20th & 21st June - Solenzara; Going nowhere
Sealion
Richard Martin
Mon 21 Jun 2010 19:38
We set off early
yesterday morning with a forecast of F3/5 westerly. The clouds still heavy, with
the current unsettled weather. Within 4/5 miles the wind had increased from
12/14 knots to a steady 22/24knots and gusting 28knots and the sea was getting
pretty rough.
As the
forecast had significantly underestimated the wind the last two days
sailing and knowing that there was still very unsettled weather about, we
decided to turn back. (There are also no ports or Bays of refuge on this part of
the East coast for some thirty miles). At least it was sunny yesterday afternoon
so we went down to the beach and had a swim.
We had heavy rain
during the night and unfortunately the forecast for today was potentially
even worse with a North wind, ie. Head on, of F5/6. It is clear that a number of
other boats have been sitting here waiting for the weather to
improve.
Tomorrow while the
wind will still be from the North, it should be much lighter so we expect/hope
to go. The locals reckon the weather should finally settle on Wednesday. I was
told this afternoon that it had actually snowed last night on the mountains
above two thousand metres - we seemed to have picked the worst year the locals
have experienced, weather wise, for years.
Some pictures of the
marina and mountains in the background.
