Cruising

Corsica to Sardenia and lots of wind

/ Doug / 5 Comments

Our anchorage at Porto Frialis on the east coast of Sardenia. We are sheltering from a NNE gale that has been blowing for 2 days now.


Problems in Ajaccio

We left Ajaccio on Tuesday. To keep on schedule we want to get to Tunisia by the middle of the month, so we had to keep moving. Things didn’t go so well for us in Ajaccio, our port engine driven 110 Amp Mastervolt alternator that charges our main lithium battery bank stopped working. Outremer arranged for parts to be sent to Ajaccio for us, so we waited there 3 extra days, but they never arrived and we needed to keep going, so we had to leave without them. Our starboard alternator is working fine, and pretty much all our power needs are handled by the solar panels and the hydro generator, so it’s not a huge issue to be without half our engine charging capacity. 

We had an accident at the Ajaccio fuel dock before we left. I was pulled up well forward of the dock and we had the fuel fill hoses extended out to top up our tanks, when a power boat came in behind us and lost control of his boat in a wind gust and smashed his anchor into the back of our transom. The damage isn’t severe, but we exchanged insurance info and he called his insurance company to tell them it was his fault. We will have to deal with the repairs and claims once we get back to Marseille. 

Our port transom handrail took the brunt of the impact. He hit us pretty hard so we are very lucky there was not more damage

This accident happened the day after Gavin and I had to push off another boat that was about to run into us in the anchorage as they were pulling up their anchor. It’s just too crowded here and too many of the people have very little experience. 

We stopped on Tuesday night in another crowded anchorage 20 miles south of Ajaccio, and after having to adjust our rode twice during the night so other boats wouldn’t swing into us, we decided we had had enough of crowded Corsica and it was time to move on to Sardinia. 

The passage to the NE coast of Sardinia involves traversing the Bonifacio straight which was pretty sporty as we had 25 to 30 knot winds and 3m seas. We had a very fast sail over to Sardenia and found a nice anchorage just south of the islands. 

Another 25 knot wind from the NNE yesterday brought us to Porto Frailis on the SE coast of Sardenia. It’s one of the only anchorages we could find that gives protection from northerly winds. We are staying here an extra day as it’s blowing a gale from the north again today. The strong winds have given us some excellent, fast sailing days, but the crew is getting a bit tired of all the motion. 

Things that have broken

Ocean cruising boats have literally thousands of systems and components and for the most part everything works great, even in such a harsh environment of wind, motion and salt water. But stuff breaks all the time and that’s just part of the experience when cruising. The trick is to have enough spares, tools and MacGuyver skills to fix or work around the problems as they occur. 

I’ve really benefited by talking to other sailors about problems they have experienced and how they solved them, so I’ll do the same and list the problems we encounter on Wildling as we go along. 

Mastervolt alternator failure. I’ve already talked about this, see above. 

This is the error code we get simce the alternator stopped working. There are also a lot of small plastic particles on the floor in the engine room. I’m assuming they arrived when the alternator died!


Sea water pump failure. The pump stopped working because the internal pressure switch broke. I can’t find a replacement switch so this remains out of action until we get back to France. 

Starboard shower drain pump failure. It looks like the pump got stuck and the nylon gears stripped out. There was nothing unusual about how we were using the pump so it’s a fault in the pump. We can’t get a replacement until we get back to France so we are all sharing the port side shower. 

The water level gauge in the port fresh water tank is broken, it constantly reads 100%. I will need to get Outremer to look at this as it’s the second time it has happened. 

The top batten on the mainsail has snapped at the back of the fitting that attaches to the mast track. This is not a new problem, I think it happened during the Outremer cup, but I didn’t realize the issue until yesterday. We can still sail but I’m a bit worried about why it happened and how we can fix it to be sure it won’t happen again. We will have to talk to Incidences, the company that made the sail. 

We removed the batten fitting from the luff of the mainsail to see what happened. It is snapped about 3/4 of the way along


Getting Ready for Tunisia

Corinne, our guest for the last week, is leaving tomorrow morning to go back to London. She has been a lot of fun to have on board and we will miss her a lot!

Once the winds ease a bit we will continue on to Tunisia. It looks like the weather will be good the next few days, so we will hopefully  leave tomorrow. 

