Santa Teresa
Altea
Sun 3 Aug 2014 15:01
41:14:26N 09:11:75E 20 July 2014 After an early start, we had a lively sail in over 20 knots, continuing to make our way round the northern tip of Sardinia. It may be unseasonal weather, with plenty of cloud cover and wind, but it suits us just fine. Life jackets on and bimini down as we reach the windier and rougher part of the day, in the approaches to the straits. We anchored first of all on the south western side of Capo Testa, but the prospect of a peaceful stay for the evening was spoilt by a "securite, securite, securite" message on VHF channel 16, which warned of a near gale from the south west that night. This is always the challenge when choosing an anchorage. Here we were at 3pm in a north easterly force 5, well sheltered and snug. But if we settled down here we would know that at some time in the night the wind would come round and batter us from the seaward side, with the inevitable swell and discomfort that this would mean, plus the risk of a dragged anchor. We go round to the other side of Capo Testa, which will be sheltered from the forecast south westerly, but right now is being knocked about by the north easterly and is untenable... Finally, we capitulate and head round the corner to the marina at Santa Teresa, happy to do so because it was here, in 2005, that the four of us had our first sailing adventure. I had gone to Greece in the spring to get the day skipper qualification that was required to charter the boat that we had already booked...and with the certificate burning a hole in my pocket, we were in charge of a Beneteau 411. The others had a touching faith in my ability to guide us through the week. On the first day, as seems to be the norm here in the Bonifacio Straits, there was a force 7-8 blowing from the west. We seemed to be the only ones leaving the marina in the morning, and it soon became apparent why. The rollers from the west were impressive. I think I got away with the fact that the entire genoa unfurled, when I had only meant to put out a scrap, and the gybe on the face of what seemed to be a towering wave was assumed to be perfectly normal. The crew were slightly puzzled, but compliant, with my request to put on their life jackets, and relieved as I returned us all safe and sound to the marina. That was 9 years ago. After which I hasten to add we had a great holiday in frisky winds, sailing mainly under genoa, and enjoying the Maddalena islands. One memorable moment was when we radioed ahead to book a marina berth and said that we had a beam of 40 metres. They were impressed and would have put out the flags for us, but our true width of 4m did not really require a royal welcome. Santa Teresa was, if anything, nicer than we remembered and we had an enjoyable meal ashore, charged the batteries and refilled the water tank. |