Palma de Mallorca to Gibraltar, Gibraltar to Las Palmas and first leg of ARC+ to Mindelo, Cape Verdes

Palma de Mallorca  - 22^nd October to 24^th October

22^nd October

We checked out of the hotel, after completing most of our work commitments  - much easier with the concierge facilities as we were able to courier documents and send parcels.  This is very difficult to do when you are in a country and your ability to communicate is limited!

When moving the luggage to the boat from the hotel Emily’s bag rolled off the pontoon and would have landed in the water if it didn’t land on the dingy….lucky Emily (a not so obvious danger of travelling with those 4 wheeler bags!!), as the bag contained quite a bit of her weekend clothes shopping.

We met our new crew, Alan and Vance for lunch – and are looking forward to spending the next 6 weeks with them.  Alan has a wealth of sailing experience and together with Vance will complement us as a parent and son team for the  trip to Gran Canaria and then ARC+ run across the Atlantic Ocean. Alan is our First Mate, he has far more experience than us, but is happy to give John and Vicki room as joint skippers to take charge of our boat while we learn and step in if we are going about things in an unsafe way, or we are out of our depth.

The PalmaWatch crew were working on the tender-davit system, when the guys arrived so it took some time before they could come onboard because we had to lower the tender and attach the passerelle (the plank you need to walk on to get on the boat).  After lunch we all went for a short sail with Rodrigo and ‘Fuji’ from Pro Rigging to learn and look at the various ways we might rig our cruising chute, so we could choose one and then have the tackle and rigging set-up permanently.   There was very little wind, and the afternoon was a really good introduction for Alan and Vance and John and Vicki were pleased to have learnt how to rig the cruising chute!!   We also rigged a preventer and kicker, so that the load was off the ropes – this means that it is much easier and safer to use the preventer.

John, Vicki, Taylor and Emily and that Cruising Chute!

Vicki was at the helm for the majority of time (Emily had it for a bit too!), and motored Josie Maria out and into the berth with no mishaps, Rodrigo giving some tuition on the way in, which was much appreciated.

The night was spent onboard Josie Maria, unpacking bags, washing clothes and watching a movie (in English), after a delicious Japanese dinner.  We are getting to know Palma de Mallorca quite well now.

23^rd October

Alan and Vance moved into their cabin on Josie Maria this morning.  We spent the day provisioning for our voyage, trying to complete necessary work commitments and stowing everything away – as well as trying to familiarise Vance and Alan with the boat and organise travel plans for Emily and Taylor.  Unfortunately, if things are not stowed correctly – they break  - good incentive to keep a tidy ship!!  We stocked up on many necessary things that we might not find in Cape Verdes, on the way to the Caribbean. High on the list were Cadbury chocolate and several jars of Vegemite.

Voyage from Palma de Mallorca to Gibraltar – 24^th October to 27^th October

We left Palma de Mallorca for Gibraltar on the 24^th October at 1630 and went to the fuel dock to refuel, we stayed until 1800 as we were making the most of the internet before out trip!!

We had a major electrical issue en-route, which made the cockpit into a disco for 10 seconds and meant that we had no pedestal buttons working for most of the voyage.  When the power trips on a boat it can get quite hairy with the autopilot turning off, no GPS and no Compass lights – so we need to memorise our course and carry a torch just incase!!

It was Taylor and Emily’s last voyage with us and this time they had their own watch (“shift”) – they were very fortunate to see dolphins every watch – on one twice!!

Gibraltar

Arrived in Gibraltar at 1500 on the 27^th October - We finally made it to the Rock!!  On the way to the marina we bought some more diesel and Emily jumped onto the dock to buy some ice-creams.  John asked the marina how fast their internet was, wondering if he should duck out and purchase another 3G card.  The marina said it was ok, but John feared the worst but tested it anyway.  He was actually impressed with the speed of the marina internet, as it was faster than the usual 3G card he has to buy, as most marina’s internet is so loaded with other boat owners wanting to use it that its basically useless.  Well done Gibraltar !!

Arriving in Gibraltar 

We saw the Main Street and the Casement, had a couple of delicious dinners, did the usual washing of clothes, sheets, towels and dealt with lots of boat maintenance issues.

We said our goodbyes to Emily and Taylor on the morning of the 28^th October, as they make their way back to Australia, via Malaga, Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Madrid and Dubai!!  They were a real pleasure to have on board and we will miss them.  John took them to the border, crossing the runway of the Gibraltar Airport and putting them in a Taxi before joining about 20,000 Spaniards coming into Gibraltar for the days work so he could get back to the boat.

We plan to leave for Las Palmas, Gran Canaria on the 29^th October.  John was going through the list of many things to fix, and contacted Oyster about our electrical issues.  Oyster immediately went into action and we had the folks from Mastervolt on the phone and then using Team Viewer to log into our boat and check the electrics out.  Very impressive.  They isolated the problem to one of the two battery chargers not working, but in the process John was asked to rev up the engine to get some power out of the alternator, and discovered that he could not  engage the engines propellers!!  Not the dreaded ECV error again on the Volvo Penta engine ! Each time we get this error, its like a box of chocolate candy – you don't know what you are going to get; if your engine will go forward or backward.  Fortunately it eventually returned to normal, but by this time the wind was picking up, which meant that the sea state was too, and we had missed the tide for the optimum voyage west through the Strait of Gibraltar, so we decided to wait another 24 hours.  This gave us a little more time for some shopping, sight seeing and John and Vicki managed to have a romantic dinner!!