Ajaccio on Robin’s Birthday

/ Doug / 5 Comments

Robin, steering us into our anchorage in Ajaccio


We arrived in Ajaccio this afternoon. The sailing today was perfect! Winds 18 to 20 knots true at 50 degrees apparent. The forecast was for 20 knots by 10am, but as we left at just after 10, it was only 5 knots. The forecasts in the Med are pretty accurate though, so we raised the sails with 1 reef in the main and full jib and sure enough, within 30 minutes we had 18 knots just forward of the beam. We spent a very fun couple of hours between 10 and 12knots boat speed. 

Under sail on our passage to Ajaccio



After leaving Calvi we stopped in an anchorage under some cliffs, just west of Porto for a night, and then spent the next night off the beach in Sagone. The Porto anchorage was very deep and very rocky. We arrived as it was getting dark, which was not great because we couldn’t tell where the rocks were. We took a guess, dropped the anchor, and then I had Gavin shine a flashlight into the water while I snorkeled around the boat. The water was so clear, that I could see a lot of big boulders around us but they were deep enough that we weren’t in any danger of hitting them. 

Under the cliffs, near Porto


Tonight we are in a very crowded anchorage just beside the port of Ajaccio. It’s deep again. We are anchored in 17m which is right at the limit of our 50m of chain. I really should have ordered 75m of chain when I purchased the boat, 50 is not enough. I do have more nylon rode attached to the chain, but it’s not very useful because I can’t attach the bridle to it. 

There are a lot of boats in this anchorage, squeezed in like sardines, and they have been arriving steadily all afternoon. I suspect many are looking for a refuge from the 25-30 knot winds forecast for the next few days. It seems pretty calm in the anchorage, but the winds are swirling around and everyone is swinging all over the place. It’s a bit of a worry because in deep anchorages like this with lots of boats, there’s more likelihood of someone swinging or dragging into us. 

Things are a bit tight in here!


We are going to a restaurant tonight for Robin’s birthday celebrations, and we are very excited to have Corinne, a family member from Australia joining us on Sunday, for the rest of the trip down Corsica and then to the south end of Sardinia. 

Calvi, Corsica

/ Doug / 1 Comment

Arriving in Corsica


We arrived in Calvi just after 21h00 and anchored in crystal clear water with a sandy bottom 9m deep. It is incredibly beautiful here! There is a field of mooring bouys on the south side of the bay close to the entrance to the Port of Calvi, but we decided to anchor to the north as there was more room and it was quieter. 

Gavin helping to drop and stow the mainsail


Lindsay getting ready to raise the Corsican flag!


We’re exploring the town of Calvi this morning then will be sailing to the south this afternoon. 


We found a pressure switch in the Accastillage Diffusion chandlery this morning, that I’m hoping I can use to bypass the faulty switch on our seawater pump!

Sailing Bandol to Corsica

/ Doug / Leave a comment

We’re about to arrive in Corsica after four days of sailing.

We left Bandol on Saturday and motored for an hour until the wind lifted and settled in at to 10 to 12 knots. We sailed with Code-D and mainsail to the island of Porquerolles where we spent the night. Porquerolles is nice but VERY crowded. We managed to find a place to anchor on the edge of the anchorage. The bottom was weed, so not the best holding, but the wind was light so we didn’t have any issues.

On Sunday morning we sailed to St Tropez. We had wind at 8 knots on the beam so we were sailing with the main and Code-0. I really like the Code-0. It’s a very easy sail to handle and allows us to sail upwind in anything above 6 knots TWS.

We stayed overnight in St Tropez at the anchorage just north of the port, which is an easy dinghy ride into the town. The water level gauge on the port fresh water tank broke again. It is constantly reading 100% but the tank is half full. The same thing happened last year, so something is not right!

Our sea water pump also stopped working last night. I pulled it apart and found the pressure switch is not working. Hopefully I can find a new pressure switch when we get to Corsica. We use the seawater pump to save fresh water when we do the dishes, so I’ll just have to run the water maker a bit more until I can fix it.

We left St Tropez at 5am on Tuesday (today) for the 105 nautical mile passage to Calvi on the west coast of the island of Corsica. The winds were 3-5 knots the whole day, aside from a few hours when we had 8-10 knots and were sailing nicely, so we spent most of the day motorsailing. Not much fun, but the warm weather and calm seas made up for it!

The chart plotter says we will arrive in Calvi in less than 1 hour at 21h00 which should give us enough light to find a place to anchor.

