A Super Sunny Sail To Sardinia.

I have to admit I have not been looking forward to the crossing from Menorca to Sardinia. For one thing, at almost 200 miles it is the longest trip I'll have done and you also hear so many stories of the Mistral wind howling through the region. We even know of a couple who wanted to make the same trip but never managed to leave Mahon due to bad forecasts and ended up staying there for six weeks before returning to island hopping back to mainland Spain! Luckily we have had some good sailing recently and I was feeling less apprehensive and more confident than I thought I might have.

We filled up with fuel and water, did a last minute stock up in the supermarket in Mahon, collapsed the dinghy and got the boat ship-shape on Thursday evening. We calculated that at an average speed of 5 knots the trip to our chosen anchorage near Alghero should take us about 36 hours and so decided to have a good night's sleep and set off at a reasonable hour. At around 0730 we checked the Internet for confirmation of the forecast, if anything there was not going to be enough wind but in our view that was far better than too much! A bit of motoring never hurt anyone. With a flask of coffee made and a box full of snacks packed we were ready for the off.

At 0835 on Friday 22nd June we cast off our mooring and headed out of Mahon's wonderful harbour. It took half an hour before we reached La Mola, the final headland and from then on the next land ahead of us was Sardinia! Out of the bay the wind was a light southwesterly and both sails were set and the engine turned off. "A broad reach in a flat sea :-)" wrote Chris in the log. For a while we were both up and about, sort of taking it in turns to be on watch every couple of hours. When I disappeared below for a little snooze around 1100 we were just about managing the magic 5-knot mark and I had enjoyed my first watch. I heard Chris tinkering and then got called out of my slumbers to help hoist the kite! For the first time this year our patriotic red, white and blue sail was flying and it added almost an extra knot to our speed.

We had our first dolphin visit of the trip and shortly after that, at the start of my next watch at 1400, we poled back the kite to help catch the wind a little better. We touched 6.2 knots at one point but then the breeze dropped a bit again so we ate lunch sailing along at a very respectable 5.5 knots. In the afternoon the wind started to pick up and to be on the safe side we decided to take down the kite. As if in reply to our caution the wind then vanished completely so we had to put the engine on! There was a period of a few hours then when it was difficult to decide whether to sail or motor and when I took my third watch (the first of the three hour system we had decided to use overnight) we were motor sailing with just the main. Usually, when we are sailing I leave the decisions over the sails to Chris, or at least he has the final word. With him sleeping below it was time to think for myself and so I decided to get the jib out and turn off the engine! It was still a south westerly force 3 and I got us sailing around 5 knots, perhaps just a bit under at times, but I was still quite pleased with myself!

Chris prepared an unusually healthy dinner of tuna and egg salad while I observed jumping fish and our first ship! Some small dark patterned dolphins visited (probably not dolphins, but porpoises) and my three-hour stint was soon over and it was time for me to put my feet up. Chris took over at 2000 and says he saw the sun fizz as it hit the sea on the horizon! We were still sailing when a sliver of a crescent moon also set, following the sun. Apparently the day before we set off there had been a total eclipse in Africa, so I suppose we should have expected the moon to be in the vicinity of the sun. When I came back up after resting but not successfully sleeping it was dark and damp but the stars were so amazing. There was a swoop of seeming mistiness which was the milky way. I have never seen so many stars.

After my first hour Chris popped his head up to check on me having already been asleep but nature had called! I explained that I thought our 3.5 knot average over the last hour was probably not good enough and he agreed to help me get the sail down and have the engine on. That got our speed back up to 5.7 but was noisy. I wrote, "Witching hour over!" at 0100 and there was only one hour left for me. I was getting sleepy so stood up rather than sat in case I dropped off. I snuggled down into bed at just gone 2am with a three-hour sleep ahead. Mmmm Zzzzzzzz!

During Chris' watch he saw us reach the half way point on the log. He thought he had seen a ship's light but it turned out to be a planet rising on the port side of the bow, Saturn we think. The sky began to brighten and he logged a flat calm at 0500, which was the start of my next watch. I enjoyed the first hour because I was occupied by watching the sunrise. There was an incredible flood of colour all across the eastern horizon and I could see every colour of the rainbow starting with red and rising up to violet. The sun soon appeared and then all the colours vanished and I was left with a real impression of Mediterranean yellow and blue. At 0700 I woke Chris to help get the sails back up and asked if I could have another sleep. Gallantly he took over and motor sailed while I snoozed! I took over again at 1000 and an hour later we passed a British yacht going on a reciprocal course to us! Two ships passed a few miles ahead and we were still motor sailing at just over 6 knots.

Chris went below for another sleep and I was left to "tinker" on my own. I decided to try sailing again and turned off the engine and set the sails. I was very pleased with the results and thoroughly enjoyed myself, tweaking this and that to try and increase our speed. When Chris woke again I asked him for advice with setting the main. Having crewed since I was 15 I know a fair bit about getting a jib set well but have rarely taken much interest in getting top speed out of a mainsail; that's usually Chris' job. He muttered something about telltales and flapping luff and hey presto, a few adjustments and we were going 5 knots in barely a force 3! I could really get into this sailing lark!

While I was down below, slaving over the galley cooking lunch, Chris shouted "Land Ahoy" and so won the kiss promised to the winner of our little competition! By this time we had logged around 150 miles and we did a few calculations. By maintaining 5 or more knots we would reach our anchorage in daylight and we were both keen to do that. Much less would mean finding a suitable spot in the dark, which is not so much fun and we'd be more tired. All in all, what it came down to was that we needed to motor sail to keep up the speed. I was a bit disappointed, having so enjoyed my bit of sailing so far and the engine is not a relaxing noise. So, on it went at 1330. 
I hoisted the Italian courtesy flag since we were now nearer to Italian soil than Spanish and took watch again. Giblet joined Chris on snooze duty and two dolphins came to say "Ciao" to me. A couple of fishing boats had to be negotiated and the cliffs of Sardinia were becoming much clearer. I had my final rest period and meanwhile Chris took the opportunity to use the solar shower in the cockpit! It was such a good idea that after cleaning up the cabin and washing up the dishes I had one too. It was a good feeling to be almost at our destination, clean and tidy. What's more, Ian and Jo had called us on the radio to invite us for dinner! They had left Alghero marina that morning and were anchored in the same bay for which we were heading! To reach us on the radio Ian had used his handheld and dinghied out round the headland to get line of sight! It's so good having friends willing to go to that sort of effort!

At 1935 we anchored a short distance from Zephyrus in Calla del Bollo. The surroundings were breathtaking and I was feeling very relieved that the BIG trip was over, but also pleased that I had enjoyed it so much.