la coruña, a coruña

Raivo on piano with Sonia at the bar, La Madame

La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Sonia and Jose on an afternoon sail with us.

La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Tormentina poses in front of the carne - San Augustin Market

La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

San Augustin Market

La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Siboney in our coffee - Cafe Verdura

La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Besos for Raivo.

La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

la coruña, galicia, spain

Last week we were waiting for favorable and light winds to make our crossing of the Bay of Biscay.  Everyone warned us that it could get quite nasty in the autumn, so James and I were both getting antsy to leave before the seasonal shift.

On Wednesday, we spent our last evening in France in La Trinité with our friend and very talented sail designer, Stephane Fauve.  He sent us off the pontoons just before midnight, making sure our bellies were full & content with classic Brittany fare of galettes and crêpes.

Very light winds - lighter than expected - so we had a gentle three day passage.  Too slow for us, but we were happy to not experience any aggressive conditions in the Bay with the kids on the boat.

We arrived in La Coruña, Spain on Saturday evening.  Our local friends Jose and Sonia have given us a huge and warm welcome.

la trinité-sur-mer, brittany, france

After a month of being at the Base de sous-marins, we were finally ready:  new rigging, updated electronics, serviced sails. We even got immunizations done for Raivo, thanks to the help of our kind friend Dr. Yann Rochas.

We said goodbye to a few people, but goodbyes are difficult for us, especially Tormentina.  So at 12 noon on Monday, Simone Gaeta from the BP Team gave us a helping hand off the dock, and we sailed to La Trinité-sur-Mer to test out all of our systems.

Beautiful day on the Brittany coast:  Starboard tack out of Lorient, one gybe to port to slide through the peninsula, then upwind with 1000 litres of ballast into La Trinité.  We pulled up to the marina at 5pm and are now tied up on the pontoon next to all the rock star boats like Sodebo and Safran.

Last time Anasazi Girl was tied up next to Sodebo was in 2008, at the Shosholoza base in Capetown, South Africa.  I was pregnant with Tormentina at the time, and Thomas Colville was making repairs on a hull after hitting an iceberg in the Southern Ocean.  He saw my big belly, and said, "You're pregnant?  You have to eat, please come, we have lots of food, eat!!"

Now it is Wednesday, the town of La Trinité is quiet and sleepy, and we are waiting for weather to leave the Bay of Biscay.  Tonight at 10pm it is looking good for us to leave the dock.

banque populaire v, lorient, france

The Maxi Trimaran, Banque Populaire V, is back in the water.  We stored Anasazi Girl's mast underneath the Tri while we were waiting for our new rigging.  We have been watching the progress of this world class team as they prepare her next to us on the docks in Lorient.  Everyone is very focused, hard-working and incredibly good at what they do.  They are also very relaxed, friendly and kind to our family.  Read more about this amazing sailing machine here:   Maxi Trimaran BP V.

lorient, france

Tormentina on our walk today along the waterfront, Lorient.

dock life at the bsm, lorient, france

We love this place, Lorient.  On the docks, we are surrounded daily by a group of incredibly fast minds involved in the sailing industry.  They are super nice people and very switched on - world class sailors, designers, builders, adventurers, creative thinkers and problem solvers.

Our work list is finally shrinking for the next leg of our family voyage to Capetown, South Africa.  New rigging arrives tomorrow and the mast goes back in the boat this week.

Tormentina already falling in love with the French sailors, esp. Tanguy de Lamotte and Benoit Marie on the chocolate boat.

bsm, lorient, france

Life at the submarine base...  She is a bird, waiting to fly.

banque populaire imoca 60, bsm, lorient, france

Banque Populaire's IMOCA 60 came out of the shed this week at the BSM in Lorient.  Then at first light this morning, Armel Le Cléac'h + the Banque Populaire crew were there with smiles to do the 90 degree stability test.

We handed down Raivo's outgrown Transatlantic action suit (from Patagonia, Inc.) to Le Cléac'h's 9 month old son, certain he is another sailor in the making.