Voyage from Gibraltar to Las Palmas  - 30^th October to 3^rd November

30^th October

Having completed all the pre-checks on the previous day, and knowing that the ECV error was not popping up again and we could engage the engine, we had a relaxing morning, preparing to leave.  John took Josie Maria out of Gibraltar, the weather was beautiful – much better than when we were planning to leave the previous day!   We set up a very easy watch system, 3 hours on and 9 hours off, with all on call for sail changes and if help required with John and Vicki doing the cooking.  Oyster advised us that they would have a team in Las Palmas Gran Canaria ready to look into all the issues once we arrived. Woot !!

John at the helm - leaving Gibraltar

Alan - leaving Gibraltar

Vance - leaving Gibraltar

The first day we motored out of the marina, and then motor sailed into the strait of Gibraltar , setting sail for 33N 13W  after we crossed the strait to the African side.   The wind is behind us and gusting upto 35 knots so we have a reefed mainsail, our staysail and the genoa rigged wing and wing.

We have initial teething problems as we leave Gibraltar, with a persistent “position fix alarm” – but manage to turn the GPS on and off a couple of times and this seems to fix it – fingers crossed!  Our list of issues to be looked at once we are in Gran Canaria is getting longer and we are hopeful that we will be able to get through it all before the start of our Atlantic Crossing.

31^st October

We are sailing much of the time so need to run the generator for power quite a bit, especially as we are down to only one recharging unit as the other one needs replacing.  John and Vicki manage to watch there first movie in bed….. “ The Man of Steel” – while bouncing about!!  Later in the afternoon we watched Wrath of the Titans in full 5.1 stereo.  Alan, thought the rigging was coming down with the first Titanic battle!!  Guess our sub-woofer works…

Lots of gusts of wind and changing wind direction make for an exciting night, for those on watch a few course changes, and those trying to sleep needing to create inventive ways to stay in the bed!!  All those pillows that Vicki bought are finding their use.

1^st November

We gybe at 33N (turn the stern [back] of the yacht through the wind – which takes a lot of time with running backstays, a staysail, a preventer on the boom and a poled out genoa – so 40 minutes later…)  and head for Las Palmas.   We had emailed Commander, a weather forecasting and routing system prior to leaving Gibraltar and are finding this a really accurate and simple way of keeping up to date weather info, and a basis for routing strategy. Thanks Ken!!

In the evening we are on the Seine Abyssal plain and John cooks gnocchi from first principals – he did an amazing job!!  We eat very well with ‘Galley Josie Maria’ every night.

2^nd November

We had an “engine low voltage” alarm at midday– so tried to start the engine and were unable to do so.   Fortunately we were able to start the motor from the generator batteries- we appreciate the redundancy measures on our yacht. The motor start batteries were quite flat, but we don't know why…more issues to fix in Las Palmas.  We sailed sailed wing and wing in 10 to 20 knots of wind all day – very pleasant!!

3^rd November

On Sunday morning it was raining and cloudy and we are motoring to try to get to Las Palmas at a reasonable time.  We saw some dolphins, Vance put up all the necessary flags and Vicki motored into Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and we tied up at the reception dock.  We met Shaun and Steven who are also participating in the ARC + with their Cat, “Amaris” and shared some champagne  - celebrating our arrival into Gran Canaria.  They are from Seattle and live quite close to our AIE Seattle campus so we had some things to talk about.  We have a lot of work to do over the next few days to be ready, but are excited to be in a position where we can follow our original plans and go.  We haven’t managed to contact David and Amit yet – but are looking forward to them joining us in the morning!!

We have a week to get ourselves prepared for our Atlantic Crossing!!

Las Palmas, getting ready for the ARC+ 3^rd to 10^th November

4th November

The reception dock was very busy in the morning and we were quickly asked to move to our berth.  John was at helm and motored ‘Josie Maria” from the fuel berth to our marina berth ‘D30’ – we arrived to cheers and applause from the dock, for such a great parking job….and from some fellow Aussie sailors, who are not quite used to the European mooring regime!!  We met our neighbours, who were lovely and then got right down to work, registering at the marina and then ARC office and hosting the Oyster maintenance team, who spent a brilliant job over the next few days solving all our issues and making sure that we were ready for the ARC+.  We really did appreciate all their hard work – and Oyster’s famed after sales support lived up to its expectations. The Oyster team then went on to do free support to the other two Oysters who are also participating in the ARC +. Need to meet them !

On the way to the ARC+ Check-in at Las Palmas

Amit and David finally joined us around lunchtime.  We arrived back to a beautifully organised yacht, with Alan and Vance having cleaned the boat and attended to some boat maintenance and other needs for our Atlantic crossing. 

