came up.
It is time to head south into warmer climates.
The morning after the cold and foggy night
The wind is back
Heading south through the Chenal du Four
Brest fisher
Passing Pointe du Petit Minou on the way into Rade de Brest