Sunday, September 8, 2013
Sardinia? Mallorca? Menorca? A Storm and Other Adventures
Wednesday was a lovely day in Marsala, even though we were woken up at 5:00AM by a light rain. It soon cleared up and we did a major shopping and were able to check the weather and the internet.
We got diesel at the very tiny fuel quay (even though there was not much room and the wind was pushing us towards the dock, with the guys on the dock pushing, Frank got us off beautifully) and left around noon, intending to go to an island about 20 miles away and stop there for the night before heading to Sardinia.
Well, the course of this sailing trip never did run smoothly, to shamelessly paraphrase Shakespeare. When we got to the island we saw that the harbor was way too small and shallow for us to get in (the chart was inaccurate on this point), so the only thing to do was to head for Sardinia. The bad thing about that was that it meant sailing overnight (which I am not crazy about), but we did not have a choice.
The next day we had good winds and were able to sail all day without the motor, so we decided to head for Menorca, which required another overnight. We are on a time schedule and were sailing without the motor and had good weather with the waves helping to push us, so figured we would just keep going.
There were some clouds, but no rain and they looked like fair weather clouds. Anyway, we had checked the weather before we left and there were no storms or rain predicted.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that we can necessarily trust the weather. Max was just about to beat me at chess--again--when I looked up and saw a waterspout coming from one of the clouds. Suddenly everything had changed. The clouds had gotten darker and more threatening and it was looking like we were going to be in for a big one. It was too late to head for a harbor or to change course for Sardinia again, so all we could do was to batten down the hatches and prepare the boat.
Frank is afraid that people will think he is incompetent because of all the things that have happened to us, but I can assure you that he is not. As long as there is no blood involved (if there were he would probably pass out and make me steer the boat--and no one wants that!), he is fantastic in a crisis. He just refuses to panic.
We all put our life jackets on and we quickly brought in the sails while Frank was deciding which was the safest way to go. We didn't think we could outrun the storm and it was such a big system that there wasn't any way that we could miss it completely, but we hoped that staying near the edge of it would mean that we missed the brunt of it.
Max was not afraid at all. He stayed downstairs, calmly eating sandwiches and reading a book while Frank and I anxiously watched the sky. We hightailed it out of there as quickly as we could and were much relieved to see clear skies ahead and even a few stars as the sun set.
The sunset was in some senses the scariest part of all. I have never seen a light like that. The only way I know how to describe it is that it was a MEAN light--yellow like a legal pad with a little brown mustard mixed in. There was a stripe of dark gray clouds above it and a very angry, defiant-looking sun. It was truly eerie, but it was behind us and ahead of us we saw clear skies.
We did get some rain and wind; Frank was wearing full rain gear and had harnessed himself to the boat in anticipation of very large waves (Max and I were downstairs). However, none of it was nearly what we had been afraid of and after about 45 minutes we were entirely clear of the storm save for the lightning which was fast receding behind us. Max had fallen asleep in his life jacket, so I left it on him for a couple of hours before I finally got him to go to bed.
The next day the wind continued favorably and the weather was good so we decided to keep going and try and get to Mallorca, about 40 miles further than Menorca. It was an uneventful day and an uneventful overnight sail without using the motor.
Friday was a different story, however. A beautiful day, but an unsailable headwind so we had to motor all day and all night. That meant a lot of diesel consumption and at 5:30AM Saturday I heard ominous sounds coming from the motor. We still had 50 miles to our destination (once Frank calculated how much diesel our un-looked-for motoring necessity had consumed we had given up on Mallorca and changed course again for Menorca) and still no wind. We shut off the motor and waited till daylight, at which point we added our 20 liters of diesel from the jerry can. Now we are very hot and very slowly heading for Menorca, wishing for some wind to speed us up and save some diesel--apparently our couple days of really good wind was all we are going to get!
Frank Under the Boat
We are to be spared nothing on this trip, apparently. We left Siracusa under cloudy skies and on rocking waves, intending to get as far as we could and then anchor. Unfortunately, along the way we picked up a fishing net and were dragging it behind us. We tried with the boathook to dislodge it but it was too deep and we couldn't move it. We thought that maybe it was wrapped around the keel. Since we were sailing without the motor we figured we would deal with it once we stopped to anchor. The waves may have been left over from the low pressure system which had been hanging around and wouldn't lift, but they would not let up and we watched the one boat we saw anchored leave the anchorage we were considering and head for the nearest harbor, which was only about two miles away.
Unless we wanted to spend the night rocking like those things on TV that the lottery balls get shaken in we were going to have to go in the harbor too, but we were afraid to start the motor with the net still down there. There was no choice but for Frank to go down and look. It's unfortunate for him, but I am no help in situations like this because I can't see anything without my glasses. The bad thing was that the seas were rough and it was going to start getting dark soon.
Fortunately it was shallow enough that we could drop the anchor, although without the motor we were not entirely sure it had set. Frank tried for at least half an hour but could not dislodge the line; it was wrapped around the propeller. It was very scary to watch him bobbing around in the waves, especially when he had to go under the boat. Since he couldn't find a swimsuit quickly he went in naked. The bright white where his swimsuit usually is made him easy to see against the dark water, at least! I was watching from on deck and I kept envisioning him being knocked on the head by the boat. He was tied to a line, but it was still terrifying. (His comment later: "If I die, you should go in [to the dock] bow-first. It's much easier and since you have a hard time steering going forward anyway, you would probably get confused in reverse.").
He did manage to cut it short enough that, with luck, the motor wouldn't jam and we would make it to the harbor where we could get a diver to go down and finish the job. If it hadn't been so rough Frank could probably have done it, but it was impossible with the waves the way they were.
Success! The motor started, did not jam, and we made our way SLOWLY into the marina. The next day it took a diver ten minutes to get it off and we were on our way. Today (Tuesday) we are heading for Marsala, where we will get provisions, shower, and fill water before starting the trek to Sardinia.
Unless we wanted to spend the night rocking like those things on TV that the lottery balls get shaken in we were going to have to go in the harbor too, but we were afraid to start the motor with the net still down there. There was no choice but for Frank to go down and look. It's unfortunate for him, but I am no help in situations like this because I can't see anything without my glasses. The bad thing was that the seas were rough and it was going to start getting dark soon.
Fortunately it was shallow enough that we could drop the anchor, although without the motor we were not entirely sure it had set. Frank tried for at least half an hour but could not dislodge the line; it was wrapped around the propeller. It was very scary to watch him bobbing around in the waves, especially when he had to go under the boat. Since he couldn't find a swimsuit quickly he went in naked. The bright white where his swimsuit usually is made him easy to see against the dark water, at least! I was watching from on deck and I kept envisioning him being knocked on the head by the boat. He was tied to a line, but it was still terrifying. (His comment later: "If I die, you should go in [to the dock] bow-first. It's much easier and since you have a hard time steering going forward anyway, you would probably get confused in reverse.").
He did manage to cut it short enough that, with luck, the motor wouldn't jam and we would make it to the harbor where we could get a diver to go down and finish the job. If it hadn't been so rough Frank could probably have done it, but it was impossible with the waves the way they were.
