We sadly bid farewell to Jumping Fish Bay in Greece |
The Windjammers have experienced our shortest season yet, cruising in an area with few places for us Aussies to “run & hide” given Schengen’s limitations. Still “weather” experiences kept us on our toes too and ensured a modified float plan. This sadly entailed excluding Southern France (the Mistral consistently blowing with regularity & some ferocity this year) although we managed time in Corsica before taking a familiar route through the Balearics back to Lagos in Portugal.
Discovered style in Barcelona |
And hunky types in Naples |
Italy’s west coast made good its promise of few anchorages so our travels were essentially moving from marina to marina with longish stops to take in major historical sites. Somehow, we still never seemed to have sufficient time for our “must do” list. At least we managed to see (but not climb) some seriously interesting volcanos and enjoy one or two bottles of local plonk (I'm not sure there's an Italian equivalent for this word). The history was fascinating, the art incredible, people generally friendly and scenery, especially along the northern coast, quite unlike the “Med” we had grown used to.
The view over La Spezia was too good to miss |
So, this blog and photo fest is due for a long Mediterranean lunch break with the possibility of a further delay before the start of next season as our vague plan is to cross back to Trinidad. This requires avoiding hurricane season (June to Nov) and some big steps to get to a Canaries or Cape Verdes springboard. So our timings will need to be adjusted and we just may have to experience a winter...brrrrrr!
And Italy kept us very busy |
Nicely ensconced in Syracuse, we learned of Italy’s transport shortcomings but managed to make the crossing to Malta for a most enjoyable land break. Historically, the Messina Straits has been a sailor’s nightmare so we shouldn’t have been surprised to feel its wrath – albeit in a rather subdued manner. Swordfishing locals gave us a farewell salute as WJ3 battled steep waves generated by wind against current. At least we weren't rowing.
Then our anchor wanted to stay in Vulcano but after some wrestling and with a much improved weather outlook on offer, we convinced it to join us in crossing to Italy’s west coast to begin the slow crawl northwards.
From colourful towns in a festive mood |
With long strides along the Spanish coast we quickly made Gibraltar, where the weather gods again smiled giving us the right winds and tide to sail through notorious Gibraltar Straits. Another interesting weather system from the far NW (UK) threatened the Atlantic coast but we made Lagos, Portugal before it took its toll. Tucked up in the marina we hardly even noticed it!
Our yearly figures confirm yet another distance marathon and come in as follows:
From: Preveza, Greece Lat/Long: 38:57.09N 20:46 .04E Date/Time: 03/06/16: 1745
Time Taken: (this year): 383 hrs Distance: (this year): 2248.5nm
Distance Total: (since 2008): 18,278.5nm
Weather: Challenging weather this year, mostly Mistral generated, kept us on our toes
Fastest Speed: We had a mixed bag with some really great sailing weather and some really dreadful conditions too. But it’s the Med! And mostly motoring continues at a sedate 6 - 6.5kts.