John, Amit and David sorted washing in the afternoon, while Vicki made herself busy with lists for provisioning and housekeeping.  We decided to wait to refuel in  Mindelo, Cape Verdes as the Marina in Las Palmas was very busy and we didn’t need the additional fuel for the journey..

5^th to 9^th November

Over the next few days, we provisioned the yacht, made the most of the ARC+ program, in terms of Seminars, Safety Displays and parties and Happy Hours!!

We went to the Fantasy theme party, John and Vicki dressed as clowns (John’s favorite line was ‘would you trust me as your skipper ?’) , David and Amit as pirates and Alan and Vance – as “body guards….” while John and Vicki were clowning around!!  We met lots of other ARC+ participants and several fellow Aussie sailors!

John, Vicki, David and Amit

Clowning around!

Unfortunately John’s fishing rods and reels were stolen from the boat while at the party- the police were very supportive (given that it was a fairly minor crime) and seemed intent on finding the culprit and returning the rods…. However this was not to be the case and we ended up leaving for Mindelo with new rods but no reels (not so good for John’s dream of fishing while crossing the Atlantic!).

We managed to find a small amount of time to sightsee, visiting the older part of Las Palmas, where there was a square with lots of dog statues, next to an old hospital.  Vicki had decided to see a 15 century castle – but when we got there it was being renovated, so after an ice-cream and a sneak peak between the fencing, we took a taxi trip to Puerto Rico.  We loved Puerto Rico, a beach in a canyon valley – on the way there we also got to see wind farms, tomato farms and cactus farms.

David and John - Puerto Rico

John and Vicki in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

ARC+ Cruising Rally – First Leg  (10^th November to 15^th November)

10^th November

We leave Las Palmas, Gran Canaria for Mindelo Cape Verdes.

John, Vicki, Amit, David, Alan and Vance just prior to leavingLas Palmas

John motors Josie Maria from the dock to the vicinity of the start line for the ARC+ rally.  There are lots of sightseers waving us goodbye, lots of spectator boats as well – a great vibe, with patriotic Aussies chanting the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – and us giving the oi, oi, oi!  Vicki is a bit emotional at the start, as she remembers how keen her dad Dai was to be part of this.  However manages to take the helm for the start.  We take a little longer than anticipated in our reach to the start line as the sea swell, knocks the wind out of the sails – but manage a successful start and are off on our voyage across the Atlantic and the first leg of the ARC+ Cruising Rally.  Alan is on the ball with ensuring that the sails are trimmed and as we get up speed and away from the swell and light winds – we are in for a really pleasant sail. 

It is a real experience sailing with a fleet, after sailing solo.  With lots of non-AIS boats all heading in the same direction – you need extra diligence on watch – especially at night!!  We had a close encounter with a Cat; Easy Rider 2 – it’s quite difficult to manoeuvre when under sail with a poled out genoa and staysail!

11^th November

We can see another two Aussie boats – La Rochelle and Karma Wins – We have a friendly chat on the VHF radio to Catherine on La Rochelle in the morning – we both had a good first night – there was some talk about tying up alongside for a cappuccino….

Unfortunately Fernando and Daniela (a couple we met at the ARC+ events), had to return to Las Palmas onboard their ketch Nefeli when their autopilot packed it in – we hope to see them in the Caribbean at some stage!!

Vance had a close call with another Cat in the evening….what is it with Cats and close calls at night!!

12^th November

Great sailing – making good time and enjoying it!!  We had internet, VSAT and BGAN issues – which made getting our internet a bit of an issue.   John manages to get the BGAN internet working and we manage to download the latest Commander weather forecast – but it’s a very expensive alternative to VSAT.  We also see we are 20^th overall with handicap, around the 8^th monohull.  We have a vey punitive handicap for a heavy displacement cruising boat – but are very pleased with her performance.  She is a very comfortable boat!!

All the boys on action for our 1800 gybe!!  A first for David and Amit

The boys start on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy….2 down one to go and then they start on the Underbelly series!!

13^th November

John managed to get VSAT and BGAN working this morning!!  Hurray !

Listened into the SBS radio net this morning.

Beautiful day – water much calmer – we passed a huge orange/yellow weather buoy at 21^o15’N 20^o56W – we were very glad we didn’t hit it!! 

That weather buoy!

There was some talk on the VHF re one of our fleet Barbella (another Oyster) having set off their emergency EPPIRB… at the time we did not know what had happened, but found out later that a personal EPIRB had gone off, prematurely, in a pocket.  One of the good things about cruising in company is that if something does go wrong, help is a lot closer!

The boys watched the last of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and after dinner settled into Underbelly!! 

We gybed again at 1800 – this time David and Amit did a little bit more. 

John made a delicious curry for dinner.  Vicki worked on the blog!!

14^th November

Frans 50^th Birthday today –  Happy Birthday Fran!!

John manages to make some calls home on the VSAT phone!  We haven’t been finding VSAT very reliable.

We had our first blocked heads (toilet), fortunately was easy to fix – we are flushing them twice or more now!!

Sailing has been beautiful with winds behind us at 10-20knots.