Success! The motor started, did not jam, and we made our way SLOWLY into the marina. The next day it took a diver ten minutes to get it off and we were on our way. Today (Tuesday) we are heading for Marsala, where we will get provisions, shower, and fill water before starting the trek to Sardinia.
Catania and Siracusa
Thursday the 29th of August dawned a little cloudy, but not too dark so we set off from our anchorage at about 5:30AM heading for Catania. There is a Waldorf school there, so we were curious about the city. Things were relatively uneventful until the afternoon, when the wind picked up. Suddenly, with the wind pushing us and the waves for once working in our favor, we were flying! At one point we were going 8.5 knots solely under sail!
Every cloud does not have a silver lining, though. It started to rain and a little later we were in the middle of a full-fledged thunderstorm--pouring rain, waves, and little visibility. It was especially nervewracking because we were only about three miles from Catania and so should have been able to see the harbor entrance clearly. Frank did not want to go into the harbor blind, so we were forced to slow the boat down and wait it out. Fortunately it was only about half an hour before things started to clear up and we could approach the harbor.
For some reason, Italian marinas are horrible about answering when we call them on the radio, so we had to go in hoping rather than knowing that there would be someone there to help us moor. A stern-to mooring is very difficult to do without help because Frank has to back the boat into what is usually a very narrow space towards the dock rather than coming alongside, so it's nearly impossible for me to jump off with a line. Once he gets into the space, he also has to contend with the bow of the boat swinging around and possibly hitting the boats on either side until someone on shore can pass someone on board the anchor line (a line which is attached somewhere either on the dock or to the bottom and is then secured tightly to the bow of the boat to stop the boat from swinging and/or going forward). All these things are complicated by wind and the fact that this boat does not really like to respond all that quickly in reverse.
Given the circumstances, we were not looking forward to mooring by ourselves, but we had no choice. Someone somewhere likes us, though, because the wind died down and there was a wide space just waiting for us. Usually the marina prefers to tell you where they want you, but it looked like more rain and we couldn't get anyone on the radio, so we took the space. Frank made a masterful mooring. We did not even touch the boats on either side and he was able to get boat close enough to the dock that I was able to easily get off and secure the boat. Frank took care of the anchor line, Max tossed me the other stern line, and we were in!
Catania is a pretty city, much nicer than Palermo. It had very few tourists, but it has lots of narrow streets, old buildings, and lots of restaurants. The maria was not very conveniently situated and it wasn't that easy to orient ourselves, but Frank managed fine, of course.
There were lots of people sitting outside, at bars and cafes and on benches and in the squares. Italians are very social and like to sit outside in groups, especially the old men. Max got a good picture of a bunch of old men having an animated conversation on a park bench. We had a yummy pizza (we had promised Max that we would have real Sicilian pizza) and went to bed, planning to get up early and sightsee.
The next day we went into town and ate breakfast. Frank and I had croissants and Max ate tiramisu. It's a good thing we are not out for breakfast every day!
We needed groceries and it was Saturday, so the market was in full swing. It took up two full blocks and was like something out of a movie with all these people crowding around the vendors and everyone talking at once. The produce was wonderful, though! We were even able to get broccoli, which we have not seen for weeks. Some of the vendors even had corn on the cob, but I distrusted it. It looked old and tough, so we passed it up.
Siracusa was only about 30 miles away, so we headed there at 11:30. This was by far my favorite city so far. It was not touristy and had interesting buildings and narrow streets. It was especially pretty with all the clouds in the background. We saw some guys playing what looked like water polo in kayaks. Siracusa is also very clean. It does not, however, have a Wegmans!
We will anchor tonight.
Every cloud does not have a silver lining, though. It started to rain and a little later we were in the middle of a full-fledged thunderstorm--pouring rain, waves, and little visibility. It was especially nervewracking because we were only about three miles from Catania and so should have been able to see the harbor entrance clearly. Frank did not want to go into the harbor blind, so we were forced to slow the boat down and wait it out. Fortunately it was only about half an hour before things started to clear up and we could approach the harbor.
For some reason, Italian marinas are horrible about answering when we call them on the radio, so we had to go in hoping rather than knowing that there would be someone there to help us moor. A stern-to mooring is very difficult to do without help because Frank has to back the boat into what is usually a very narrow space towards the dock rather than coming alongside, so it's nearly impossible for me to jump off with a line. Once he gets into the space, he also has to contend with the bow of the boat swinging around and possibly hitting the boats on either side until someone on shore can pass someone on board the anchor line (a line which is attached somewhere either on the dock or to the bottom and is then secured tightly to the bow of the boat to stop the boat from swinging and/or going forward). All these things are complicated by wind and the fact that this boat does not really like to respond all that quickly in reverse.
Given the circumstances, we were not looking forward to mooring by ourselves, but we had no choice. Someone somewhere likes us, though, because the wind died down and there was a wide space just waiting for us. Usually the marina prefers to tell you where they want you, but it looked like more rain and we couldn't get anyone on the radio, so we took the space. Frank made a masterful mooring. We did not even touch the boats on either side and he was able to get boat close enough to the dock that I was able to easily get off and secure the boat. Frank took care of the anchor line, Max tossed me the other stern line, and we were in!
Catania is a pretty city, much nicer than Palermo. It had very few tourists, but it has lots of narrow streets, old buildings, and lots of restaurants. The maria was not very conveniently situated and it wasn't that easy to orient ourselves, but Frank managed fine, of course.
There were lots of people sitting outside, at bars and cafes and on benches and in the squares. Italians are very social and like to sit outside in groups, especially the old men. Max got a good picture of a bunch of old men having an animated conversation on a park bench. We had a yummy pizza (we had promised Max that we would have real Sicilian pizza) and went to bed, planning to get up early and sightsee.
The next day we went into town and ate breakfast. Frank and I had croissants and Max ate tiramisu. It's a good thing we are not out for breakfast every day!
We needed groceries and it was Saturday, so the market was in full swing. It took up two full blocks and was like something out of a movie with all these people crowding around the vendors and everyone talking at once. The produce was wonderful, though! We were even able to get broccoli, which we have not seen for weeks. Some of the vendors even had corn on the cob, but I distrusted it. It looked old and tough, so we passed it up.
Siracusa was only about 30 miles away, so we headed there at 11:30. This was by far my favorite city so far. It was not touristy and had interesting buildings and narrow streets. It was especially pretty with all the clouds in the background. We saw some guys playing what looked like water polo in kayaks. Siracusa is also very clean. It does not, however, have a Wegmans!
We will anchor tonight.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Catching Up Finally!
Hi, all--
I haven't been posting for a while as internet has been sketchy, so here are a whole bunch of posts so you can catch up with us. Sorry it's so long!
July 12, I think
Learning is a good thing...
but does it have to happen all at once? So far we have had bad weather, less-than-favorable winds, a malfunctioning chart plotter, the wrong chart for the chart plotter, a ripped sail, and to add to the list of woes we ran aground the other day and had to be rescued. On the upside, we have learned how to deal with all of these things much faster than we would have otherwise, and we found out yesterday that running aground did not do any damage, so that at least was in our favor. The weather has improved even if the winds have not, and we do feel like we know the boat much better than we did.
