And into the Mediterranean
Rik
Sun 11 Jun 2023 10:00
Just as we were approaching Trafalgar we were hit by rain of what can only be described as biblical proportions. In 25knots it hit the sail and ran into the Sailbag which filled with water and started rubbing on the Bimini. I clipped on and went out to the mast to sort it, whoosh ! Many gallons of water poured out of the Sailbag and directly over me including down the sleeves of both my outstretched arms! I do hope Nelson didn’t have this kind of trouble !
Anyway, we finally dropped the mainsail and just about got it back in to the once again injured sailbag and headed for the 20 metre contour before the Orcas rocked up. Immediately the vhf fires in to life “pan pan, pan pan, pan pan, the whales are attacking us” ! Unfortunately we couldn’t work out the position of the boat in trouble plus there was little we could do to help. The coastguard soon replied and offered assistance to the stricken vessel.
Two other yachts joined us at Barbate and we all stayed within the 20 metre contour as much as possible while we were near the hotspot and then kept close almost until Gibraltar.
Once we entered the Med the seas finally eased, so we decided to turn around into the wind and raise and lower the mainsail more neatly into the Sailbag which went reasonably well until the main halyard came undone and wrapped itself around the lazy jacks. Once again I clipped on and climbed on the Bimini to retrieve it, soon fixed and on our way. The seas continued to ease and the sun was now shining as we approached Gibraltar. I was just about to get some breakfast (lunch) when my presence was requested on the flybridge. So many boats so many AIS icons, how were we going to get through?
It soon became clear that very few of them were actually moving, so we picked our way past and we’re able to enjoy an easy, calm sunny last section up to Sotogrande!
We arrived in Sotogrande, checked in (never a quick process)and moored up, this was our first stern to mooring which went surprisingly smoothly. The tide here is less than half a metre so they don’t waste money on floating pontoons but tie the stern to the concrete dock and the bow to some very dirty ropes fixed to the bottom of the harbour in front of the boat.
So we finally made it to the Mediterranean, 1300 miles, somewhat exhausted but rather pleased with ourselves, well I certainly was!
