Hi all,
After the Fornelli passage we began our trip to Mahon, Menorca.  The forecast for a light headwind was correct but by the evening and overnight the northerly wind didn't materialise, if anything it strengthened on the nose.
Within a hour of leaving Fornelli we had another yacht join us from Sardinia. As we went into darkness and nav lights on we could still clearly see the other yacht, showing it as 43ft on our AIS  system info. The radar showed it as a constant 3 miles away so it was nice for both of us to have company when 90-100 miles out at sea and half way between Sardinia and Menorca.

Foolishly Tony and I decided not to set a proper watch system for the one night, preferring to switch around hourly and rest on deck.......a mistake.
By half way through the night the wind dropped ,the swell increased on the beam so we were twisting around and the visibility was very poor. The high humidity, mist and moonless night made the horizon completely disappear and our bright nav lights blinding. We switched to tri- colour nav light on the mast head( top) and got better night vision.
The other yacht had motored away more quickly ahead of us and we lost sight of it at only 3 half miles. We decided to catch it up a little and at 2 half miles we could see their stern light again which gave us a light on the horizon......much better for visibility and orientation.....especially on a rolly sea.
Sailing at night is so much easier than motoring, the boat is far more settled and the movement is more comfortable....plus it's quicker to sail.  So we plodded on into a light head wind.

By morning we were both completely shattered, Tony saying it was his worst night at sea.....mainly very little and broken sleep and a disorientating mist etc.  In future we will do a proper watch system even for one night and get proper off watch sleep.

So we continued into Menorca eventually seeing land and made our way towards the headland.
I text family and friends to let everyone know we were safely in with just 8 n miles to go.
By the time we had 6 n miles, Tony was asleep in the cabin and I had just popped down below briefly after a good check around for other boats etc and left Tioram on auto pilot for a moment. Suddenly the engine revs dropped then increased then dropped again. I rushed on deck and put the engine to neutral and looked over the stern.....nothing trailing or popping up.
I got Tony up and we tried some revs and reverse.......all fine.   If you get a wrap around the prop moving forward and back wards will help the rope cutter on the prop to cut anything fowled away. Nothing came up.  We continued forward, only to find that the revs were dying and Tioram seemed to be working hard to move forward.  We were concerned we might be trailing something......not good if a lobster pot etc in 130 m depth.
Tony had the brilliant idea of tying our underwater camera to our  boat hook pole and extending it under the boat with a timer delay setting. We got two perfect shots of the prop and the rudder, all clear and nothing trailing......great news.

So we started forward again but Tiorams engine was faultering , revs changing and very unhappy. Tony decided to bleed the fuel for any air but this meant we needed to turn off the engine.....a little unnerving with no wind to sail. We were still about 5 miles out and in safe water.
We turned off the engine, Tony checked everything....all the usual stuff, fan belts etc nothing found. I tried to restart the engine and for the first time in ten years it didn't start first time. Crossed fingers and tried again.......it started..

We debated calling port control to chaperone us through the naturally narrow harbour entrance to the lake like port of Mahon. At this point Tioram was limping along on steady revs doing 4.5 knots.  We readied the genoa to put it out quickly as the wind was a little more at the entrance and we checked the chart for depths through the entrance channel and readied the anchor to deploy quickly if necessary. We knew once we were inside the harbour we could safely and quickly anchor if the engine stalled.

Tioram was running along nicely, revs occasionally fluttering but making headway towards the last mile to the entrance. Tony leaned forward to adjust the revs as we neared the entrance.
I remarked that if he touched the revs at this moment......it was divorce material !!!!!!!!
Tioram was making progress......so I asked, 'Can we go straight through the entrance and channel at this speed?', 'Yes' , came the answer, ' Then DONT TOUCH IT !!!!! ', I said.
We laughed and entered the harbour.  It was a bit nerve jangling.

See I told you in previous blogs about camper vans......... now in this instance when camper vans break down they just stop on the side of the road don't they????hmmmm,.

We made in it safely with all precautions taken and anchored off the Island del Rey in the centre of the harbour. We called the marina, said we may have engine loss when trying to berth and may need assistance. A rib came and we safely moored in the marina, without any further problems.  
Too tired to do anything more and also a Sunday if we needed a mechanic, we rested and recharged.
After a good nights sleep, Tony changed the oil filters, checked the fuel and ran the engine again. We had a lot of white smoke with the engine revs not holding high revs and then stalling.
We left it till today 23 rd running it again and it seems we have burned off a coked up residue.
We had this once before as we moored in Portugal at the end of our return Atlantic trip.
We had motored in low tick over revs for some hours as the crew rested nearing the coast.
The turbo got coked up and cut off the engine as we tried to stop the boat in reverse on the dock.  High revving cleared it and it has run brilliantly now for 4 and half more years.
It seems we have the same kind of problem or little bad fuel but now Tioram seems to be purring again to her normal beat.

Love to all
T and T x x x