None of us could believe how quickly we ran aground. The area was very badly marked; in fact, there was nothing to indicate shallow water that we could see. Frank was checking the depth and I looked out and commented that it was getting shallow and BAM! We were stuck. The waves that were hitting us did not help us get out either. We had to call the marina we had just left and they sent help. I think probably most sailors have a running aground story; now that we have ours does that mean we are off the hook?
Even though we have not had time to do much exploring of Sardinia, we have had a good experience in spite of the running aground. Everyone has gone out of their way to be helpful. The woman in the marina near where we ran aground made all kinds of phone calls for us--to boatyards, to the bank when we needed to get cash and the one ATM in town was still out of order (after having been out of order the night before as well) and lent Frank the marina's scooter to get out to the money machine which was quite far away. She also gave him a lift out there the first time he tried to get money because she said it was too hard to explain how to get there.
When we crossed the bay to the boatyard to have the keel looked at the person we needed was at lunch so we had a couple of hours to wait. Rather than having us walk into town (which was not far and which we were certainly capable of doing), a couple of guys from the boatyard ran us over to town in their dinghy.
The same people ran the marina who ran the boatyard in Carloforte where they checked the keel. The next hurdle was that we needed diesel but the fuel quay was in the fishing harbor and it was too shallow for us to get in, so they lent us a bunch of large Jerry cans to take across the street to the gas station (we only have one and it is filled with extra diesel for an emergency) so we could fill the tank without having to go 30 miles out of our way.
That is a messy job--Frank and Isabelle were covered in gas by the time they were finished. I stayed clean so I could cook. We all took advantage of the showers.
We spent last night in Carloforte and were underway by 6:00 this morning. When we first left there was a tiny breeze behind us and now at 10:00AM there is almost none. The seas are calm and glassy, so at least we are not fighting the waves.
36 hours later we stopped to anchor and it was rocky, but nice not to have be awake through another night. Now we are in Palermo, having arrived around 4:00. Tonight we will have a yummy Italian meal (being pretty much out of food til we shop) and do a little sightseeing after showers.
July 15, I believe:
Italy
We've been in Italy and/or its islands for about a week now. Of course nothing would be complete without problems, so we ran aground. I told that story in my last post, though, so won't rehash it here.
The only other things that happened were that we had no power for about 36 hours until I figured out that the inverter switch needed to be flipped (and no, six months ago I did not know what that was), so now we can charge stuff up again. The other thing was more annoying, which was that the anchor winch wouldn't lift the anchor without a lot of help. Fortunately for us, though, as we were consulting the manual yesterday a man came by in a dinghy and told us how to fix it. Peoplecare so helpful; fixing it only required tightening a screw, so we can add that to the list of things we've learned. Just part of learning the boat, I guess!
In any case, we stopped in Palermo for two days and had a look at the city. There is a Waldorf school there that goes up to the 8th grade so we had a look at it too. I am sure that Palermo, like all big cities, is nicer when it is not 90 degrees outside, but on the whole I thought the part we saw was loud, dirty, and crowded and I was glad to leave it.
As seems to usual in Italy, the people at the marina were very nice and helpful. They recommended good restaurants and sent our laundry out for us. THAT was a guilt-inducing experience; it just feels wrong to have someone else do something like that that I am entirely capable of doing myself. It was nice to find that the tank tops I work out in had been ironed, however.
In the marina in Palermo we were moored next to what might be the biggest privately owned yacht I've ever seen. It was 61 meters long and had its own uniformed crew. Isabelle looked it up online but of course it didn't say who owned it. They had a party the first night we were there and put out a blue carpet for the guests to walk on. We weren't invited to the party even though we had showered and everything!
Since leaving Palermo we've been anchoring. Max likes to anchor because he likes to swim off the stern. Sunday night we anchored near Vulcano, where there is an active volcano. We could see the smoke coming from the top 13 km away!
The coast is beautiful with its towns full of white houses and boats anchored in front of them. Since the Internet is harder to come by than I thought and I am doing most of my writing on my iPod rather than trekking my computer to an Internet cafe), I think that what I will do is to make an album of pictures from the trip and post them on Facebook after we get back (Dad, I promise to email them to you). It is going to take some time to go through them anyway!
The past couple of days have been very relaxing with swimming and not too much distance each day, but tomorrow we will head through the Straits of Messina to Reggio de Calabria or Scylla, depending on what kind of time we make. Starting tomorrow I think the distances will get longer again, but we are hoping to anchor and not have any more overnight sails.
We need to shop before too long, as we are largely out of food for main meals! It's almost time for a desperation dinner and Max says he doesn't want another one of those.
Max and Isabelle went fishing the other night and Isabelle caught a baby octopus. We brought it up on deck to photograph it before we let it go but it slithered off on its own. This morning Max caught a jellyfish and we photographed it too.
There seem to be more powerboats down here, as well as more large sailboats; at "only" 40 feet we are one of the little boats!
This post is a compilation of different thoughts. Note that while they seem to be largely negative, our trip has been positive.
Things We Have Learned This Summer (in no particular order):
1. Even pumpernickel will mold eventually.
2. You must keep take-and-bake bread in the refrigerator.
3. Boats at night are generally further away than they appear. There is no need to do donuts to get away from them. That will not help us get back on course, but will get Frank to come out and rescue me.
4. Mooring bow- or stern-to is a pain in the rear end, but it's really easy to leave when it's time to go.
5. Europe is a REALLY big continent when you are making fewer than 7 knots per hour.
6. Have I mentioned how much I miss my 18-135mm lens?
7. It's sort of lonely in the middle of the ocean in the middle of the night.
8. It is humanly impossible to control the amount of clutter that four people on a 40-foot boat can create. It is foolish to even try, except that if I didn't I would have to jump overboard. It would be the only escape possible.
9. Apparently, no day is complete unless something is not working.
10. When you use a wide-angle lens on a sailboat you get a lot of lines in the pictures.
11. Even air-tight containers don't guarantee that your food won't mold.
12. Max has decided that he wants to raise money for charity.
13. Mosquitoes can even find their way to the middle of the ocean to worship Isabelle and Max. Unfortunately, they don't want to be mosquito gods.
14. Max has discovered the joy of skinny dipping.
15. Our capacity for chess and sheepshead has become larger than we ever thought possible.
16. Not all parts of Italy are beautiful, but Italians might be the most helpful people on the planet.
17. When the autopilot goes out, check the manual before you confirm "autopilot reset."
18. Max says that "Mom has become a 'good enough' mechanic."
19. It takes skill to push an overloaded grocery cart for a mile.
20. Sailors in general are very helpful.
21. There are both advantages and disadvantages to not knowing when you wake up what your day will be like. It's both exciting and frustrating.
22. A 300-liter water tank will last longer than I thought. It doesn't mean that we can get crazy, but it does mean that we don't have to measure every drop.
