Back in Palma

New Genoa Installed

We left Gruissan a few days later than planned – flat tyre on the car, boatyard not ready to put the boat back in the water, bad weather, and finally, a broken tap in the guest head.

Eventually we set sail and sailed straight to Sóller, Mallorca – 202 nm in 29 hours. After a very pleasant quiet night in Sóller (for a change), it was round the coast to Palma and the home for the boat for the next few weeks.

There’s another long list of jobs before we’re ready to start the ARC+ in November – digital fuel and water guages and calibration, new chartplotters, a remote control panel for the generator (the panel on the genny is inaccessible), engine and generator service, new foresails (already installed) – the list goes on and on. We’re also filling the boat up with spare parts.

This weekend we had a break and hired a car. Yesterday we drove up to the north of the island and visited Polença and Alcudia. Today we went east to Santanyi and Cala Figuera. Back to work tomorrow!

Back to Gruissan

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.

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!

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.

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

Villefranche Sur Mer
Villefranche Sur Mer

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.

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
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

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.

Out of the Water
Out of the Water

No sailing now until May – see you then!

The Trip
The Trip