Tuesday, June 25, 2013

From Alicante to Sardinia

Finally on Internet again!

On Wednesday we had a great evening in Alicante, we had a couple of drinks on the club terrace, and afterwards very good dinner with jamon, local rice dishes and local wine. 

Next morning we topped our fuel tank (we didn't have to, but fuel in Spain is much cheaper than in Italy or in Slovenia), and we sailed off a bit after noon. After checking the latest weather forecast we decided to pass Ibiza and Mallorca and sail straight to Sardinia. After a bit of motoring the wind picked up and we sailed nicely on almost flat sea. It was especially nice in the night with almost full moon.

Towards the morning wind died and we motored to Ibiza. The plan was to stop and have a swim, but there were many jelly fish so we moved on. We were able to sail for couple of hours, but in the afternoon we had to motor again. Sea was flat and we saw many turtles in on area, where the water was the warmest. I would do the same thing if I were them.

A large group of dolphins came by to play around Heron and it was so great to watch them in calm clear water.






There is a reflection of the boat in the water, and my shadow is right on the dolphin.



 In late afternoon Mallorca and a bit later Cabrera came in view. Before dinner we stopped for skinny dipping in the warm sea.



Evening was calm, I was even able to sail nicely on my night watch. Afterwards Tomaz motored for a while, and towards morning wind grew stronger and unfortunately so did the waves. Mare caught a big tuna at dawn.


 Heron was rocking and rolling wildly on the waves until noon, but at least we were sailing and the sun was shining. Wind died and sea calmed down a bit early in the afternoon, and we had breakfast.

Evening was calm, we ate "catch of the day" for dinner of course. There was a beautiful sunset again, with a real green flash. After the dinner we were able to sail again, wind grew strong enough for good sailing speed, and we had a hope again to reach Sardinia next day, Sunday, in the evening.

In the night we motored again for a while, but towards morning wind was back and we sailed with good speed. Morning was nice and sunny and we saw the firs sailboat since Spanish coast.

During the day wind stayed pleasant with moderate waves and we had a nice sail. Ship traffic grew heavier. We tried to pull up the gennacker to gain a knot or two, but the lines got tangled again and after three tries we were fed up and rolled the genoa back out.

In the afternoon wind grew stronger, and so did the waves. At points wind speed reached over 30 knots, and we reefed sails a lot. But we quickly made up for the lost speed for when we were trying to hoist the gennacker.

At 21.00 we anchored in a pretty and calm bay behind Capo de Malfantano in SW of Sardinia, after being on the sea for 81 hours and making 460 miles with average speed of 5,7 knots.

We even had a swim before going to bed. And afterwards we had a good, calm, long night, despite the full moon.



 Our anchorage




Next morning we left the anchorage with the plan to sail to Bay of Carbonara on SE point of Sardinia. Wind was quite strong and we sailed fast on genoa alone.



After a while wind died and we had to motor. But in the afternoon wind was back, with full force. It grew stronger and stronger and we were reefing and reefing, until there was only a piece of genoa out. With the wind the waves grew higher and higher also. They were the biggest when we were crossing the Bay of Cagliari, 2 meters on average with a bigger one every now and then. I was amazed, how wind can produce such waves in only 12 miles fetch. But wind was really strong, constantly at about 30 knots, going to 35, and it came from the side, so we got the full force of it. When we reached the W side of the bay, the waves got a bit smaller, but wind grew even stronger. Wind gage registered F9 and 47,4 knot, but there were short gusts that were even stronger. It was not pleasant, although the skies were blue and the sun was shining. For me it was the most wind I had out on the sea sailing. And I only had more wind once, in Faro in Portugal, when we were on anchor. But luckily Heron and the crew managed the conditions well, and at the afternoon we anchored behind W edge of Carbonara bay.

This was taken when all the "fun" was almost over, we were already in Carbonara bay.


After our stomachs calmed down, we ate late dinner and went to bed.

In the morning we moved the boat E in front of Villasimius harbor and boys rowed the dinghy in and got some bread and mobile Internet. Wind was growing again, so we moved the boat back to the W side of the bay. We are anchored in front of the nice sand beach in clear green water. Strong wind and cold water (today it only had 19 deg C) make it hard to go into the water, but brave ones of us still did (me, me, me :-).

We checked the weather and decided to sail to Sicily early tomorrow morning. First we'll make a stop on Egadi islands, and then we'll sail to Trapani. The Mistral is still blowing, and will be for next day and a half, but I hope it doesn't freak out like it did yesterday.

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