August 6             

1100hrs                This morning we explored Cala di Stentinu in the dinghy before having a swim at Maora Bay. Catherine and I swam back 500m to Westralia, Jack bringing Jude back in the dinghy. Departed for Solenzara.

Access to the dinghy

Maora Bay

The weather is a bit better than Melbourne!

Dinner at Maora Bay

1300hrs                About two hours in we had a problem. I had changed the fuel supply from the port tank to the starboard tank, to balance up the tank usage, but left the return valve to the port tank. So that meant I transferred all fuel to the port tank and emptied the starboard tank. The engine stopped and it took me some time to realize my error. I had a great deal of trouble bleeding the fuel lines and could not start the engine. The wind dropped to nil so we were drifting and ultimately had to launch the dinghy to tow the yacht clear of danger near Ile Forana. We did this for 2 or 3 hours and then received a tow from a Belgium yacht to a safe anchorage at the mouth of Porto Vecchio. There I managed to finally bleed the fuel lines and we got the engine started.

2200hrs                Berthed at Solenzara. We motored upto Solenzara marina, went along side and dropped Jack off to handle the mooring ropes, mooring stern to with no assistance at 10pm, as the office shut at 9pm. A stressful day but no damage, no injuries and another learning experience to add to the memory bank. We immediately went to the bar and downed a couple of beers after a stressful afternoon. Jack's first beer took a nano second to drink!

Catherine and Jack at Solenzara