Back to the Start: 2016

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 time limitations of 3 months max.  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,
architect extraordinaire, Gaudi.

And hunky types in Naples
(Yes, it's Hercules)

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 volcanoes 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;
too much to do, so little time!
Pisa. Is this really a quiet day? 

In summary, the 2016 season started in Preveza, Greece with a very short stop in Sarande, Albania.  Thus began our weather experiences and first change to the float plan… At least the weather gods were kind to us as we slid across to Sicily.  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 Strait has been a sailor’s nightmare so we shouldn’t have been surprised to feel its wrath.  Swordfishing locals though, gave us a farewell salute as WJ3 battled steep waves generated by wind against current - Charybdis at play!.  At least we weren't rowing, like Odysseus, Jason (of the Argonauts) or Aeneas. (This is your history test....)  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. 

Colourful towns, festive moods

We took longish stops in Torre del Greco (Naples area), Rome, and La Spezia (Tuscany) before modifying the float plan again to include Corsica for a few days sailing down its eastern coast. Sardinia's tip provided shelter before striking out for the Balearics and back to Spain. 

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

To: Lagos, Portugal Lat/Long: 37:06.45N 08:40.27W  Date/Time: 23/09/16: 1045
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.

We will post as plans for 2017 develop, so keep tuned to this space!

And a few stray volcanoes on our way.  A busy year indeed!