On route to my winter destination.

Cagliari.

I stayed too long on Majorca. Partly to investigate a blind date option . Unsuccessful, obs.🙄


and secondly to mooch around a bit more. Had a look in to Magaluf , which was as expected. Santa Ponca where I anchored in a nice bay was a hell hole of Brit tatted troggs , Irish and 8 Irish pubs! Why do we have to have Irish pubs with their brown wood , green walls and copies of their crappy Irish constitution in frames on the wall .What am I doing in there you ask . Hunting for a Sunday roast!
There was typically a fiesta while I was here. A firework,satanic, devil, goat worship thing. Spanish H&S being what it is we could dance around under these fireworks . Shirt didn’t look too good after but it was fun.

https://youtube.com/shorts/usOgQzYO8EQ?is=ifMj8_slkrZwl8My

Have to say. The East end of the island is lovely on the coast. Some amazing beaches and scenery.


Sicily is my winter target this year. Licata on the south coast . I’ve been there before and love Sicily which also has the advantage of being close to Malta for a trip there.
The following is an edited version of what happened on the way I posted to a sailing WhatsApp group I’m in.
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Well big winds projected which would have worked well for mid passage between Majorca and at least E Sardinia but 130miles from Sardinia thunder storm built from the west behind me. We’ve all seen big but I’ve never been that close to vertical bolts hitting the sea. By sound it was 5 miles aft but moving towards me . It never went right over head. ( I did put on flip flops rubber swimming hat and rubber gloves). I also for the third time since leaving UK made my life raft easily available. More relevant I put money, passports, Nuts, fruit, water,knife, VHF, flares and spare shirt in to dry bag and wet bag never done that before- or worn rubber!)though I am contemplating marketing an orange full rubber gimp suit for storm wary sailors minus the mouth gag! When I arrived on anchor post trauma, the Guardia finanzia arrived to check me out having arrived this morning at 2 am -Friday . I left Porto colombe Majorca Tuesday! So winds according to them were 40 kts offshore. Sea was 3-4 m. . During main storm I couldn’t read winds . Boat broached on numerous occasions, main was reefed but crash gibbed once or twice, boom was dragging in water and no way to bring in Genoa trying to control every thing.
That exploded, main damaged but very useable. First storm passed but within a couple of hours of high winds another one visited it was like a sustained machine gun of flashes in the clouds over head never seen that! I was below , motoring, reefed main and auto helm , about 2 1/2 hours of that. Storm passed winds useable then motor sailed rest of journey in sustained 3m rollers very slowly . All got calmer relatively around 10 last night -Thursday. 22 kt wind was child’s play did throw up, not badly , from being rolled and pitched but that’s normal for me. That’s it. If there’s any lesson to be had. If rain squall or thunder storm is coming towards you, reef heavily ( which I did)or sail on the rigging . Drift ! I forgot that at some time torrential rain fell . Main hatch way was open and everything got wet in side , couldn’t leave the helm. Interestingly during the rain which was horizontal and gusting I was in T shirt and shorts so not cold but I kept getting blasts of warm air! Don’t know why but assume it was something to do with down draughts from the energised clouds.
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Electric storm PPE taken after the event!


That adventure over I needed to assess damage and replace or repair sails; replace as it happens. I’m now anchored outside of Cagliari waiting for DHL to deliver the sail to marina where I removed old sail. I just hope it fits, being a second hand one.
I wish I could have got some footage of the action but it wasn’t high on my list of priorities 😵‍💫.
When/if it fits I’ll move down the coast to catch winds to Sicily which should be a 2 1/2 day passage.