Sailing from Sardinia to Mallorca, Balearics 16th -18th September 39:21.55N 003:12.88E

Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Fri 30 Sep 2011 08:12
 
We slipped our lines from the marina in Cagliari, Sardinia at 09.27 hrs and then stopped off at the fuel berth to fill our tanks at a staggering 1.60 euros a litre--- and a very large tank--- a Fiat 500 would be cheaper !!
 
We headed south along the west coast of the Golfo de Cagliari, a beautiful coastline, well worth a visit. We rounded the south tip of the island and set a course for Mallorca.
The forecast was for light winds from the east 5 to 10 knots ( behind us ) and to then back to a westerly the next day ( on the nose ) and finally go to a northerly wind, increasing in strength to a strong mistral wind coming down from the Gulf of Lyon.  We decided to settle for motoring for the first half of the trip ( motoring is slower than sailing for our 100HP auxiliary engine) to get us ahead of the strong blow coming in and pick up some wind to get us into Mallorca, we decided to miss out Menorca.
 
We settled into a watch system again of   14.00 to 20.00,  then night watches of  20.00 to 24.00,  24.00 to 04.00,  04.00 to 08.00, back to day,  08.00 to 14.00 and so with two watches of Jackie and John and then Tony and I the watch system rotates each day---- so you either get two night slots or one.
With Jackie and John it has been a real treat for Tony and I to sail together at night. We are always on different watches to one another------just one of us on deck whilst the other sleeps.
 
We headed west and by 19.00 we had covered 52 N miles in light 6 knots of wind and a slight cross swell. We enjoyed our first sunset and settled into night watches.
At 22.00 the moon came up like a sunrise, incredibly pink and gave semi daylight with the pink hue.
By 23.00 the wind increased to 11 knots and the direction allowed us to motor sail ( engine and genoa forward sail only ).
 
The next day, 17th saw us motor sailing in 8 knots, sailing and then just motoring in 1.7 knots, and so a slow crawl towards Mallorca with a noisy engine and less comfortable motion.  Yachts are so much nicer when sailing,it is quiet and the motion can be more comfortable—if not rough.
We had several land birds circling the boat trying to land – obviously tired and possibly lost.  At 20.00 hrs a small swift-like bird landed on the folded sail and tucked itself into the edge sheltering near the mast.   Just typical ---so we couldn't put the sail up when the wind filled--- poor thing looked like it needed a home.  It was still with us at 04.00 when we checked with a torch but flew away sometime during the 04.00 to 0.800 watch--- probably at dawn.  So we had a hitch hiker for 8 hours plus!! Finally the sails went up !!
 
On 18th we were struggling to sail in 8 to 14 knots of head wind from the west and so the course we could sail was taking us too far north and so engine on again.
We had some tanker traffic by day and night but quite sparse considering we were cutting across the central Mediterranean shipping lanes.
 
On the 04.00 to 0800 watch Jackie called Land ho---Mallorca.  By 10.35 we picked up some wind, decided to head up to sail a more northerly course and blasted towards Mallorca with 13/16 knots of wind.
 
We checked the pilot book and made for a cala called Porto Petro on the East coast of Mallorca.  We anchored in the bay at 12.30 midday after 309 n miles and 51 hours.
We enjoyed nice food on board during the trip after provisioning in Sardinia----- and a meal in Mallorca at anchor with some celebratory vino ---of course !!!!
 
Photos of ----
 
Leaving Cagliari
The coast of Golfo de Cagliari
At sea/ Swifts trying to land on the boat.
Sailing towards Mallorca
Spanish Courtesy flag goes up
Porto Petro, Mallorca.
 
Love to all
 
Jackie, John, Tony and Tina x x x

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