Ultralight fenders, watermaker problems and dinghy security

/ Doug / 6 Comments

Next Generation Fenders

When we were at the multihull boatshow this April in La Grande Motte, we were introduced to a company called Fendertex that is making boat fenders using an entirely new material and process. The new fenders are very light, have a cover built-in and are much stronger and more abrasion resistant than standard fenders. I ordered 4 of them to try them out and they are fantastic!

Old generation Polyform fender on the left and the new superlight Fendertex fender on the right

Old generation Polyform fender on the left and the new superlight Fendertex fender on the right. It doesn’t look like it in the picture but they are almost the same size, the polyform fender was too heavy so I couldn’t get it to stay in place for the photo!

The big advantage of these new fenders is the weight. They weigh 1.5kg (about 3lbs) each. Compared to 5.1kg (11lbs) for the old fenders. On a boat our size this really adds up, so switching to Fendertex fenders provides a weight savings of almost 50kg! But even better is how easy they are to use. They are so light, it’s no trouble at all to pull them out of the lockers and put them out, a job that we all hated with the old fenders because of how big and heavy they are. Now that we’ve been using them for the past month, Robin has told me we have to replace all of our old fenders with Fendertex!

Spinnaker Fittings

Since we moved Wildling over to Marseille, we have been trying to get some projects done before our trip to Corsica, Sardinia and Tunisia in August. Our spinnaker isn’t ready yet, so we will be sailing with just our Code-D downwind gennaker this trip. We did get the padeyes installed on the bows, so now we can fly either a symmetric spinnaker or an asymmetric spinnaker tacked to the windward bow when we have one. It’s a bit disappointing because I really wanted to try the spinnaker on this trip.

Bow padeye installed so we can attach a spinnaker

Bow padeye installed so we can attach a spinnaker

Carbon Boarding Bridge

When we got to Marseille we had a fitting manufactured and installed on the forward crossbeam so we can attach our boarding gangway (called a passerelle in France which sounds much nicer). We need this because we have to dock bows first at our new marina. I also replaced the folding passerelle that came with the boat with a lighter, non-folding carbon passerelle, because the old one was heavy and difficult to use. A carbon fiber passerelle is ridiculously expensive (of course, because it’s carbon fiber!) but it’s half the weight of our old one and MUCH easier to rig and stow.

Our new carbon fiber pasaerelle and attachment point on the crossbeam. We use the spinnaker halyard to hold it up.

Our new carbon fiber pasaerelle and attachment fitting on the crossbeam. We use the spinnaker halyard to hold it up.

Fighting Rampant Dinghy Theft

I’ve been a bit concerned about the rise in reports of dinghy theft coming from the cruising community, particularly in the Caribbean. There’s a very useful reporting service for all areas of the Caribbean that keeps track of burglary, assault and theft incidents reported by cruisers. It seems there’s a dinghy or outboard stolen every few days, and most of these are chained and locked in some fashion.

I did some research into the security of different locking devices and it’s pretty scary to see how easily most of the common locks and chains in use can be cut or broken. And while it’s  impossible to stop a determined thief with the right equipment, you can make it damn hard for them to steal your dinghy. I went to a motorcycle store in Marseille and purchased a bolt cutter proof, boron steel chain, and a massive lock that fits around the base of the outboard motor.

ABUS outboard motor lock

ABUS outboard motor chain and lock. Should stop all but the most determined thief. The only problem is if I lose the key I don’t have any tools onboard that can cut off this chain or lock!

I still need to get the ABUS lock for securing the outboard to the dinghy, but most thieves are only interested in the outboard motor, so I decided to secure that first.

Sailing from Marseille to Bandol!

Last weekend, we had some friends visiting us from Austin, Texas. Kevin, Ruthie and their  children Bennett and Audrey who have been friends with our kids since they were babies. It was great to see them, and we spent the day on Sunday sailing Wildling from Marseille to Bandol. A very nice trip, and although Kevin had never sailed before he has a lot of powerboat experience, and most importantly, he knows how to tie a bowline knot! Bennett was really interested in helping us sail the boat as well, so they were both a big help and gave Robin a break to “socialize”, while we sailed the 35 nautical miles over to Bandol.

IMG_2598

This is the look of satisfaction that comes from successfully gybing the gennaker. Thanks for the help Kev!