Around the 23rd of July:
We've been traveling along the southern coast of Italy (on the toe) for about a week now and it has been an experience. Unlike the rest of Italy (at least as far as I can tell), this part doesn't seem all that interested in developing itself as an area for boaters.
It's sort of odd because even though it seems that Italians prefer motorboats, tanking up is difficult and/or inconvenient. We've been to at least several places where our pilot book said there was diesel, only to find that there was no diesel or it was out of order with no information as to when it would be fixed.
There was one place where Frank had to borrow a bunch of Jerry cans and trek the gas from the gas station and another where a cab driver went and got us a can of gas, and yet another where the guy at the marina drove Frank to the gas station.
That was yesterday and apparently the gas station had been out of order for so long that he had ordered a special hose to siphon the gas from the Jerry cans to the boat. It made the process very clean and very quick; he can siphon 20 liters a minute. We need one of those! He said he had to order it from the US; they can't be found in Europe. He said that the pumps were supposed to be fixed in a month. I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope if I were he, was what I thought.
Today (Saturday) the seas have been rougher than they've been so far. We've got a good wind, though, and are hoping to make today's goal pretty early. Max was seasick earlier but has recovered.
I had no idea how large a country Italy is; we've been here for about 10 days and still have about three to go before we cross into Croatia.
One thing this trip has done is make us better at solving problems. Frank in particular is getting very good at coming up with solutions that will work until we can get a real fix. For example, a shackle came off the jib and we don't have an extra one, so he rigged it up with a tiny padlock until we can get a new one later today.
Later, the autopilot went out for no apparent reason, so I thought it would be a good idea to reset it. Unfortunately, I didn't check the manual before I hit the "confirm reset" button, so I didn't realize that doing so meant that we would have to basically reinstall the thing both with the dockside settings and the sea settings. Couple that with the fact that Frank had gotten almost no sleep the night before and my inability to hold a course (I'm working on it, but it meant that he couldn't take the nap he had been looking forward to; Isabelle was also taking a nap) and you can imagine how far down on the blacklist I spent the afternoon!
On the upside, though, we were able to reset it successfully, so it works again. Frank slept well Saturday night, so he is much happier this morning.
July 28:
The Worst Anchorage Ever (Almost)
Tonight we are anchored near Brindisi. I suppose we should have questioned why there were no other boats here, but we had been sailing (mostly motor sailing) since 6:00AM and by 7:30PM we were ready to stop.
We lowered the anchor and Max, Isabelle, and Frank had a swim and then we ate. Then when we went to bed the problems began...
We were across from some sort of resort, which is never a good idea because Italians seem to like to vacation together at resorts that play REALLY bad music. The music started about 9:30 and got progressively louder until about midnight, and it was so loud that it woke Max. Max sleeps through anything, so you know that was bad. At least the Italians aren't like the Spanish who are barely getting started at midnight!
Then we had the mosquito infestation. We were all itchy and getting itchier as the invasion progressed. Frank found a bunch of them on the walls in our cabin (I couldn't see them without my glasses) so started bashing at them. Unfortunately, most of the ones he killed had already eaten, so now it looks like some sort of massacre took place in there. Meanwhile, Max had come in our room and was thrashing around trying to scratch his itches and get away from the ones that were after him.
Now it's almost three in the morning and all four of us are sitting around scratching our itches and complaining about the infestation. We've got all the hatches closed or screened but we are still under siege.
I have no idea why the mosquitoes flew 150 meters over the water to get to us when there are all those people at the resort to eat, but I do know that tonight was the worst anchorage ever (well, almost; we didn't get dashed against the rocks).
The Second Worst Anchorage Ever (July 29)
We anchored near Mola de Bari last night. It was a bit weird to be right outside of the marina, but it was a real anchorage. The weather was nice when we arrived and had a swim. We ate and congratulated ourselves on finding what appeared to be a better anchorage than the night before. However, there was still bad music, although it stopped pretty early. The worst part was that it was literally 1000 degrees with absolutely NO wind. None of us got much sleep and that was compounded by the fact that the wind picked up so much so that by the time we decided to leave (having gotten tired of the constant rolling and rocking) and head into the marina we literally couldn't moor. So....out we went to brave the wind and the waves, which were terrible. Poor Max got seasick, but recovered. Frank did a masterful job mooring once we got to the next marina, though! Now we are sitting here online listening to the wind blow. Looks like more of the same tomorrow, so I think we'll be here for one more day.
I haven't been posting for a while as internet has been sketchy, so here are a whole bunch of posts so you can catch up with us. Sorry it's so long!
July 12, I think
Learning is a good thing...
but does it have to happen all at once? So far we have had bad weather, less-than-favorable winds, a malfunctioning chart plotter, the wrong chart for the chart plotter, a ripped sail, and to add to the list of woes we ran aground the other day and had to be rescued. On the upside, we have learned how to deal with all of these things much faster than we would have otherwise, and we found out yesterday that running aground did not do any damage, so that at least was in our favor. The weather has improved even if the winds have not, and we do feel like we know the boat much better than we did.
None of us could believe how quickly we ran aground. The area was very badly marked; in fact, there was nothing to indicate shallow water that we could see. Frank was checking the depth and I looked out and commented that it was getting shallow and BAM! We were stuck. The waves that were hitting us did not help us get out either. We had to call the marina we had just left and they sent help. I think probably most sailors have a running aground story; now that we have ours does that mean we are off the hook?
Even though we have not had time to do much exploring of Sardinia, we have had a good experience in spite of the running aground. Everyone has gone out of their way to be helpful. The woman in the marina near where we ran aground made all kinds of phone calls for us--to boatyards, to the bank when we needed to get cash and the one ATM in town was still out of order (after having been out of order the night before as well) and lent Frank the marina's scooter to get out to the money machine which was quite far away. She also gave him a lift out there the first time he tried to get money because she said it was too hard to explain how to get there.
When we crossed the bay to the boatyard to have the keel looked at the person we needed was at lunch so we had a couple of hours to wait. Rather than having us walk into town (which was not far and which we were certainly capable of doing), a couple of guys from the boatyard ran us over to town in their dinghy.
The same people ran the marina who ran the boatyard in Carloforte where they checked the keel. The next hurdle was that we needed diesel but the fuel quay was in the fishing harbor and it was too shallow for us to get in, so they lent us a bunch of large Jerry cans to take across the street to the gas station (we only have one and it is filled with extra diesel for an emergency) so we could fill the tank without having to go 30 miles out of our way.
That is a messy job--Frank and Isabelle were covered in gas by the time they were finished. I stayed clean so I could cook. We all took advantage of the showers.
We spent last night in Carloforte and were underway by 6:00 this morning. When we first left there was a tiny breeze behind us and now at 10:00AM there is almost none. The seas are calm and glassy, so at least we are not fighting the waves.
36 hours later we stopped to anchor and it was rocky, but nice not to have be awake through another night. Now we are in Palermo, having arrived around 4:00. Tonight we will have a yummy Italian meal (being pretty much out of food til we shop) and do a little sightseeing after showers.
