The Bay of Biscay is an icon for sailors and seamen and I could not wait to add it to my log book.
I must say that his reputation is absolutely deserved.
Once crossed the Ile d'Ouseant, I had the feeling that the almost 400 miles that separated me from the Spanish coast would have been less terrible than the situation presaged by the latest weather forecast downloaded from the internet before setting sail from Le Havre ..
But punctually on the morning of the 6 of June, the sea passed to force 8 and it would stay as such for the entire voyage.
To complicate our lives our autopilot decided to stop working already in Le Havre.
My crew for this voyage was made up by Frank, the generous and tireless French I met in Le Havremy and my "compare" Giovanni, who never fails to respond to my calls whenever I ask for an helping hand.
Unfortunately the sea conditions were too demanding for the stomach of the Siciliano, which appears within a few miles after we left Le Havre forcing him to ricover in the cabin and stay there until the arrival on the Spanish coast.

Within a few hours the height of waves reached 8 meters and the wind in gusts, abundantly exceeded 40 knots (force 9).
The behavior of Angelique II has been tranquilized and surprised.
2 reefing lines and Genoa to 40% allowed us to proceed with a close-hauled comfortable and perfectly acceptable speeds around 10 knots.
A spectacle.
During the first 300 miles of sailing I was able to learn to balance the sail plan. The catamaran sailed for 3 days with no one at the helm.
Put up the sails Angelique II traveled with absolute precision.
What a boat.
I am happy with this experience because it allowed me of knowing immediately Angelique II in terms of safety and comfort in extreme conditions.
Now I know I can deal with her any kind of sea.

Angelique (my first boat) also gave me the same feeling of tranquility to face the sea, but with Angelique II on-board comfort, even in extreme conditions, is a few orders of magnitude higher.
The only thing to which we must get used to is the noise generated by the waves of the sea (upwind) breaking on the "nascelle", the middle part that connects the two hulls.
It seems that the boat should break in two at any moment, deafening roars.
Instead void only some "pop" from time to time.

Meanwhile, life on board has tried to adapt to the conditions of the sea.
Giovanni closed the cabin, Myself and Franck I moved to Franck dinette all the time of the crossing.
This allowed us to be always ready to help in time of need during the turn of rest.

Once on the Spanish coast we decided to stop in La Caruna.
John had to go home. 3 days without eating and drinking had weakened him severely.
We greeted with a bit of sadness.
It 's the first time in more than 30 years that I do not conclude an adventure together began.

I hope he will want to try again in the future.
We stayed for 2 nights, we made some minor maintenance work, some provisioning, met some people and now we're ready to sail to Gibraltar.
I hope to have connectivity in the next few days to update you on this new leg.

Giamba