Mistral – Page 5 – All about our travels on the high seas

11/08/202111/08/2021

Sailing Again

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.

14/07/202114/07/2021

Round the World Postponed

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.

13/05/202113/05/2021

Jabbed!

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.

07/11/202001/05/2021

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

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.

En Route to Port-Cros — Dinner at Villefranche

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!

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

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.

No sailing now until May – see you then!

31/10/202030/12/2020

On to France!

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!)

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.

30/10/202011/12/2020

Across the Gulf of Genoa

Leaving the harbour of Santa Margherita we popped into Portofino before heading across the Gulf of Genoa to Diano Marina. No wind again, but a big chunk of the distance to Gruissan put behind us.

We dropped the anchor off the beach of Diano Marina and ran ashore in the tender for a cocktail. Last chance since France is now locked down again. Back on board one of the davit lines snapped…

29/10/202011/12/2020

Santa Margherita

We’re pressing back to the French border and since bars and restaurants close at 6pm in Italy, we arrived here just after dark and dropped anchor in the harbour. Shame, as it’s a very pretty town that we last visited in 2008.

28/10/202011/12/2020

Livorno and La Spezia

A great day’s sailing from Elba to Livorno. 47 nm in 6 hours in a force 5 gusting 6. Lusben Marina isn’t anything special – it’s deep in a busy commercial port, but we were only charged €36 for a night alongside. Bargain!

A motoring day to La Spezia. Into Porto Mirabello in La Spezia harbour for the evening. With lockdown starting again on France tomorrow we took the opportunity to have a final restaurant meal then stocked up with provisions and filled the fuel tank.

26/10/202011/12/2020

Elba

We stayed three nights in Elba, the first at anchor on the south coast and then two nights in Portoferraio, the capital. The girls explored some of the town while I found an electrician to get our USB sockets working again – thanks Carlo

25/10/202011/12/2020

Passage to Elba

We left Arbatax at lunchtime intending to sail the short way round the bay to Cala Gonome. We had a good SE wind, and I jokingly said “If we carry on on this course we’ll get to Elba some time tomorrow “

Silence. Then: “Not a bad idea.”

So that’s what we did. 180nm, 28 hours mostly sailing, and we dropped anchor in a small bay called Barbatoia on the south coast of Elba. Tomorrow we’ll move round to Portoferraio and stay for a day or two.

The Island of Montecristo looked spectacular as we passed it.

Two blocks broke during the passage but we had enough spares to replace them on arrival.