15^th November – We arrive in Mindelo

In the morning we can see ‘Solo’ on the horizon chasing us with their Spinnaker up – the wind is very light and we sail “Josie Maria” a bit like a dingy for a while with the mainsail and the cruising chute wing and wing – this allows us to move at 5-6 knots with 2 knots apparent wind and we slowly increase the distance between Solo and us.  Unfortunately we also spot a few little tears in the cruising chute – something we need to get fixed either in Mindelo or St Lucia.

We spot land at 1200 hours!!

We arrive in Mindelo at 3.15pm.  The weather has been beautiful for the trip, however there is a wind acceleration zone as we cross the finish line and enter the Marina in 30plus knots of wind.

On approach to Mindelo

Mindelo

David and Amit at the end of their first voyage!!

Once we arrive in Mindelo we are greeted by the ARC+ Rally Control and helped, first at the fuel dock, where we refuel (as we had not done so in Las Palmas) and secondly at our marina berth alongside Ninfea and Solo, two ketches who arrive just before us and just after us!   We are the first Oyster, sloop,  and Aussie boat to arrive in Mindelo – we won’t talk about our handicap that has us in 20^th position.

Alan, David, John and Vicki at the bar - Marina Mindelo

Once settled, John and Vicki deal with the customs and boat arrival processes (made so much simpler by being part of the ARC+ rally) and then go for a walk to try and locate some fishing reels to replace the ones that were stolen in Las Palmas.  Amit and David, head to the local shops to buy some 3G cards – internet is an essential for us.  Alan and Vance ensure Josie Maria is secure and clean.  We all meet for a drink in the Marina Mindelo Bar – on a floating pontoon, and decide on a restaurant to eat at the first night!

The locals in Mindelo are very friendly, but nothing happens quickly!!  We are looking forward to a few days of social activities, sightseeing and preparations for the 2^nd leg of our Atlantic crossing.

Sardegna - Ostia - Palma de Mallorca and the Haul-out

          24^th September, Cannigione, Sardegna

We spent the day making preparations to leave by 7:30pm to ensure that we arrived into Porto di Roma, Ostia by early afternoon.  It takes us alot of time to ensure that everything is stowed away so that it doesn’t move when Josie Maria is underway, as well as ensure the route is programmed into the Raymarine plotter and we have supplies for the journey!!  We have decided that we like arriving in new places when it is light and the marinas we intend to stay are open - so we need to arrive during daylight hours.  We have found that it is much more difficult arriving when the Marina office is shut – it is as though the port is ‘closed’.  You are then left to anchor (Guernsey), find a mooring (Cannigione – made possible because Maurizio and Franco met us in their dingy and helped!) or tie up alongside a reception or fuel berth (Palma de Mallorca) which requires a very early start after a very late night!!  So with all this behind us arriving in Porto di Roma when it is open, becomes a priority!!

Tonino and David on Josie Maria in Cannigione

Franco anad Cristina in Sardegna

John and Franco

In the marina in Cannigione: Cristina, Franco and Lina

Our Sardegna-Ostia crossing can be summarised by a beautiful sunset followed by a moonlit crossing, a magnificent sunrise, a couple of alarms and dolphins!!

The crossing was a quiet one with winds from the south/southeast at 10-15knots

- during this short voyage we had a couple of engine warning alarms that were telling us that water was in the fuel system.  David and Vicki had transferred fuel from the storage tank to the main tank before we started to Ostia, so it was thought that water may have got in somehow – however a check of the oil fuel filters found no trace of water.  During the night we were also greeted by a few dolphins – always a welcome sight! 

We are looking forward to seeing family in Ostia and hoping that the engine will behave as we want to do more than “travel to great places and fix the boat!!” as John likes to say.

25^th September, Porto di Roma, Ostia – Italy

We arrived at Porto di Roma, Ostia (Rome’s costal suburb, and ancient Rome’s port) in the afternoon, greeted by our Italian relatives who were keenly waiting at the dock waving us in.  It certainly is different from being greeted at the airport.

We were met by Adolfo (cousin), Sergio (uncle), Cinzia (cousin) and her husband Giuseppe, Mariangela (cousin) and her daughters Ambria and Alyssa . Later we were also greeted by Giampiero (cousin) and his sons Valerio, Marco also Roberta (cousin) and her daughter Manilla.  It was wonderful to see everyone – Adolfo even made us a delicious pasta lunch on Josie Maria as we settled into Marina life. 

After lunch Vicki became an expert in making expresso for all (thank God for the Nespresso machine), although only having 4 cups did make it a bit tricky!!  Our welcome to Ostia was quite overwhelming but totally fantastic and we spent quite a bit of our time showing off Josie Maria and her endless cupboard and other spaces where we stored away our things.

One of the frustrating things about arriving in a new marina is that all the power sockets so you can connect power to your boat are different.   Fortunately John managed to have a converter made, which we hope to use in future med ports… fingers crossed!!  Giuseppe also helped organise a laundry service for us – so good to have help.  In the evening we had delicious Pizza for dinner at Mariangela’s new home.