July 15, I believe:
Italy
We've been in Italy and/or its islands for about a week now. Of course nothing would be complete without problems, so we ran aground. I told that story in my last post, though, so won't rehash it here.
The only other things that happened were that we had no power for about 36 hours until I figured out that the inverter switch needed to be flipped (and no, six months ago I did not know what that was), so now we can charge stuff up again. The other thing was more annoying, which was that the anchor winch wouldn't lift the anchor without a lot of help. Fortunately for us, though, as we were consulting the manual yesterday a man came by in a dinghy and told us how to fix it. Peoplecare so helpful; fixing it only required tightening a screw, so we can add that to the list of things we've learned. Just part of learning the boat, I guess!
In any case, we stopped in Palermo for two days and had a look at the city. There is a Waldorf school there that goes up to the 8th grade so we had a look at it too. I am sure that Palermo, like all big cities, is nicer when it is not 90 degrees outside, but on the whole I thought the part we saw was loud, dirty, and crowded and I was glad to leave it.
As seems to usual in Italy, the people at the marina were very nice and helpful. They recommended good restaurants and sent our laundry out for us. THAT was a guilt-inducing experience; it just feels wrong to have someone else do something like that that I am entirely capable of doing myself. It was nice to find that the tank tops I work out in had been ironed, however.
In the marina in Palermo we were moored next to what might be the biggest privately owned yacht I've ever seen. It was 61 meters long and had its own uniformed crew. Isabelle looked it up online but of course it didn't say who owned it. They had a party the first night we were there and put out a blue carpet for the guests to walk on. We weren't invited to the party even though we had showered and everything!
Since leaving Palermo we've been anchoring. Max likes to anchor because he likes to swim off the stern. Sunday night we anchored near Vulcano, where there is an active volcano. We could see the smoke coming from the top 13 km away!
The coast is beautiful with its towns full of white houses and boats anchored in front of them. Since the Internet is harder to come by than I thought and I am doing most of my writing on my iPod rather than trekking my computer to an Internet cafe), I think that what I will do is to make an album of pictures from the trip and post them on Facebook after we get back (Dad, I promise to email them to you). It is going to take some time to go through them anyway!
The past couple of days have been very relaxing with swimming and not too much distance each day, but tomorrow we will head through the Straits of Messina to Reggio de Calabria or Scylla, depending on what kind of time we make. Starting tomorrow I think the distances will get longer again, but we are hoping to anchor and not have any more overnight sails.
We need to shop before too long, as we are largely out of food for main meals! It's almost time for a desperation dinner and Max says he doesn't want another one of those.
Max and Isabelle went fishing the other night and Isabelle caught a baby octopus. We brought it up on deck to photograph it before we let it go but it slithered off on its own. This morning Max caught a jellyfish and we photographed it too.
There seem to be more powerboats down here, as well as more large sailboats; at "only" 40 feet we are one of the little boats!
This post is a compilation of different thoughts. Note that while they seem to be largely negative, our trip has been positive.
Things We Have Learned This Summer (in no particular order):
1. Even pumpernickel will mold eventually.
2. You must keep take-and-bake bread in the refrigerator.
3. Boats at night are generally further away than they appear. There is no need to do donuts to get away from them. That will not help us get back on course, but will get Frank to come out and rescue me.
4. Mooring bow- or stern-to is a pain in the rear end, but it's really easy to leave when it's time to go.
5. Europe is a REALLY big continent when you are making fewer than 7 knots per hour.
6. Have I mentioned how much I miss my 18-135mm lens?
7. It's sort of lonely in the middle of the ocean in the middle of the night.
8. It is humanly impossible to control the amount of clutter that four people on a 40-foot boat can create. It is foolish to even try, except that if I didn't I would have to jump overboard. It would be the only escape possible.
9. Apparently, no day is complete unless something is not working.
10. When you use a wide-angle lens on a sailboat you get a lot of lines in the pictures.
11. Even air-tight containers don't guarantee that your food won't mold.
12. Max has decided that he wants to raise money for charity.
13. Mosquitoes can even find their way to the middle of the ocean to worship Isabelle and Max. Unfortunately, they don't want to be mosquito gods.
14. Max has discovered the joy of skinny dipping.
15. Our capacity for chess and sheepshead has become larger than we ever thought possible.
16. Not all parts of Italy are beautiful, but Italians might be the most helpful people on the planet.
17. When the autopilot goes out, check the manual before you confirm "autopilot reset."
18. Max says that "Mom has become a 'good enough' mechanic."
19. It takes skill to push an overloaded grocery cart for a mile.
20. Sailors in general are very helpful.
21. There are both advantages and disadvantages to not knowing when you wake up what your day will be like. It's both exciting and frustrating.
22. A 300-liter water tank will last longer than I thought. It doesn't mean that we can get crazy, but it does mean that we don't have to measure every drop.
Around the 23rd of July:
We've been traveling along the southern coast of Italy (on the toe) for about a week now and it has been an experience. Unlike the rest of Italy (at least as far as I can tell), this part doesn't seem all that interested in developing itself as an area for boaters.
It's sort of odd because even though it seems that Italians prefer motorboats, tanking up is difficult and/or inconvenient. We've been to at least several places where our pilot book said there was diesel, only to find that there was no diesel or it was out of order with no information as to when it would be fixed.
There was one place where Frank had to borrow a bunch of Jerry cans and trek the gas from the gas station and another where a cab driver went and got us a can of gas, and yet another where the guy at the marina drove Frank to the gas station.
That was yesterday and apparently the gas station had been out of order for so long that he had ordered a special hose to siphon the gas from the Jerry cans to the boat. It made the process very clean and very quick; he can siphon 20 liters a minute. We need one of those! He said he had to order it from the US; they can't be found in Europe. He said that the pumps were supposed to be fixed in a month. I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope if I were he, was what I thought.
Today (Saturday) the seas have been rougher than they've been so far. We've got a good wind, though, and are hoping to make today's goal pretty early. Max was seasick earlier but has recovered.
I had no idea how large a country Italy is; we've been here for about 10 days and still have about three to go before we cross into Croatia.
One thing this trip has done is make us better at solving problems. Frank in particular is getting very good at coming up with solutions that will work until we can get a real fix. For example, a shackle came off the jib and we don't have an extra one, so he rigged it up with a tiny padlock until we can get a new one later today.
Later, the autopilot went out for no apparent reason, so I thought it would be a good idea to reset it. Unfortunately, I didn't check the manual before I hit the "confirm reset" button, so I didn't realize that doing so meant that we would have to basically reinstall the thing both with the dockside settings and the sea settings. Couple that with the fact that Frank had gotten almost no sleep the night before and my inability to hold a course (I'm working on it, but it meant that he couldn't take the nap he had been looking forward to; Isabelle was also taking a nap) and you can imagine how far down on the blacklist I spent the afternoon!
On the upside, though, we were able to reset it successfully, so it works again. Frank slept well Saturday night, so he is much happier this morning.
