Sardinia bound for the Balearics
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Tue 4 Jun 2013 05:34
The wind died on Sunday night and it was so calm that neither of us slept. The forecast for the coming week was easterly winds so we decided to take advantage and go west.
A somewhat clumsy departure from the Marina del Sole in a cross wind (no battle scars to us others)followed by a visit to the fuelling pontoon at the far end of the harbour for the most expensive diesel yet (1.83 euro/litre) we finally left behind five days of howling wind.
Our plan was to sail the 30 miles to the south west tip of Sardinia and anchor for the night. We started with a pleasant 15 knots on the quarter and had a lovely sail under genny alone. After about four hours the boat that was about two miles ahead and on the same course suddenly heeled right over and there was confusion in her sails. A wind change was imminent and sure enough it went from 10 knots on the port beam to 27 knots on the starboard beam as we crossed the wind line on the sea. We decided to motor sail as the wind came onto the nose but the attempt to put the main up failed when we noticed that one of the batten carriages had come apart---that required calmer water to repair if either the skipper or the crucial part or both were not go overboard. We anchored two hours later in what must be a lovely place when the wind is not gusting a catabatic 27 knots. Onward towards the Balearics tomorrow!
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