26^th September, Porto di Roma, Italy

In the morning Emily and David set off on the folding bikes to the local markets to purchase some fresh milk and find items we can use for the up and coming Toga Party. We spent much of the rest of the day visiting relatives and made plans to take folks out for a sail and a swim on the Friday and Saturday afternoons, allowing us time to recover from late nights.

Lunch Break in Rome while Toga Hunting!

Tonino (cousin) and his wife Cristina were very helpful in taking us all to Rome and looking at various placed were we could purchase a toga.  We didn’t have much success – and we don’t think they exist.  In the end we purchased some bed-sheets that we can reuse as instead of the doonas on Josie Maria, in the hotter climates we are heading to.

27^th September , Friday - Porto di Roma, Italy

In the morning John and David headed of on the bikes to local Ostia markets.  John’s plan was to stock up on rare and essential items – Pancetta and Porcini mushrooms. Along the way John purchased and David sampled his first porchetta – slow, wood roasted pig, stuffed with aromatic herbs….yum!!

We set sail in the afternoon, for a short trip to and from Ostia, slowly making our way to one of the beaches that make up Ostia, called “Canale dei Pescatori”.   Onboard was was Emily and Taylor, as well as Roberta (cousin) and her husband Marco as well as her daughter Manilla.  John’s other cousin Giampiero and his oldest son Flavio. 

Taylor and Emily

Giampiero

Once we arrived near a good beach, we laboured to move the seabobs from the laz and into the water.  We are getting much better at doing this, having improved the technique in Sardegna.  The guys had so much fun, with Marco, Giampiero, Flavio and John racing each other - Flavio was the overall winner.  We decided headed back fairly early as two of our party were not coping with the motion very well – there was a bit of a roll as we anchored close to the beach.  We also were visited by a few large jelly-fish, which were not a favourite of anyone in the water!

Marco and Seabob!

Flavio and Giampiero - Guess who the fastest is!

Marco and John

28^th September , Saturday - Porto di Roma, Italy

We went out for a day sail again, with relatives who could only make it on the Saturday.  Dario (cousin) and his wife Manuela and their children Massimo and Aurora were joined by Stefania (Giampiero’s wife) and her children Adriano, Giulio and Valerio.

What made it even more exciting is that Adolfo joined us, sailing along side with his yacht “Margherita”.  Adolfo,  Maria Cristina (cousin), Emma (Adolfo’s wife) and two of Adolfo’s friends and fellow “Margherita” boat owners and their children were on board.  We enjoyed sailing both yachts towards the beach we anchored off yesterday.  Josie Maria dropped anchor and we launched the seabobs for more fun in the water, unfortunately, “Margherita” needed to head back back to Port.   However, Josie Maria stayed at anchor for an hour or so, while Valerio, Giulio, Dario and John enjoyed the seabobs.   Onboard Massimo (2) and Adriano(3) enjoyed treasure hunting in Josie Maria’s bilge – lifting every floorboard with the “suckers”.  The younger children loved being the ‘Capitano’, on the way back to the Marina– holding onto the helm, while the autopilot did the real work!!  We headed back to Porto di Roma with just enough time to prepare for our Toga Party!

Adolfo at the helm of Margheritia

Margherita

Our Junior Crew: Adriano, Massimo, Aurora and Giulio

Massimo and Adriano searching for treasure in the bilges

Sailing with Margherita

Massimo, Aurora and Adriano at the helm

Capitano Adriano

The Toga party was a smash hit!  The party was held at ”La Fraschetta” in Ostia. Getting there was a hoot.  As we left Josie Maria in our toga’s we received a lot of stares.  I guess Italians are not used to seeing tourists in togas – especially leaving a marina.  At the beginning we were not quite sure how many relatives would actually come dressed in a toga. We had dialogue and pictures on “whatsapp” reminding family members what an actual toga looked like and how one might fashion it from bed sheets.  One would think that toga parties must be the norm in Italy, especially in Rome.  Unfortunately not so…it was such a hit that we are hoping to start a trend!!  The majority of party goers were dressed in togas - we had used bedsheets, safety pins, old curtain material (to make us look special), and fake leaves on our heads.  Roberta crafted some very elaborate togas, complete in every detail for her family and other cousins like Tonino.  Roberta’s toga’s would have certainly won the toga prize if we had thought of having one!  Stefania, had also created laurels of ‘foglie di alloro’  (bay leaves), for her entire family -which grows in abundance in Italy if you know where to look – so everyone looked amazing and we had so much fun.

The food served ensured a true Roman experience, with had trippa (tripe) in a tomato based sauce, baby suckling pig, ‘Spaghetti alla Matriciana’ and about another dozen dishes!!  A very talented traditional singer entertained us until 2am, with original Italian and Roman songs…which we sang and danced (including a conga!) to while we drank excellent locally produced wines. 

David Preparing his Toga!

Emily and Taylor

Francesco and Guiseppe

John

Gianluca and Sergio

Michela and Manilla

Tonino and Cristina

Emily and Vicki

 

After the party, Emily and Taylor decided that they would kick on and go to Rome and try the nightclub scene with Manila.  Oh to be young!! – John David and I headed back to Josie Maria for a snooze!