July 28:
The Worst Anchorage Ever (Almost)
Tonight we are anchored near Brindisi. I suppose we should have questioned why there were no other boats here, but we had been sailing (mostly motor sailing) since 6:00AM and by 7:30PM we were ready to stop.
We lowered the anchor and Max, Isabelle, and Frank had a swim and then we ate. Then when we went to bed the problems began...
We were across from some sort of resort, which is never a good idea because Italians seem to like to vacation together at resorts that play REALLY bad music. The music started about 9:30 and got progressively louder until about midnight, and it was so loud that it woke Max. Max sleeps through anything, so you know that was bad. At least the Italians aren't like the Spanish who are barely getting started at midnight!
Then we had the mosquito infestation. We were all itchy and getting itchier as the invasion progressed. Frank found a bunch of them on the walls in our cabin (I couldn't see them without my glasses) so started bashing at them. Unfortunately, most of the ones he killed had already eaten, so now it looks like some sort of massacre took place in there. Meanwhile, Max had come in our room and was thrashing around trying to scratch his itches and get away from the ones that were after him.
Now it's almost three in the morning and all four of us are sitting around scratching our itches and complaining about the infestation. We've got all the hatches closed or screened but we are still under siege.
I have no idea why the mosquitoes flew 150 meters over the water to get to us when there are all those people at the resort to eat, but I do know that tonight was the worst anchorage ever (well, almost; we didn't get dashed against the rocks).
The Second Worst Anchorage Ever (July 29)
We anchored near Mola de Bari last night. It was a bit weird to be right outside of the marina, but it was a real anchorage. The weather was nice when we arrived and had a swim. We ate and congratulated ourselves on finding what appeared to be a better anchorage than the night before. However, there was still bad music, although it stopped pretty early. The worst part was that it was literally 1000 degrees with absolutely NO wind. None of us got much sleep and that was compounded by the fact that the wind picked up so much so that by the time we decided to leave (having gotten tired of the constant rolling and rocking) and head into the marina we literally couldn't moor. So....out we went to brave the wind and the waves, which were terrible. Poor Max got seasick, but recovered. Frank did a masterful job mooring once we got to the next marina, though! Now we are sitting here online listening to the wind blow. Looks like more of the same tomorrow, so I think we'll be here for one more day.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Pigs in Space
And now, the continuing stor-r-ry of ...Pigs...in...Space...
OK, not really, but our continuing struggles with electronics make me feel as disoriented as a Muppet pig in space might feel!
Our adventures on the water continue, however. Thanks to the winds in our faces the whole time, we have sailed maybe four times. I feel as if we've got a not-very-powerful motorboat.
Friday morning we left Cartegana and got about three miles out when Frank decided that we might be able to sail. We were about to raise the sails when Frank thought that he would go have a look at the boom because we had found a large nut on deck. When he got up there he discovered that the pin holding the boom had come very loose. If it were to fall, someone could be killed. Consequently there was nothing to do but tie the boom out of the way and head back to Cartegana. When we got there the office found someone to fix the boom. It took two men about an hour with much Spanish, clanking, and pounding, but they got it done for much less than we could have imagined. We were afraid that the boat would have to come out of the water.
We also needed someone to look at the chart plotter, but no one could come until Monday, so we were stuck in Cartagena (I still can't spell it, so I will try out different spellings and we'll have a contest to see which spelling looks the best) for the weekend. Turns out that Cartegana is a very historical town. Not only the Carthagenians, but the Muslims, Christians, and several other groups were there. Most of it looks pretty modern, but there is a nice old part of town as well. It has a castle (although without a dungeon, to Max's disappointment) and a gorgeous Roman amphitheater.
Since we were there we got to see both Wimbledon finals, although finding a place to watch the men was a bit difficult because there was a Formula One race on at the same time. It was during siesta time, but we managed finally to find the only place in town where the staff were not race fans!
Monday morning arrived and Frank arranged for the electrician to come. Isabelle and I went to the grocery store. That was an experience! We found two grocery carts at the marina, so we pushed them about a mile through town to the Lidl (a German grocery store--we had to go there because not only are their prices low, but we were quite sure that they would stock oats, and this family cannot function without oats!). Getting there was no problem, but pushing two heavily laden carts back on busy sidewalks was an adventure. We managed not to run over anyone, though!
Now it's two days later. We've sailed (motored) overnight for two nights now. It's not too bad with the three of us; we've divided up the night into three-hour shifts. With the autopilot all we have to do is watch for boats and Max (Hawkeye) likes to do the first watch with me. He's so excited to stay up late and I am happy for his eyes, mine not having been made for this sort of thing. Then he sleeps until 9:30 or so. His comment last night: "Even I admit it. It's time to go to bed." He had fallen asleep at 12:57.
Frank is getting to be quite good at the helm and Isabelle serms to know instinctively what needs to be done. We will really miss her on the way back!
My adventures in cooking are about what you'd expect. No one is starving but I am not going to win any prizes either. It's mostly pretty boring and I've about decided that except for a few things I don't particularly like my own cooking. I used to love it when my mom cooked on the Three Foot High--couldn't you come and give me some lessons, Mom?
Now we are in Mallorca waiting to get the chart plotter looked at. Then it's on towards Menorca and ultimately Sardinia!
OK, not really, but our continuing struggles with electronics make me feel as disoriented as a Muppet pig in space might feel!
Our adventures on the water continue, however. Thanks to the winds in our faces the whole time, we have sailed maybe four times. I feel as if we've got a not-very-powerful motorboat.
Friday morning we left Cartegana and got about three miles out when Frank decided that we might be able to sail. We were about to raise the sails when Frank thought that he would go have a look at the boom because we had found a large nut on deck. When he got up there he discovered that the pin holding the boom had come very loose. If it were to fall, someone could be killed. Consequently there was nothing to do but tie the boom out of the way and head back to Cartegana. When we got there the office found someone to fix the boom. It took two men about an hour with much Spanish, clanking, and pounding, but they got it done for much less than we could have imagined. We were afraid that the boat would have to come out of the water.
We also needed someone to look at the chart plotter, but no one could come until Monday, so we were stuck in Cartagena (I still can't spell it, so I will try out different spellings and we'll have a contest to see which spelling looks the best) for the weekend. Turns out that Cartegana is a very historical town. Not only the Carthagenians, but the Muslims, Christians, and several other groups were there. Most of it looks pretty modern, but there is a nice old part of town as well. It has a castle (although without a dungeon, to Max's disappointment) and a gorgeous Roman amphitheater.
Since we were there we got to see both Wimbledon finals, although finding a place to watch the men was a bit difficult because there was a Formula One race on at the same time. It was during siesta time, but we managed finally to find the only place in town where the staff were not race fans!
Monday morning arrived and Frank arranged for the electrician to come. Isabelle and I went to the grocery store. That was an experience! We found two grocery carts at the marina, so we pushed them about a mile through town to the Lidl (a German grocery store--we had to go there because not only are their prices low, but we were quite sure that they would stock oats, and this family cannot function without oats!). Getting there was no problem, but pushing two heavily laden carts back on busy sidewalks was an adventure. We managed not to run over anyone, though!
