the last time I wrote a report on our blog I was sitting in shorts outside in the cockpit on a mild summer's night while crossing the Med from Corsica to Menorca. It seems like a very long time ago and I feels like we skipped autumn and have gone straight to winter. Right now we are in Gibraltar; the wind is blowing out the west from the Atlantic and it is freezing outside.
Let me fill you in briefly what happened over the past 6-8 weeks. Our summer Med tour finished with a trip from Corsica via Menorca back to Mallorca. Crewing on board for that section were Sandra and Andreas. A severe mistral storm however delayed our departure from the port of Bonifacio on the southern tip of Corsica by 4 days. During one of the nights we logged winds of more than 40 knots while being tied up precariously at the narrow end of a pier.
When we finally left port we crossed the Strait of Bonifacio towards Sardinia on a very stirred up and choppy sea. After a heavy day sailing we were hiding behind the Asinara peninsular for some relief before heading out again for a rough night towards Menorca. By mid next day the sea and wind calmed down and the last day of the crossing we had to motor again because there was no wind at all. That’s typical for the Mediterranean.
In Mallorca we were joined by Elke, Simon, Sandra and 11 month old Kien. The trip continued down the east coast of Mallorca and was followed by another brief visit to the wonderful Cabrera Island. A short stop in Palma and then we were headed for our temporary home of Port Ginesta to the south of Barcelona.
The arrival followed a frantic 4 weeks of [again … more] preparations to get ready for the second part of the journey. The job list was to the tune of 4 pages long, but I won’t bother you with the details. We finally finished ‘dressing’ PasoDoble and now she has a neat covered outside cockpit area, designed to provide shelter against wind, sun and later on ….. mosquitos, whilst being anchored or moored.
We also managed to finish the HF radio installation and the fine-tuning of a few electronic components which needed attention. In style, we just made it to turn the workshop back into a boat the day before the crew arrived for the departure to Gibraltar. Here they are – Martin,
Hans-Peter, Emanuela, Eloi and Dani
This trip was our first transit only section, described as 540 miles going south along the Spanish coastline towards the Strait of Gibraltar. The BIG adventure has begun .....
The weather report predicted favorable winds from the north-east and we set sail on the afternoon of October 29. During the afternoon and evening the winds increased and we were flying with the sea rolling in from behind. The night was a little uncomfortable and the new crew needed some time to get used to the motion. By midnight we passed the delta of the Ebro and changed course to pass between Denia and the island of Ibiza. We continued south on that course along the coast for another 2 days, passing Alicante and Cartagena on the Costa Blanca. Even visible from the boat, the Cabo de Gata in the province of Murcia has a lunar-like landscape and in some places is dryer and sunnier than the Sahara desert. Sometime during the day a shoal of dolphins visited us and displayed their magnificent abilities to glide effortlessly through the water, right under our bows. We were lying on the trampoline net taking it all in.
The wind had abated by then a little and between motoring and sailing we reached the port of Almeria and called in for a night of good rest. Before we entered the port we decided to take advantage of the sun and calm sea and have a last ‘bath’ in the Med, and a relaxed lunch.
Feeling strengthened again we headed out and spend the next day and night passing the Costa del Sol with a magnificent view of the Sierra Nevada and the highest mountain in Spain, Pico de Mulhacen. The next morning the wind started to pick up again and by the time we reached Puerto Banus just to the south of Marbella we had 25 knots and thundering rain. This weather continued most of the day and through the night. The following morning at 6 am we decided to postpone our departure for a day as lightning and thunder continued and it didn’t look like we would have a chance to reach Gibraltar going against the wind. The weather predictions however promised better conditions for the next day and when we headed out of the marina we had sun and soon after 15 knots of steady winds from the west. By midday we had 2 reefs in the main and genoa and gusts to 35 knots. Although we were sailing hard the rock of Gibraltar didn’t seem to be getting any closer. It took another 3 hours before we finally rounded the Punta de Europa and could change tack, heading into the bay of Algeciras towards Gibraltar. We hoisted the Union Jack and the yellow customs flag and weaved our way through the fleet of anchored merchant ships and ferries. When entering the port we found out that there was no space in any of the marinas in Gibraltar for our catamaran. We decided to fill up with tax-free diesel and go across to Spain again. After a quick change back to the Spanish courtesy flag again we entered the Puerto Alcaidesa in La Linea de la Concepcion. The wind was still blowing a stiff 25 knots out of the west and the temperature was dropping. By the time we were finally moored it was just before dark. It took us all day to do just 40 miles and the boat was salt crusted.
The next morning was spent with getting PasoDoble back into ship-shape and afterwards we were heading into Gibraltar, crossing the border and the tarmac of the airport runway by foot, ready to check out this bizarre British set-up at the southern tip of Europe.
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