E15 Orca attacks, broken autopilot, and MAN OVERBOARD failure - Camariñas to Muros

Join us weekly for more off-grid boat living content! In this weeks episode we sail from Camariñas to Muros. Another beautiful sail but not without its problems. We come within miles of an Orca attack, it is quite harrowing to hear it play out on the VHF. You feel so helpless, and reminded of just how vulnerable we are. Since 2020, over 350 boats have suffered an interaction with this subpopulation of orca while sailing along the Iberian Peninsula, with around 70% being damaged. They seem to target the rudder (steers the boat), they can do so much damage to the rudder that the hull structure is damaged and boats take on water. At the time of writing two boats have been sunk. No one understands the new behaviours, there are many theories. The best course of action is avoidance. In 2022, almost 70% of reported interactions resulted in damage and 24% resulted in the boat's steering being disabled and requiring a tow from the emergency services to port. https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/news/orca-interactions-with-boats-expected-to-stop-91150 On the final sail into Muros the autopilot tiller arm snaps off of the rudder stock - the weld fails. So now we know longer have autopilot functionality. We were just extremely grateful that it didn't break on our Biscay crossing. We go for a short day sail to a nearby beach, and Walter drops his ball overboard, which we decided was good Man Over Board practice. We failed miserably, ended up running over the ball, losing sight of it and not being able to find it again. Follow us on Instagram: @at_the_hansons Subscribe to our YouTube: Sailing Nendaz