Now it's two days later. We've sailed (motored) overnight for two nights now. It's not too bad with the three of us; we've divided up the night into three-hour shifts. With the autopilot all we have to do is watch for boats and Max (Hawkeye) likes to do the first watch with me. He's so excited to stay up late and I am happy for his eyes, mine not having been made for this sort of thing. Then he sleeps until 9:30 or so. His comment last night: "Even I admit it. It's time to go to bed." He had fallen asleep at 12:57.
Frank is getting to be quite good at the helm and Isabelle serms to know instinctively what needs to be done. We will really miss her on the way back!
My adventures in cooking are about what you'd expect. No one is starving but I am not going to win any prizes either. It's mostly pretty boring and I've about decided that except for a few things I don't particularly like my own cooking. I used to love it when my mom cooked on the Three Foot High--couldn't you come and give me some lessons, Mom?
Now we are in Mallorca waiting to get the chart plotter looked at. Then it's on towards Menorca and ultimately Sardinia!
Friday, July 5, 2013
Through the Straits of Gibraltar at Last
The past few days have been equally as interesting as the first couple days, although without seasickness for anyone. I think we've all got our sea legs now!
After spending a night in Chipiona, we went to Rota, where we were held up for three nights because of bad winds. Rota is a pretty little town with lots of little narrow streets. The grocery store was a bit hard to find but Isabelle and Frank found it. On Rota we had our sail fixed and by the time we had been there three nights even though the weather near Barbate was forecast as a gale, the forecast for five miles across the bay to Cadiz was fine. Frank decided that we should get a bit more mooring practice so we headed out.
By the time we got to Cadiz the wind had picked way up and mooring required many people to help, but we got in OK. It was a bit stressful for Frank, but he did well. We met up with our former neighbors on the Meredith--Michael and Annie--who had come before us too.
The town of Cadiz is pretty, too, but I did not take a whole lot of pictures--the wide lens is too wide and the telephoto is too long, but I do have a few. We had Mojitos in a bar there, but I have to say that they were nowhere as good as James Beier's.
Cadiz could get a much larger economic boost from boaters if the marina were closer to town. It was about half a hour into town (not a particularly interesting one either) and another 30 minutes through town to the beach. It is not a very touristy town but the beach was mobbed, mostly with locals who were much more tanned than most of the tourists.
Our friends Seamus and Patricia arrived in Cadiz as well Sunday night, and the next day they headed for Barbate about half an hour before we left.
No one had a nice sail to Barbate--we had to battle the wind and rough waves, so we made very bad time. What we thought was going to take four hours ended up taking ten! We didn't get in until after 9:30 to fond that Seamus and Patricia were already there and they helped us moor again.
Next, we discovered that there was nowhere to eat. Enter "Desperation Dinner #1": Potato, Onion, and Egg Hash, along with a canned ham that Frank had bought. The hash was better than the ham, we decided, but canned ham is palatable if you paint it with honey and Herbes de Provence! After our rough day Frank slept so hard I would have thought he was dead if I hadn't known better.
Seamus and Patricia have exited the blog now. They went to Morrocco and we will see them in the fall back in Lagos. Now we'll have to moor ourselves. :(
Tuesday morning dawned fair with no wind and a good forecast so even though we hadn't shopped we set off to go through the Straits of Gibraltar. At first it seemed like more of the usual--a nice calm beginning and then the wind and the waves picking up--but by the time we got past Tarifa (the windiest spot on Europe) and into the Straits things had calmed down quite a lot and our passage was the smoothest yet. Of course, the wind shifted and we couldn't sail, but it was nice calm motoring, at least!
We spent the night in Estipona, another tourist town with little to recommend it but a relatively decent (albeit expensive) grocery store and and an excellent Indian restaurant.
The marina was an experience, as it was our first time mooring without a dock and no one spoke any English. Isabelle's one semester of Spanish and Frank's two years of it 40 years ago are not getting us very far. Max's Portuguese and my limited French are not helping either. It seems that the Portuguese can understand the Spanish but the Spanish can't understand the Portuguese. Very strange...
In any case, first they directed us into a tiny little slip that there was no way we were going to fit into. We finally backed into a different one and moored to the pontoon at the stern and a mooring in the water on the bow, so we were facing out rather than moored to the pontoon on the side, if that makes sense. From what I've read it seems that a lot of marinas in the Mediterranean do this, so I guess we'll get some practice.
The next day we headed out early in the direction of Cartegena. The seas were so calm it was almost like being on a lake. Not much wind, though, so we had to motor. We did put up the sails in the afternoon, though, but didn't really gain any speed.
We sailed through the night and then last night (Thursday) we anchored near the town of Vera. We are now on the Costa Blanca, which is characterized by lots of white buildings. Unfortunately the towns here are mostly ugly, since they were built quickly to make money from Northern European tourists. None of the places we've stopped since Cadiz has been even remotely interesting in that sense.
The undeveloped coast is gorgeous, though. Lots of large rocks and cliffs that go straight down to the ocean. We've been able to get pretty close to some of them.
Max went swimming when we anchored and swam around the boat. Isabelle went in with him and they said the water wasn't too cold. It's been great having Isabelle with us as we learn the boat.
Frank is getting much more confident at the helm and in mooring the boat, but we are also becoming conscious of how much we still have to learn.
To celebrate the Fourth of July we had burgers and I made salt potatoes. Max loved the potatoes! I need to put more salt in the water next time, though. Max informed us that the Fourth of July is National Burger Day and has been since before the US existed.
Now we are in Cartagena, which doesn't seem to have anything touristy to recommend it either. We'll shop and eat and tomorrow head to the Balerics...
After spending a night in Chipiona, we went to Rota, where we were held up for three nights because of bad winds. Rota is a pretty little town with lots of little narrow streets. The grocery store was a bit hard to find but Isabelle and Frank found it. On Rota we had our sail fixed and by the time we had been there three nights even though the weather near Barbate was forecast as a gale, the forecast for five miles across the bay to Cadiz was fine. Frank decided that we should get a bit more mooring practice so we headed out.
By the time we got to Cadiz the wind had picked way up and mooring required many people to help, but we got in OK. It was a bit stressful for Frank, but he did well. We met up with our former neighbors on the Meredith--Michael and Annie--who had come before us too.
The town of Cadiz is pretty, too, but I did not take a whole lot of pictures--the wide lens is too wide and the telephoto is too long, but I do have a few. We had Mojitos in a bar there, but I have to say that they were nowhere as good as James Beier's.
Cadiz could get a much larger economic boost from boaters if the marina were closer to town. It was about half a hour into town (not a particularly interesting one either) and another 30 minutes through town to the beach. It is not a very touristy town but the beach was mobbed, mostly with locals who were much more tanned than most of the tourists.
Our friends Seamus and Patricia arrived in Cadiz as well Sunday night, and the next day they headed for Barbate about half an hour before we left.
