This is the year! In September we’ll start sailing to Gibraltar and then on to Gran Canaria for the ARC+ start in November. After December in the Carribean the World ARC starts in January 2023.
There’s lots to do before the start. We’re already doing online preparation seminars, there are new sails in the garage ready to go to the boat, and various work is planned in Palma for March and April.
After lots more maintenance and lots more visitors (Carol, Ruth, Jo, Spider, Gill, Andy) we left Palma on Wednesday 27 October for the short trip to Andratx before the long trip to Port Argelès-sur-Mer.
A final evening in Andratx (most of the mooring buoys had been removed) was very pleasant and the next morning we motored north to the Spanish mainland and on to the French border, ably assisted by Batty. Approaching Port Argelès-sur-Mer we flew the Code Zero (a lightweight sail for reaching) but after a few minutes a huge gust luffed us up and the bowsprit, holding the tack of the code zero, broke and the sail flogged itself to pieces.
Karen up the mast
Splicing dyneema
Batty & Karen
North to France
Gusting F10!
Gruissan
The fun wasn’t quite over as the next morning at Port Argelès-sur-Mer the wind was Beaufort Force 9 gusting 10! Needless to say, we stayed put until early afternoon when the wind dropped and we motored the final 35 nm to Gruissan.
On Sunday we spent the morning preparing Mistral for the winter e.g. removing sails, protecting lines, removing the bimini, filling the fuel tank etc. The boat will be at Gruissan for the winter before new adventures in 2022.
Thanks to everyone who helped us in 2021 – friends, family and contractors!
Chartplotter, mainsail furling, mainsail service, RPM gauge repair, rust stains from cleats, loose oil breather pipe, the list goes on and on. It would seem endless without the help of Mike and Guardian Yacht Services.
With Shirls on board again and fair weather forecast, we thought we’d sail clockwise around Mallorca.
On The Beach
Our route was Palma – Andratx – Soller – Deia – Soller – Pollensa – Port Petro – Sa Rapita beach – Palma. The fun started in Deia when we dropped anchor to go to lunch at the famous Sa Foradada restaurant. The anchor got stuck in rocks, I missed lunch, and we waited until 1015 the next morning for a diver to come and free our anchor.
Palma
Palma
High speed!
Chris
The New Paddleboard
Amanda & Valerie
Sa Foradada
Sa Foradada
Anchor Stuck
Anchor Recovery
Soller
Soller & Sa Foradada
After a second night in Soller (wind and rain, lots of boats having problems in the middle of the night) we continued on to Pollensa, Port Petro, the beautiful Sa Rapita beach and back to Palma. But not before the cockpit chartplotter packed up and the mainsail refused to furl. The joys of boat ownership.
August has been and gone and with it some of our guests – Laura, Rory, Laura 2, the Nicols family (Calum, Ceri, Isabel, Mia and Tilly), Amanda and Valerie.
We’ve done mostly short trips exploring the south of Mallorca and anchoring overnight when the weather was suitable. Cala Blanca, Andratx, Soller, Deia, Sa Rapita and Las Isletas have all been visited at least once. We’re looking forward to returning to Portals Vells but in August it was always too crowded.
Laura & Karen
Dining in Palma
Laura
Karen in charge
Lauras and Rory
It was lovely having our French neighbours on board (neighbours in France, not French!). Everybody did plenty of eating, drinking, swimming and snorkelling, and we even managed an evening of Mario Kart!
We are finally on the water at last! The boat reentered the water at Gruissan at the beginning of August and since then we’ve sailed to Argeles-sur-Mer, Palamos, Barcelona, Soller (Mallorca) and Palma. 296 nm.
The leg from Barcelona to Soller (on the North-West coast of Mallorca) was particularly noteworthy. We had a force 6 on our beam for most of the day and we blasted along at 8-9 kt! The maximum (GPS) speed we saw was 9.3 kt and the average for the passage was 7.7kt.
A few weeks ago we made the decision to postpone our round-the-world trip by twelve months, and a little while later the World Arc 2022 was cancelled.
We made the call because Australia and New Zealand seem to be pursuing a zero-covid policy that might result in closures and lockdowns for many months to come. And much of the Western Pacific is still closed to leisure sailors, and people tell us that is the highlight of the trip.
This summer we will be sailing the Balearic Islands again, this time with friends and family joining us from time to time. Next year (2022) we will sail across the Atlantic with the ARC+ (Gran Canaria – Cape Verde – Grenada) and then see what the rest of the world looks like. We very much hope enough of the world will be open in time for us to leave the Caribbean in January 2023 on the World ARC.
We’ve had the second jab, so as soon as France and the UK allow international travel, we’ll be back catching up with friends and family before resuming sailing, probably in August.
We knew France was in lockdown again so we stocked up with supplies and planned to stay on the anchor overnight all the way to Gruissan. Villefranche, near Nice, was very pleasant for the first night, as was Port-Cros near the Porquerolles Islands the following day.
Dinner at Villefranche
En Route to Port-Cros
En Route to Port-Cros
The third night we dropped anchor near Carro, west of Marseilles. We were open to a south-easterly so it wasn’t a very comfortable night. With a long final day to Gruissan we were up and 0530 and – the engine wouldn’t start!
Carro Coastguard
Long story short, we ended up calling the coastguard and getting a tow to Port du Bouc. There we had the two engine batteries replaced (they weren’t charging which is why the engine wouldn’t start) and finally left for Gruissan.
Dolphins
Carro Coastguard
To Gruissan
A Guest
To Gruissan
Gruissan
The Gruissan harbour is very shallow so we took it slow and easy until we were safely moored up. Mistral is now on the hard standing for the winter having routine maintenance carried out and improvements installed.
We started today by dropping into the large marina of Imperia to get a running fix for the broken davit – thanks to the marina staff for their help! (They were very impressed that I had a cordless rope cutter on board!)
Imperia
Monaco
Villefrance Sur Mer
Villefrance Sur Mer
Villefrance Sur Mer
Beef Stroganoff
Then it was on to Villefranche Sur Mer, just east of Nice. We were last here in 2008 (when we lost a kedge anchor overnight – not again, please). Again, a lovely spot but with lockdown in France we’re on the anchor again and staying on board.
Villefranche-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
