Jackie and John join Tioram 19th September 2015.
Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Wed 30 Sep 2015 15:55
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John sailed the return Atlantic with us on Tioram from Antigua to the Azores in May/ June 2010. In 2011 Jackie joined John to sail on Tioram again from the island of Symi in the Dodecanese Aegean, Greece through the Corinth canal, Ionian islands, Messina straits, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands through the Med to Spain. So now they are sailing with us from Sardinia to Corsica and through the Balearic Islands to Spain. We slipped our lines from Destriero Pontile in Cannigione for the last time this summer heading to Porto Pozzo for the night. The next morning we sailed into Bonifacio, Corsica, a first for Jackie and John. With forecast for some strong winds we headed to Maddalena to ride out a mistral before returning to Porto Pozzo. Finally a weather window came on 25th September to set sail from Sardinia and head offshore to the Balearics.. On the first day 25th, we rocked and rolled on the swell which followed the past days of high winds. Through the night the large swell made the motion uncomfortable and so motor sailing helped a little. The following day,26th the uncomfortable sea continued and in the afternoon we were able to switch off the engine and sail for Mallorca. Darkness came with Tioram speeding along but a large cross sea. The forecast showed weather coming in from the north with large waves pushing down from the north and from the south of France. At approx 7 pm we decided to change our plans and head into Mahon,Menorca. Tony and I don't like making land fall in darkness and have never done this with an unknown location. Fortunately we know Mahon very well having visited several times although always arriving by day. The natural harbour is a very safe port to arrive in at night and with 4 very as sailors on board plus a knowledge of the approaches and the port we decided to head in. The navigation lights are a lighthouse, buoys and channel markers but at night mixed with the array of background shore lights it wasn't an easy arrival. Tony stayed on the helm in the growing cross sea, although tired he had a better sense of the seas after helming for a few hours and in darkness we didn't want to put a new person on the helm. Finally we cleared the narrow entrance to the huge natural harbour and in the dark found a good safe place to anchor which we know well. 11pm anchored, hot drinks all round and straight to bed shattered. The next morning 27th at 7am we set sail for Ibiza with a plan to miss Mallorca. With plenty of wind we sailed all day and overnight. In the early hours of 28th September there was first a partial and then full eclipse of the moon. This made the stars incredibly bright. On approach to Ibiza the on shore wind made the anchorages unprotected so the plan changed again and we continued direct to Formentera and anchored off the beach at Espalmador. A short 4 hours to rest and to eat lunch and we set sail again for the overnight at sea to the Spanish mainland. Finally we saw the lights of the mainland off Cabo de Palos, the tanker traffic was a bit challenging as we had a collision CPA alert on Nellie Maersk ahead in 5 n miles. In the middle of a thunderstorm, heavy rain and swell we guessed the tanker couldn't see us and wasn't answering our radio calls. For safety we did a 180 degree course change to head north so that the tanker passed safely 0.8 to 1 nm to our port side. Always nice to have 4 experience crew on board at those moments for quick decisions. We continued to the coast and arrived safely in Spain 18.30 hrs, a fast trip just 4 days 12 hours from Sardinia to Spain but with an experienced crew it was a quick door to door. Photos of Bonifacio before leaving and the trip across the Med ... Love to all T and T xx               |