No one had a nice sail to Barbate--we had to battle the wind and rough waves, so we made very bad time. What we thought was going to take four hours ended up taking ten! We didn't get in until after 9:30 to fond that Seamus and Patricia were already there and they helped us moor again.
Next, we discovered that there was nowhere to eat. Enter "Desperation Dinner #1": Potato, Onion, and Egg Hash, along with a canned ham that Frank had bought. The hash was better than the ham, we decided, but canned ham is palatable if you paint it with honey and Herbes de Provence! After our rough day Frank slept so hard I would have thought he was dead if I hadn't known better.
Seamus and Patricia have exited the blog now. They went to Morrocco and we will see them in the fall back in Lagos. Now we'll have to moor ourselves. :(
Tuesday morning dawned fair with no wind and a good forecast so even though we hadn't shopped we set off to go through the Straits of Gibraltar. At first it seemed like more of the usual--a nice calm beginning and then the wind and the waves picking up--but by the time we got past Tarifa (the windiest spot on Europe) and into the Straits things had calmed down quite a lot and our passage was the smoothest yet. Of course, the wind shifted and we couldn't sail, but it was nice calm motoring, at least!
We spent the night in Estipona, another tourist town with little to recommend it but a relatively decent (albeit expensive) grocery store and and an excellent Indian restaurant.
The marina was an experience, as it was our first time mooring without a dock and no one spoke any English. Isabelle's one semester of Spanish and Frank's two years of it 40 years ago are not getting us very far. Max's Portuguese and my limited French are not helping either. It seems that the Portuguese can understand the Spanish but the Spanish can't understand the Portuguese. Very strange...
In any case, first they directed us into a tiny little slip that there was no way we were going to fit into. We finally backed into a different one and moored to the pontoon at the stern and a mooring in the water on the bow, so we were facing out rather than moored to the pontoon on the side, if that makes sense. From what I've read it seems that a lot of marinas in the Mediterranean do this, so I guess we'll get some practice.
The next day we headed out early in the direction of Cartegena. The seas were so calm it was almost like being on a lake. Not much wind, though, so we had to motor. We did put up the sails in the afternoon, though, but didn't really gain any speed.
We sailed through the night and then last night (Thursday) we anchored near the town of Vera. We are now on the Costa Blanca, which is characterized by lots of white buildings. Unfortunately the towns here are mostly ugly, since they were built quickly to make money from Northern European tourists. None of the places we've stopped since Cadiz has been even remotely interesting in that sense.
The undeveloped coast is gorgeous, though. Lots of large rocks and cliffs that go straight down to the ocean. We've been able to get pretty close to some of them.
Max went swimming when we anchored and swam around the boat. Isabelle went in with him and they said the water wasn't too cold. It's been great having Isabelle with us as we learn the boat.
Frank is getting much more confident at the helm and in mooring the boat, but we are also becoming conscious of how much we still have to learn.
To celebrate the Fourth of July we had burgers and I made salt potatoes. Max loved the potatoes! I need to put more salt in the water next time, though. Max informed us that the Fourth of July is National Burger Day and has been since before the US existed.
Now we are in Cartagena, which doesn't seem to have anything touristy to recommend it either. We'll shop and eat and tomorrow head to the Balerics...
Friday, June 28, 2013
And we're off...to Croatia!
We left Lagos on Monday, a day later than we had planned. We were delayed because we wanted to get an AIS installed (a system that lets you see all the boats around you and it's easier than radar in some ways), so by the time that was done it was 5:00. We left in calm weather heading for Barbate, Spain. Ha...ha...ha...
We knew we were going to keep going overnight, which makes sense with the three of us (not including Max on this one) to keep watch and the autopilot, so we planned for that. The bad part was that we all, to varying degrees, got seasick. Isabelle and I recovered pretty quickly, Max was sort of miserable, but the biggest irony was that I have NEVER seen anyone as miserable as Frank was--and he had never gotten seasick before!
It was a long and eventful night. We hit a fishing net, but fortunately stopped before it got wound around the prop. I had just had a good look around but did not see it (it was not marked, of course) in the water. That is going to be the worst part of sailing at night (the autopilot will do the work because I am not taking responsibility for holding a course in the dark unless I absolutely have to, but I wish I felt like I could SEE!). We woke Frank up and we got out of there. The rest of the night was long but not damage-inducing. The next day the rest of us were fine but Frank was still miserable (and the weather was horrible--high waves, the wind from the wrong direction so we had to motor the whole time), so we stopped in a port called Chipiona. Nothing there and I bruised my toe jumping to the dock when we moored. Moan, moan, moan...
The next day we headed for Barbate, Spain. We checked the weather and it was favorable--perfect winds coming from the right direction, little waves--we put the sails up and we were moving! At least for a couple of hours until the winds blew up and things went CRAZY...force 7 (over 30 knots, which is about 60 km/40mph) winds, so we RAN (OK, not really: we had to motor and fighting the winds and the waves were making a speedy 2-3 knots) to the nearest port, which was Rota. We were not unsafe or in danger, but we knew that the best thing to do was to get off the water. Mooring was an experience; the conditions would have tested anyone, but we are novices! Horrible winds and it took forever for the boat ahead of us to leave the pontoon because the winds kept pushing him back towards the pontoon. Fortunately for us, our friends and saviors Seamus and Patricia O'Connor (whom we know from the marina in Lagos and had left a few days before going on a similar itinerary to ours) happened to see us come in and were waiting at the reception pontoon to help us. They've been sailing for quite a long time and are really wonderful people.
Max's immortal comment, though, was as follows: Seamus was telling me a bunch of things about the places where we are going and Max was ready to leave, so he was pulling at my arm. I told him to stop and that we would be going in a minute. Seamus said, "I do rattle on a bit, don't I?" Max: "Yes." We're working on tact!
Anyway, the other thing that happened was when the winds came up and we brought the jjb in it got caught up on itself and ripped the UV strip off, so it was damaged. We had to take the sail down (actually, this French guy climbed up the mast and got it down) and get it repaired, which was done yesterday. Then this morning our neighbor on the other side (who is 80 years old and still goes skiing every winter) helped Frank get the sail up againand imparted lots of useful information. We've met quite a few people here, including some Hawaiians whom we helped moor and then they helped us move our boat to where the marina actually wanted us to be (as opposed to where we could get it in the horrible winds). We have been privileged to meet up with some really wonderful people on this trip so far; I don't want to be "always depend[ing] on the kindness of strangers", but when you need help it is nice to know that people will help you!
We are learning quite a lot and already are feeling more confident. We are hoping to leave here tomorrow morning early but it will depend on what the weather does. We are not taking any chances, I promise! Frank's horrible seasickness seems to have been a one-off thing, so that's good. We are wearing our sea bands (at least Max and I are) and expect things to be fine from here on out.
Rota is a pretty little town, but I really miss my lens. The wide-angle lens is too wide and the telephoto is too long, and my 50mm lens that I bought for the D80 is not entirely compatible with my current camera, so I'm scrambling a bit, so will send/post pictures when I can.
Other than all the excitement, we are fine and looking forward to trying again tomorrow if the weather is decent. I will update agan when I can!
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