29^th September, Sunday - Porto di Roma, Italy

We got up quite late, and started getting some things done on the boat.  John got carried away doing some emails at the local coffee bar which has free wifi and lost total track of time.  Tip for any coffee shop.  Have free wifi and it will keep your customer there ordering coffee and cakes.  

We were invited to have lunch at Lina and Franco’s house, we enjoyed a delicious home made lasagna, and Emily exclaimed that it was just like John’s mum Maria used to make!  We felt really spoiled with all the delicious food and drink!!

Traditionally a liquor is served after the meal. Popular ones are limoncello and another called ‘Mirtillo’ (made from bitter herbs), both which Lina had made at home.  Mirtillo is a little bitter but good for digesting your food after a meal. Vicki is ‘intolerant’ to limoncello (long story) so she passed on that, but John and David quite enjoyed their Mirtillo and followed it by good coffee – necessary to stay awake in the afternoon!

We spent the afternoon working on boat maintenance and passage planning for the next part of the voyage back to Palma de Mallorca.  We decided that after looking at the weather forecast it might be best leaving for Mallorca on Tuesday morning, giving the whole of Monday to do a bunch of maintenance work.  We were mindful of avoiding another gale in the Bonifacio Strait, or sailing into difficult conditions after arriving in a gale when sailing from Cannes to Sardenga.  We have had our share of gales and strong winds and with 3 crew who do suffer from sea-sickness, felt that delaying our departure for more reasonable weather was a wise thing to do.  This meant that we would get into Palma de Mallorca on the Friday morning, requiring Emily and Taylor to fly from Palma de Mallorca to Ibiza for the closing week parties they had planned attend.  We are hoping that the internet will be working on this passage as we will need to do these flights and hotel bookings on the way.

30^th September, Monday – Porto di Roma, Italy

John got up quite early and by the time everyone was getting up he was already in the galley cooking up a storm.  He decided that now that he had amazing ingredients obtained in Sardegna and Ostia, that he would make three large pots full of pasta sauces so that when we are underway we could easily make a lasagne, a meat pasta or a Matriciana pasta.  The Toga Party feast has inspired him.  He spent ages cutting up locally sourced pancetta and stir frying it with onions.  Delicious aromas wafted through Josia Maria, and everyone demanded a pasta lunch!

Emily and Taylor went with Fabrizio, John’s cousin-in-law to complete last minute provisioning, just to make sure that we had all the other items needed for 3 day trip.  Meanwhile Vicki and David got stuck into the weekly maintenance schedule – which consists of cleaning the water filters, checking the oil filters for any water, and looking at the fan belts making sure they are not loosening up (although Josie Maria’s should auto tighten). This took up most of their morning.  David also started work on fixing the compressed air tank rack in the lazarette, which had broken off – the rack is now secure but we will need to complete this in Palma de Mallorca.   After a day of work on the boat we went out in the evening to a farewell pizza dinner at Stefania and Giampiero’s house, along with Tonino and his wife Cristina, Franco (uncle) and his wife Lina and the rest of their family in the evening.  It was a delightful evening, and made us very appreciative of our extended family, and a little harder to leave them all behind.

1^st October, Tuesday – Porto di Roma, Italy to Palma de Mallorca

After laboriously packing the Seabobs and other items back into lazarette, and completing final checks we are ready to go.  John decided to take the girls to refuel the dingy, but along the way to the fuel wharf, a somewhat large wave hit them and they came back laughing, but totally soaked.

We left Ostia bound for Palma de Mallorca around 1pm, we had intended to refuel with Diesel prior to leaving but discovered that the fuel dock was closed until 2.30pm.  We could have waited – but decided that we had enough fuel for the journey and started the passage to Palm de Mallorca.  We also discovered that our log (a device that measures how much you are moving through water) was not working so we could not tell how fast we were going nor the distance travelled. Vicki removed it, and had a shower of water as David stuck his finger in the valve!!  After cleaning out the sensor while sailing we were back in business.

We had light winds and a calm sea, so were motor sailing to ensure that Emily and Taylor made it to Palma de Mallorca in time to catch flights to Ibiza for the nightclub closing parties.  The night was clear as there was no moon – lots of stars- absolutely beautiful.  We also had to slow down to avoid colliding with a fast tanker, which was travelling at 17 knots.  The tanker called us up on the VHF radio to ask , “what is your intention?” – we did cheekily say that, “we wanted to keep our current speed and course”, but that is exactly what the tanker wanted and they had right of way so we did have to give way to them, and we told them, that “we would avoid them!!”.

2^nd October, Wednesday – Sardegna, Italy on our way to Palma

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a calm Bonifacio Strait.  

Bonifacio Strait

Vicki, David and Emily decide not to refuel Sardegna, as we are expecting 25 knots on the beam and great sailing weather all the way and have enough fuel to make it.  We also thought that given that we were being hauled out in Palma de Mallorca, it would be best not to add the fuel if it was not necessary to reduce the haul out weight.