IMG_2584

Keeping a lookout for traffic is a tough job. Luckily the crew has some seats to make it a bit easier!

IMG_2578

At the anchorage in Bandol

Wildling in the anchorage in Bandol

I was a bit worried how much sailing we would be able to do in the light weather conditions, because we had less than 10 knots of wind most of the way coming from dead astern of our destination. We gybed back and forth with the Code-D to build some apparent wind and sailed between 7 and 8 knots the whole way. It wasn’t until the wind dropped below 7 knots that we had to drop the sails and motor, but by then we were only a mile from the anchorage, so no big deal.

What the heck is that strange critter?

It seems that each time we sail in the Mediterranean I see a Sunfish. They rest at the surface and then flap off slowly when we disturb them as we sail by. I’ve never been quick enough to photograph them, but they are really strange looking creatures! Bennett and I were lucky enough to spot one on our trip to Bandol.

An Ocean Sunfish or Mora Mora. Apparently they can weigh over 2000kg! The ones we see in the Med aren't this big though.

An Ocean Sunfish or Mora Mora. Apparently they can weigh over 2000kg! The ones we see in the Med aren’t this big though.

Watermaker Problems

Before we left Marseille, I removed the sterilizing cartridge from our watermaker and flushed it, then when I went to run it, nothing happened. I checked we had power everywhere, then opened the panel to see what was happening. The fuse on the circuit board was blown, and the spare fuse blew immediately when I inserted it. I called Stéphane at Outremer and within 15 minutes he had figured out the issue and ordered a new board to be sent to the Dessalator dealer in Bandol so it would be there when we arrived.

The control panel for our Dessalator Watermaker. The circuit board shorted out from moisture damage.

The control panel for our Dessalator Watermaker. The circuit board on the left of the picture was shorted out from moisture damage.

We took Wildling into the port of Bandol on Monday, and tied up at the welcome dock so the Quick Service folks (the Dessalator dealer in Bandol), could replace the circuit board, control switch and LED card. It took them less than 1 hour, then they tested everything was working just fine. Stéphane had also told them to install a rubber gasket around the access panel lid, which they did, so we would be sure to not let any moisture into the panel in the future.

A big thanks to Outremer and Dessalator for the super fast service on this!

Outremer 5X #2 available in the Pacific

/ Doug / 2 Comments

Outremer 5X hull number 2, MOANA is in Fiji. I caught up with the owner Urs Rothacher this week to see how things have been going. I’ve been following Moana with interest for some time because up to this point, she’s the 5X that has traveled the furthest, so I was interested in learning how the voyage was going.

Moana at anchor in Tahiti

Moana at anchor in Tahiti

Urs purchased Moana 1 year ago, and is planning on ending his voyage in New Zealand in October this year, so he’s putting her up for sale soon, and will deliver her to a new owner anytime between July and October in either Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia or New Zealand. Here’s more information about Moana along with details on how to conact Urs.

The original owner of Moana was Johan Salen, who along with his wife are veterans of multiple Volvo Ocean Race campaigns, so both very accomplished sailors. They sailed Moana with their young son from La Grande Motte, to New Caledonia where they sold her to Urs. Here’s the post I wrote in 2015 after talking with Johan about his experiences crossing the Pacific on a 5X. After purchasing Moana, Urs continued on to sail the east coast of Australia and then back across the Pacific to Fiji along with his wife and three young boys.

There are a couple of things that stand out for me about this particular 5X and the two families that have owned and sailed her.

  • Moana is a 5X that is well configured for short handed sailing. I like the way that Johan configured Moana. He knew that she would be sailed mostly either single-handed or with a crew of just two people. He kept the rig and sail controls simple and efficient, and has provided the best validation to date that the 5X is truly a boat that can be sailed by a cruising couple alone. And although it’s tempting to dismiss this claim due to the exceptional abilities of her original Volvo Ocean Racing owners, Urs and his wife (who are experienced sailors, but still normal humans) confirm that regular folks can handle a well configured 5X.
  • Moana is a sailors boat, without a lot of the heavy, complicated (and expensive) options that some of us have chosen. All 5X boats are comfortable, and Moana is no exception, but some of the more elaborate items have been avoided to keep her light, easy to sail, and easy to maintain. No air conditioning, no generator, single wheel helm. And some nice options well suited to shorthanded ocean sailing, cutter rig for simple and efficient headsail changes, watermaker with high and low power modes, redundant auto-pilots, oversized solar array and so on.

