Logbook – Ile de Re towards Santander 8 Aug 19

The night before a long passage is never fully restful for me as a skipper. Add to that a more rolly anchorage and it could have been a better night. That said we were as prepared as we could be for another long passage.  We’d learned several lessons from the Scilly to Ushant trip. Food preparation and rest periods being the most important elements to remember. Navigation was Aldo important as would be a lookout, Biscay being a popular fishing location.
So just after breakfast we departed with the sails up for a change and a heading of 210. Light and variable conditions meant we swapper sails for the and back again several times looking to maximise speed and conserve fuel when we could. Early on the morning, we saw 2 yachts passing North towards Les Sable but little else until we saw a superyacht from the SW.
We’d noted the pressure dropping in the log but this was to be expected as there was an active low well to the West due to track North while we tracked South. That was until Mother Nature decided to intervene again.
Just before dark we out reefs in the main and reduced the foresail area to half of the Genoa.  Better to be prepared for increased winds rather than have to go forward at night in a rising blow.  And that preparation proved to be well considered.
The low to the West started to tract more Easterly so I compensated to avoid the worst of the weather.  Lightning and thunder cracked in the centre and you could see the intensity increasing and moving South towards us. 
The Low continued North East and we pressed on South in increasingly bad weather conditions.  The swell increased and swung the boat left and right making it hard to steer and the sails moved from fully filled to flapping.  I reefed in another level to give me minimum mainsail to keep us pointing away from the Low and put the engine on to increase the grip of the rudder and use power to manoeuvre. Both Eclipse and crew appreciated that and with the swell and wind still building I settled in for a long night.
The weather finally started to abate at about 0930 with the wind dropping but with a swell that still challenged the steering. 

 My spirits were lifted with the dawn and coffee from below and with slackening conditions, I handed over the helm to Andy for a couple of hours sleep.
Andy fought the waves well and kept us heading south.  But with no sign that the swell would reduce and the wind still on our head, we decided to divert to Bilbao which was closer and a well-protected harbour.  It was on our diversion list anyway and so there was little preparation to do other than turn and press on with the horrendous swell on our quarter for another few hours.
Bilboa has 3 marinas to chose from and so we picked the one closest to town so we could resupply and make some boat checks with a chandlery close by.