The day was beautiful, although the wind did not pick up as expected.  The sea was calm and the wind 5 to 15 knots (closer to 5) so we motor sailed and reduced the engine revs to conserve fuel.   The sky was clear, enabling VSAT and internet – so those flights were booked for Taylor and Emily and Vicki managed to email PalmaWatch and Oyster all the documentation and paperwork necessary for the haul out, warranty and maintenance work being organised in Palma de Mallorca.  The clear sky also meant that we had another night of bright stars – something we never tire of seeing.

We also had a pesky dragon fly buzzing around in the middle of the night, attracted by the most minimalistic lights we had on so that we would not loose our night vision.  It remains a mystery how insects make it into our boat in the middle of an ocean!!  Vicki was doing very short logs in the logbook to avoid being dived at, as the very large dragon fly had decided to make a home in a nook of the navigation table!!  David tried to evict it 3 times, but it was very persistent!!

3^rd October, Thursday – on the way to Palma de Mallorca

During the night we experienced another EVC System error  - the error that in essence did not allow us to use the throttle on the motor and was repaired by Oyster while we were in Palma de Mallorca on our way to Cannes. We are concerned that this may lead to the same issues, which could be quite serious - as we need our engine!  We are getting the engine and generator serviced in Palma de Mallorca by Volvo, and will ensure that this is followed up as well.

After a calm night the wind picks up at 9am (24 knots), shortly after this there was an ‘All Ships Safety’ alert on channel 16, and for the next 12 hours we were subject to 25-35 knot winds and moderate lumpy seas - not exactly the beautiful sailing that we had in mind.  We reefed our sails and were hit by gusts of 40 knots - the ocean became a battlefield of 2m-3m high waves, keen on pounding Josie Maria. The wind, which was behind us, as well as the short Mediterranean Sea swell meant that the sea motion was quite irregular and seasickness tablets were in order for some of us (i.e. John, Emily and Taylor) to be able to function.  However John, Taylor and Emily did spot a pod of dolphins – always a welcome sight!!

David came up off his watch to help Vicki secure the tender, which was moving erratically with the current Davit-Fender set-up and the sea/boat movement.  The fenders in the tender needed refilling with air – and Vicki needed more height to do this!!  This is something we need to get Palmawatch folks to take a look at and come up with a better system of securing the tender to the davits. David and Vicki also take in the genoa and put out the staysail, which seems to improve the boat movement (a bit!).  John relieved Vicki of her watch so she could organise food – a challenge with the movement - Spaghetti Bolognese, with pre-cooked sauce and steam veges was tricky!!  Impossible to do when you feel really sea-sick.

It was the beginning of a terrible night. Emily lost her dinner as it bounced off the surface she put it on, and flying around your bed in not fun….we need more pillows!! The girls were laid out in their cabins, the saloon and then upstairs in the cockpit trying to find a better position that would reduce seasickness. Perhaps they should have stopped reading their absorbing novels.  John spent most of his free time lying down trying to sleep the seasickness off before his next three-hour watch.  We also had another “no power” moment and Vicki had to come on David’s watch to reset the main circuit breaker while David was at the helm in the dark, there was so much cloud it was really black, because when the main circuit breaker goes the autopilot and all the lights do too! This is quite a scary situation because if total power goes, the autopilot also fails to function and Josie Maria goes wherever, and it could cause an accidental gibe – this is where the boom swings wildly across and can damage the mast or break something or someone. David quickly made sure that Josie Maria kept heading in the right direction while Vicki resent the main circuit breaker and power was restored.

4^th October, Friday – Palma de Mallorca

In the early morning the wind dropped and the sea became smoother, we also had a little bit of rain and another EVC engine system alarm.  We motor sailed into Palma de Mallorca at 8:30am, where we were met by the Pierre and the friendly staff at PalmaWatch and the Oyster warranty office who will be taking charge of all the maintenance and warranty work that needs to be done at the STP dockyard.

We were greeted with the delivery of our yacht drogue, courtesy flags and a few other replacement parts as soon as we had tied up to the marina berth.  It was so nice to come in a calm port and we are all looking forward to a shower and a snooze. 

STP is amazing, there are boats out of the water everywhere – propped up with wooden logs and minimal metal scaffolding.  There are huge tents around boats having work done on them and a queue of boats being lifted in and out by several huge cranes.  Some of these boats are monsters, dwarfing our previously large Josie Maria. We get a real insight into the boat business side of Palma de Mallorca.

We are told that Josie Maria will be hauled out at 8am on Monday the 7^th October and the thought at this time is that she will be out for 2 to 4 days.  A lot depends on when the work is booked, and exactly what is found when she is hauled out.  It is anticipated that some problems, like the leak in the fore-cabin and any damage that hitting the rock in Sardenga may have caused may take more time to fix.

5-6^th October, STP Wharf, Palma de Mallorca

Vicki, John and David have two quiet days on the boat, working through many things we simply have not had time to address, while Emily and Taylor head to Ibiza for the closing parties.   We had to think through the work-list and prioritise the items, as well as sort gear on the Josie Maria and identify exactly what we have and where it is.  We also are starting preparation for the ARC+, in ensuring that we have the safety gear, sails with efficient rigging and enough provisions and spares for the trip both to the Canaries, via Gibraltar and then to Cape Verdes and across the Atlantic.