I like this boat a lot, and the fact she is already in the pacific is a great opportunity for someone that wants to cruise this region, but doesn’t have the time available to sail a 5X from France to Tahiti before they can begin their pacific cruising program. Urs hasn’t listed Moana for sale yet, so if you’re interested, you have a great opportunity to get her before she goes on the market.

Here’s an Article about Moana that was recently published in the Australian Multihull World magazine.

Back home to La Grande Motte

/ Doug / 11 Comments

We had an easy overnight passage from Canet en Rousillon to La Grande Motte to end our Balearic Islands voyage. After filling up our diesel tanks, we met with Stephane from Outremer and looked at the damage to the sailbag and discussed the boom attachment concerns. He is going to work on both issues, and a few other minor items that came up during the voyage. Once we had everything scheduled with Stephane we cleaned up Wildling and started our long journey back home to Brisbane.

Leaving the protection of Port de Roses before tackling the 30 to 40 knot winds around the cape

Leaving the protection of Port de Roses before tackling the 30 to 40 knot winds around the cape

2015-10-06 16.17.20

In the lee of the cape

This voyage was a bit ambitious, we had almost 1,000 nautical miles to cover, late in the Med sailing season, and we only had 2 weeks to do it. We knew there would be a lot of overnight passages and the potential for bad weather was high, and this was also the first time we had sailed offshore with my parents (Meg and Greg), so I was a bit nervous about it.

Meg was a bit seasick the first couple of days, but recovered quickly and had no problems at all the rest of the voyage and was even taking solo night watches by the end. Greg had a bit more experience having done a Brisbane to Gladstone race with us on our last boat, so I knew he would do fine, and he certainly did. He took all of the 4am to 8am watches (thanks Dad!), and was a huge help to me with the sail changes and maneuvers throughout the voyage. They both loved the rough conditions and were a huge help to Robin and I the whole way.

Some highs and lows from our Balearic Islands Voyage

Now we are back home (well almost, we’re waiting for our final flight connection as I write this) I thought it would be good to list a few highs and lows from the trip.

The Lows

  • Tearing the sailbag – was for sure a low. It should not have happened and when I examined it wtih Stephane, he couldn’t understand what caused it either. The bag was made by the sailmaker (Incidences) so we will get them involved to see if they can figure it out.
  • Almost disconnecting the boom – a big issue that could have ended badly. Luckliy we caught this and fixed it before any damage was done, but it needs to be addressed. Stephane will contact the mast maker (Lorima) to find a safer alternative design.
  • Ibiza Marina – I was surprised by the lack of protected anchorages from a southerly swell in Ibiza. We ended up taking a space at the marina in Ibiza to get some shelter during two days of storms, and they charged us 500 Euros per day!
  • The Balearic tourist traps – I was disappointed by the attitude of the people in Majorca and Ibiza. We have been used to sailing in France where everyone we have met has been incredibly friendly, professional and helpful. Many of the locals we interacted with in the Balearics were disinterested and unhelpful. This is probably due to the large number of tourists that come through these places.

The Highs

  • Our love affair with Wildling continues – We just love our boat and she took great care of us again during this voyage! No matter what the conditions, 50 knot winds, electrical thunderstorms and hail or steep waves, Wildling always felt safe, strong and comfortable.
  • Our partnership with Stephane Denner at Outremer – Stephane is a super guy. He’s knowledgeable, conscientious, and always available with help and advice. I can’t say enough good things about Stephane, and I am very grateful to know he will take care of Wildling for us while we are away.
  • Barcelona – We loved Barcelona! We stayed at Port Vell Marina, which is brand new and very luxurious. The marina staff, and all the people we met in Barcelona were friendly and helpful, and there is so much to see and do in Barcelona, we could have easily spent several weeks there just exploring.
  • Mediterranean dolphins – We had our first encounter with dolphins in the Med, when a hug pod came by to play with us as we sailed north from Barcelona.
  • Sailing at 10+ knots – This just never gets old! We had quite a few opportunities to let Wildling run free, and it’s an incredible treat to be sailing fast in fine conditions. Our max speed on this trip was 17.6 knots, but we spent many hours reaching between 10 and 13 knots which was a real pleasure.
  • Reefing downwind – I’ve been wanting to try this and hadn’t had the opportunity, but when the wind picked up to over 25 knots on a broad reach I used the “Barto Reefing Technique” to reef the main downwind, and it was a piece of cake. So much easier and safer than turning upwind to reef in these conditions.

