Category: 2015 Round Europe

Leg 6 started on Saturday afternoon. The new crew arrived at midday, we bought some provisions had a nice pizza and went. After a short stop in a bay outside the harbour for swimming we headed NE for Le Castella. The plan was to sail through the night and arrive next day in the afternoon. At about 19:00 a fresh breeze started to blow and we set sail. It is always a magic moment when the engine is switched off and the sails start pushing the boat silently through the sea. The wind freshened-up to F5 during the evening and we were sailing close hauled at a speed of 6 to 7 knots into the night. At about 01:00 the wind died away completely. The day remained windless until our arrival at Le Castella.

A hot and windless day beginns at the Calabrian East coast

Moored in Marina Le Castella

Leg 5 is completed and the crew left early this morning. It is amazing how fast time is passing by. I am now in Catania and there are just two weeks left until I will drop anchor in Oropos. I will need some time to come back into normal life mode I suppose…

Anyway, what happened on the last two days of Leg 5? On Thursday, we left Marina Netuno, Messina and set sails for Giardini Naxos which is about 25 NM further south along the Sicily coast. It was a nice sailing day with winds up to 23 knots and we decided to use one of the laid mooring buoys in the bay just below Taormina and 1 NM north of Giardini Naxos Marina for the night instead of going into the marina. This way we could go for a swim first thing in the morning which is always nice and refreshing. Friday, the last day of Leg 5 was quite windless and we had to use the iron jib again in order to arrive in Catania in the afternoon.

On the way to Taormina

Moored at Circolo Nautico Catania

The second look at Catania revealed a nicer and livelier city. Some impressions below:

At 9:30 we left Lipari and headed southeast to the strait of Messina. With the Charybdis on starboard and the Skyla on the portside we entered the strait at about 14:00 with the stream going south at about 2.5 knots. We had to take care to stay outside the traffic separation scheme but also avoid all the swordfish boats with their extra-long extensions on the bow. The wind in the strait changed direction a few times in the short way to Messina and increased to F4-F5 when we arrived in Marina Netuno just next to Messina’s commercial harbour. Getting into the box was quite adventurous because of the limited space. The “Marinero” had to push against the bow with the RIB in order to get us in. I will need him again tomorrow for leaving. By the way, this marina is by far the most expensive one all along the way from Holland: 88.00 Euro! If I knew this I would have bypassed it. Anyway, at least it has two toilets and one shower.

Next destinations: Giardini Naxos and finally the day after Catania.

The morning before leaving Lipari

Entering the strait of Messina

Swordfish fishing boats

Messina mooring is a combination of going to a finger pontoon but also using laid mooring lines. This is important because of the swell running into the harbour caused by the ferries crossing the strait all night long

I have got internet, so here is a little update: On Monday we sailed to Filicudi where we stayed overnight. No toilets no Showers and no Wi-Fi, just a buoy for 40 EUR per night and a RIB taxi-service ashore for 10 EUR (each way of course). Anyway, it’s not easy passing by, once being here. Today’s destination was Lipari. On the way we stopped at Isola Vulcano for swimming in Porto di Poniente just below the still active Volcano.

On the way to Filicudi – F0

Filicudi – At anchor – Isola Salina and Lipari in the distance

Porto di Poniente – Isola Vulcano

Whilst Greece was voting against more austerity measures, we were sailing to Cefalu. It is a bit strange not to be able to follow the news whenever you want, when significant changes are taking place. This also applies to the company I work for. On a longer sailing trip you really live in your own world. What matters is weather, navigation, provisions, next harbour, anchoring ground, navigational warnings and of course just to make sure that everything is working on board.

What happened in between: We left S. Vito do Capo on Thursday at about midday and sailed to Palermo. We spent one evening there and left next morning for Cefalu.
Next destinations are Isola Filicudi and Isola Lipari or Stromboli.

The internet connection has not been reliable in the last days and I suppose it will be worse on the Aeolian Islands. Next blog when time and technic allows.

Palermo

Cefalu Marina

Cefalu

 

It is quite a while ago since I wrote on this blog the last time and some things have happened since then. On Tuesday we sailed from Porto Teulada to Villasimius, a day trip all along Golfo de Cagliari from the western to the eastern corner. Villasimius was a fishing harbour which was converted into a modern marina. Shops and restaurants are limited but the marina is new and spacious and has good services.

Matilda moored stern-to in marina Villasimius

We left Villasimius on Wednesday at about 12:00 for the crossing to Sicily. Before getting into Trapani next day, we stopped for a rest and a refreshing bath in a bay at the south coast of Levanzo, one of the Egadi Islands. On the last 5 miles to Trapani, I saw some lines in the water just at the time we were running over them. I immediately disengaged the propeller but it was too late. I had to stop and go into the water with a knife in order to cut the lines off the propeller. That was a lot more pleasant though than the bath I had to take in Almerimar harbour some weeks ago for the same reason. We arrived in Trapani at 18:30 and made fast at one of the pontoons of the Lega Navale. We almost run aground because the plan in the Italian Waters Pilot was wrong. Trapani is not really nice and we almost became witnesses in a fight between the restaurant owner and a guest that evening.

