Another Channel crossing

 29 hours at sea and a perfect north- easterly breeze has blown me and Falanda back to France, as we make our way to Paimpol for another classic boat Festival.


The enticement of pretty wooden boats was too strong to resist, and with a perfect weather forecast there was no way I was missing out on another channel crossing on Falanda.


With dolphins at our bow, Falanda and I watched a lovely sunset before a cold darkness came in and we entered the shipping lanes - a seemingly endless mess of big big boats, all with somewhere to be. 


Although cold, the darkness revealed a sky packed with thousands of stars -something most boaters can agree is one of the best parts of night sailing, since there is minimal light pollution at sea.


Below us, there were also thousands of tiny lights in the form of phosphorescence that washed past, creating a glowing white bow-wave against an otherwise black sea.


Setting off, I was already lacking sleep so the night trip dragged on a bit - I struggled to even keep my eyes open nevermind keep falanda on course as she was pushed around by the waves. 


My efforts were rewarded however, with an average speed of over 6.5 kts all night, and I was delighted when Falanda hit 8.9kts as we crossed the first shipping lane. The sailing was more than fantastic even if my head wasn’t completely in it, and Falanda did an amazing job, as ever.





Dolphins!





Chilling on the boom!


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