So no longer able to stand beautiful but way to rolly, Rolly bay in Valetta we set sail Wednesday morning, early doors, on what was supposed to be a straight, as the crow flies romp across the Ionian... Needless to say the best laid plans of mice & men, one mile out of Valetta, we noticed that our batteries were not being charged quite as they should be. Now on board we have a clever little devise which tells us what voltage is being produced by the alternators when the engine is running, and this also tells us our SOC (state of charge) & TTG (time to go), now although our voltage was reading a healthy 13.5 volts, our SOC & TTG were both dropping... With this on our minds we decided in the interest of prudence a quick over night stop on the south eastern tip of Sicily would be best, as the best of the westerlies didn't kick in till Thursday anyhow. So we had a very ambient 60 mile sail up to Sicily with a european Turtle dove hitching a ride, until we got to Porto Paolo on SE corner of Sicily before the wind pick up to 30knts, and we didn't fancy the unattractive anchorage on that corner. Our plan B was to round the corner & and go into Marzamemi marina until we got round the corner, and now having 40kts on the nose which looked even worse for coming into a marina as night started to fall. So we did the right thing and ran away..... We turned 180 and did a blissful 6knts down wind direction Siracusa. With Audrey & Bertie in bed, time for a council of war. Should we go for Siracusa & anchor in the bay or keep going and assume the decent amount of voltage we were getting from the alternators, along with our solar & wind would be enough to keep our batteries topped up till we got to Greece to investigate further. So we went with the keep going option & head across to the toe of Italy... And boy did that seem to take a long time. Now to my knowledge there are only two places in the med with tides of any strength worth mentioning. Gibraltar & the straights of Messina, and it did feel like we were punching a lot of tide. By the morning we were still not quite across. Luckily the westerly we'd been hoping to ride all the way to Greece appeared in force the next morning and under full jib & 3/4 main we stared to chew up some miles up the foot of Italy. As the wind speed increased & we decided to pull in a little more jib, when the stopper knot which enables us to furl the jib from the cockpit slipped & we now had no way to pull it in..... b*****ks!!! It reminded me of racing days of old, having to drop a no.1 head sail in a hoolie is sweaty business! Thank god we'd had our bacon & egg sarnies for breakfast. With Audrey & Bertie strapped into their front row seats in the cockpit, mummy & papa went to work..... It must of been quite entertaining for the two munchkins watching us frantically trying to stop sail & sheets going over the side & lashing the whole lot down on the for deck, for us to then 5 minutes later perform the whole ritual again in reverse.... With this ordeal over we made good progress throughout the day till, that evening we finally decided to gun it across to Greece. Cracking off the sails we soon had the evening breeze of 35-40knts, and boy does our little boat love 30-40kts. With just the head sail half out we were bombing along through the night. It's truly one of the amazing feelings when you get out of the shipping lanes which traverse up and down the coasts, and get out into real wilderness of open water. Away from all the lights which emit from the coast and into the thick of darkness with the stars above you shining so brightly. To come from a city of 12 million people to being 100 miles from anyone is quite an eerie & yet totally liberating experience, and also somewhat humbling all in one. When we bought Maya we bought her on her reputation of past performance and this trip more than before brought it home to me what a great boat she is. As the winds pick up, she just performed better & better. By the next morning we were almost half way across, and already discussing our Greek dinner..... Tatziki, Hummus, Vine leaves, Calamaries, Halloumi...... When the ciggies run our mid passage, talk of food will keep you going! So another day & bumpy night avoiding the big boats on the Greek coast line, and we sailed in between the southern tip of Corfu & northern tip Paxos, as the sun rose over the misty horizon, totally stunning! Just a lovely 4hr down wind sail, up the island and into Gouvia marina for a very well deserved sleep!
Having replenished on sleep, fixed the gash in Tiddler the tender with stitches & patches, changed the fan belts on the alternates & the split battery diode, & turned Maya into a chineses laundry eyesore of the Marina. We are back at anchor just outside the Gouvia marina, at a lovely anchorage. 30 degrees, the sun is shining, first swims had - let the summer begin in earnest!
Having replenished on sleep, fixed the gash in Tiddler the tender with stitches & patches, changed the fan belts on the alternates & the split battery diode, & turned Maya into a chineses laundry eyesore of the Marina. We are back at anchor just outside the Gouvia marina, at a lovely anchorage. 30 degrees, the sun is shining, first swims had - let the summer begin in earnest!
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