Vicki organises accommodation for all crew while Josie Maria is out of the water – initially the nights of the 7^th and 8^th October.  Palma de Mallorca is an amazing place, the tourism and the boating services industry drives their economy, and there are lots of great places to eat and drink, the locals are really friendly and the weather is beautiful.

7^th – 20^th October Palma de Mallorca – Josie Maria Haul-out

On the 7^th at 8am the Haul-out process commenced at the STP Dockyard.  David backed Josie Maria into a narrow concrete pen, two bow lines and stern lines to keep her into place while felt pads were put under the lifting straps to protect hull.  Prior to the haul out we ensured that the water-maker inlet and outlet valves were closed, and we did a fresh water flush of the water-maker the morning of the haul-out.  We did not preserve the water maker because we believed at this stage that she would only be out of the water for 2-4 days.  However this was not to be the case.

Josie Maria's Haul-out

On Crane

scaffolding and wooden poles

It was clear when Josie Maria had been hauled out of the water that there was another, more serious issue than a dent in the keel which occurred as a result of hitting the bommie in Sardegna, and this required some work to repair, which was going to take a minimum of three days – the date at which she was to go back into the water was moved to the 18^th October.  During the week a few more items needed to be added to the worklist and in addition there were several maintenance and some warranty issues that could not be done until Josie Maria was back in the water.  These included the rigging check, the service of the water-maker and the change of the smelly hoses to the aft heads(toilet).  We decide at this stage to fit the storm trysail to the mainsail track (as a spare main), rather than add an additional track – which it seems may not be possible with our current mast!! At this stage it was clear to us that we would not be leaving Palma de Mallorca until Tuesday the 22^nd  October at the earliest – and this might be pushed back a day or two…..This meant we needed rethink plans for Taylor and Emily – as they are leaving us in Gran Canaria, and were unlikely to arrive there on Josie Maria before their international flight left.   

During the first week, we sent a couple boxes of clothes, unrequired bed linen and used pilot books and charts back home – just trying to have what we need on Josie Maria, as the quiet weekend we had on Josie Maria allowed us time to sort through most of the storage areas and sort what we needed and what we didn’t.  We also started catching up on some of our pressing work requirements – and are still working on them!!  John, Vicki, Emily and Taylor spent a long weekend in Paris while Josie Maria was on the dry dock and were not allowed near the boat, as she was covered in a tent!  Paris was a lot of fun, we really appreciated having some vacation time, while other were working on our boat!!

We also had several discussions considering crew and role options for the trip to the Canaries and the ARC+, which pre-empted David leaving us.  David was such a great help and is a wonderful man, so it was difficult to see him go.  We had a lot of fun with David and appreciated his experience, particularly his skill at boat handling and his sense of humour.  He will be missed and we hope that we will meet somewhere on our voyage in his own yacht!!  Thanks David, it was a pleasure having you as part of ‘the family’ for a while and we wish you all the best!  This meant that John and Vicki spent several days looking for the best crew for the trip – there are so many great people out there – but in the end we decided to welcome another fellow Aussie, Alan and his son Vance, who arrive in Palma de Mallorca on Monday 21^st October.  Alan is extremely experienced and is happy to take a back step and allow two novice skippers to learn the ropes, and John and Vicki felt that with David and Amit joining us in the Canaries it was a good fit.  It has also meant that John and Vicki have had to take full responsibility for everything – which is a good thing – although a bit scary at times when you are doing everything for the first time.

On the 18^th October at 11am(ish) Josie Maria was lowered back from dry dock (without most of our belongings, weighing 30 tons) into the concrete pen.  The engine service was completed in the water– very important because reverse was forward and forward reverse – glad that was checked before we took off!!

It was John’s first time as the helmsman parking Josie Maria in a marina berth, we had Ceasar from PalmaWatch with us as we gladly accepted his help to move Josie Maria from STP to the Port de Mallorca marina.  Josie Maria was very difficult to steer out of the concrete pen – but we managed it, then after several attempts and some assistance from the ‘Marinarios’ and Ceasar, John managed to squeeze Josie Maria between two boats, stern to, on the outside wharf at Port de Mallorca.  Yeh!! As soon as we had tied up at Port de Mallorca the Seafresh (water-maker) technicians arrived to do a preliminary overview, prior to the service, which will be done on Monday.  We had thought the whole process would take 1 hour, but it took 5 hours!!  Taylor and Emily had come to help hold fenders – and assist where needed, so we were very hungry by the time we had finished!!  Taylor, Emily, Vicki and John had lunch at 4pm and after lunch John and Vicki went back to hotel in the old town to collect boat papers and passports to that we could pay for the marina berth.  We decided to pay until Thursday….given that at this stage this is when we believe

 that we will be ready to leave.   While at the marina office to pay for the berth, and connect Josie Maria to shore-power (as this could not be done until we had paid an the office was shut when we arrived) we were able to talk to the riggers who are happy to show us how to put up the cruising chute, rig an improved the preventer system and move the antennas back on the spreaders that currently press into the mainsail while we are running downwind.  This will be done on Monday – which is going to be a very busy day!!