Some sailing finally on the way to Sicily

Synthetic scrubbing pads and salt water is all you need in order to brush up your teak

Sailing into the night somewhere between Sardinia and Sicily

Tropospheric propagation delivers AIS signals which are more than 500km away. This is also the reason why there was so much traffic on the VHF radio which was very irritating because there was constantly someone talking on channel 16

Moored on a buoy in Levanzo

Levanzo (Open Water III ???)

A thin but quite long line is wrapped around the propeller

We sailed when we could despite the light wind. Many times motor-sailing made a lot more sense

Trapani fishing boats

We left Trapani for S. Vito lo Capo on Friday and arrived at 17:45. We spent some time on the beach and had a good dinner in one of the many restaurants in this very busy tourist resort.

S. Vito lo Capo lighthouse

Matilda moored in S Vito lo Capo

S Vito lo Capo is a busy tourist destination with very limited marina services at a very high price

We had enough of that Vetus noise. Although the wind was quite light (F2) we sailed most of the way to Porto Teulada. The scenery around south Sardinia is impressive scenery and the water is very clear. We arrived late afternoon, took the dinghy and sailed to the bay just next to the harbour for a refreshing bath.

They are both motor-sailing :-)

Beach umbrella sailing is possible at F2

The wind is gone completely

Porto Teulada is a quiet and remote place (see masts behind the hill)

Porto Teulada

Dinghy fun

We are in Italy! We started in Mahon on Saturday at 6:30 in the morning for the 190 NM trip to Sardinia. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing at only 5 to 10 knots all the way to Sardinia. We didn’t want the trip to take 3 to 4 days and used the engine (…again). After a one hours stop for swimming in a bay at the southeast end of San Pietro, we arrived today at 17:00 in Carloforte where we moored in the Marine Sifredi.

The plan for the next days is Porto Teulada for tomorrow and Villasimius (just 2 miles north of Capo Carbonara) for Tuesday. Capo Carbonara is the most southeastern point of Sardinia and a good starting location for the trip to Sicily.
Unfortunately, the forecast for the whole next week until Monday the 6th is winds below 10 knots and from variable directions. This applies to the whole area from Sardinia to Sicily. We will have to find a petrol station before the trip to Sicily and fuel up the tanks as the water at the petrol station in Carloforte is not deep enough for Matilda. There is an option to get some fuel in canisters tomorrow morning although not confirmed yet because tomorrow is a bank holiday on the island.

Anyway, it could have been worse with gales and thunderstorms for instance (although quite unlikely for this time of the year…) and as long as the crew has got fun, everything is ok :-)

Next entry is probably going to be on Tuesday from Villasimius marina.

Leaving Mahon at 6:30 in the morning

A Transmediterranea Ferry crossing on our way out

This is what you can get in the propeller on the way to Sardinia. It seems to be some kind of measurement equipment. One buoy has a radar reflector and the other a VHF antenna on it. We had not expected this at 1350m (!) sea depth and only saw the buoys when they passed just one meter apart

Matilda bows-to in Marine Sifredi. There is a reason why she is the only one moored bows-to and not stern-to. Going astern in a straight line with the wind blowing from abeam is almost impossible with a HR352. Maybe someone who knows how, can show me one day :-)

The 55 NM trip from Porto Christo / Mallorca to Mahon / Menorca started with absolutely no wind and a totally smooth sea. We enjoyed breakfast on board whilst under way. Later in the Morning I tried to fit the screw I found on deck the previous day, to the Furlex where it came from. I used some Loctite Threadlocking glue in order to make sure the screw won’t fall off again. After a while I realized that the Furlex had some problems rotating. Finally it wouldn’t turn at all any more. Something was blocking it. Now where the wind had reached about 15 knots and was coming from the right direction, we couldn’t unfurl the foresail. We motored into Mahon Marina and after securing the lines I started taking the Furlex apart and the cause of the problem became obvious. The aluminum profile had fallen too deep into the bow part of the Furlex blocking the mechanism. We unfurled the foresail manually by turning it around the forestay and it was possible to lift the profile a bit and properly refit the screws. The Furlex was working again.

Tomorrow we planned to start at about 6:00. For the longer trip to Sardinia (190 NM) we will sail two days and one night and destination harbour is Carloforte .

There was no wind till early afternoon

Traditional sailing ship

Alongside at marina Mahon

Early crews who joined the northern legs of the voyage had a cold and rainy start; the crew of leg5 started with a nice refreshing bath in Cabrera Archipelago National Park. We left San Antonio de la Playa at about 17:00. We had to motor all the way to Cabrera because the F4 was blowing exactly on our nose. One crew member was seriously suffering from motion sickness. Anyway we thought, if the wind would blow from the same direction, it would perfectly fit for next day where we wanted to sail to Porto Christo which is almost the opposite direction. We left Cabrera at 12:30. The wind was blowing at 15 to 20 knots on the way, great for sailing but guess what… exactly on our nose again. The steep short waves only allowed for 4 to 5 knots speed with the engine running at 2000 revs. Sometimes speed dropped below 3 knots. We arrived in Porto Christo at 19:30. Tomorrows Target is Mahon on Menorca.

Cabrera again

Cabrera – Crew swimming 1

Cabrera – Crew swimming 2

Cabrera – Jellyfish

Porto Christo – moored at the port