Our Balearic Voyage is over, and while it wasn’t exactly calm, easy cruising, it was a great experience and the type of adventure that I have only found by getting out on the open sea and dealing with whatever comes along in the process! It’s the best way I know of connecting with nature and the wild, and it always results in memories that will last a lifetime. I’m so happy that I had the chance to share this with my parents and my wonderful family!

Wildling will be staying in La Grande Motte over the winter and we will start working on our plans for the 2016 Mediterranean sailing season that begins in April.

Barcelona to Canet en Rousillon

/ Doug / Leave a comment

We are still on our way from Barcelona to our home base in La Grande Motte. It’s a 160 mile passage but the weather has not cooperated at all. We were expecting to be back this morning, but we got caught in a severe electrical thunderstorm near Cap de Norfeu at sunset and decided to stop in Port de Roses, and get some sleep while it passed.

At 3am we returned to the cape only to find the 25 knot winds that were forecast were actually 30 to 40 knot winds with 50 knot gusts on the nose, so we went back to Port de Roses to wait it out a bit longer. At 10am the winds had eased so we made a third try and passed the cape in 30 to 35 knots, still on the nose, but Wildling had no trouble with the rough seas and waves. We motored the rest of the day and stopped off for fuel and dinner at Canet en Rousillon and will be back on our way in a couple more hours.

We have about 70 miles to go, so we should be back in La Grande Motte tomorrow morning. We’re definitely cutting it fine because we have flights back to Australia the next day!

Ibiza to Barcelona

/ Doug / 5 Comments

We made the 150 mile passage from Ibiza to Barcelona, arriving this morning. The start of the trip was really nice with 10 to 11 knots boat speed under Code-D on a broad reach with a nice rolling SW swell. As all good things must come to an end, our lovely southwest wind died to 4 knots around 3 pm and stayed between 4 and 6 knots for the next 12 hours, so we had to do quite a bit of motoring to make it to Barcelona in a reasonable amount of time. At 4am the wind switched to 18 knots from the NE, which played havoc with the SW swell and gave us a very uncomfortable final 5 hours into Barcelona. These rapidly changing conditions seem to be common at the end of the sailing season in the Med.

We are staying at the Oneworld Club Marina Port Vell which is home to some of the biggest superyachts we have ever seen and very nicely fitted out and run, with friendly and helpful staff. We will be here two nights before we continue our journey back to La Grande Motte.

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a big scare when the locknut fell off the pin that connects the mast to the boom and the pin pulled almost all the way out. Here are some photos:

Here's the locknut that I found lying on the salon roof after we had furled the mainsail at the end of the day

Here’s the locknut that I found lying on the salon roof after we had furled the mainsail at the end of the day

2015-10-02 19.25.40

Here’s the connecting pin pulled halfway out. You can see the bottom of the gooseneck bracket has displaced slightly inwards towards the mast. We had to pull this backwards using a line attached to the two jib sheet winches to realign the fittings so I could reinsert the pin.

2015-10-03 08.24.10

The pin after being reinserted and the locknut replaced, but it’s crazy how much is riding on this single locknut. The pin should be made longer so there is room to put a second locknut on, and also a splitpin to ensure it can never fall off.

Before we had our scary boom situation in the evening, we had a fantastic day of sailing around the island of Ibiza. The water was smooth and the wind was strong, and Wildling was flying! Here are some photos I took during the day:

2015-10-02 13.19.30

2015-10-02 13.33.01

Robin enjoying the view

Robin enjoying the view

2015-10-02 13.33.40

2015-10-02 14.20.05

2015-10-02 15.28.32

Our track clockwise around the island

Our track clockwise around the island

Port Ibiza to San Antonio Ibiza

/ Doug / 3 Comments

We left the marina in the main port of Ibiza yesterday and sailed around to the western side of the island to Puerto de San Antonio. There is a nice protected anchorage here where we stayed last night.

The big drama yesterday was that I discovered a lock nut lying on the deck after we had finished sailing. It turned out it came from the pin that secures the boom to the mast. The pin was almost completely pulled out so we were about to have the boom disconnect under sail, which would have been a disaster!!!! It took us a couple of hours and the creative use of winches and lines to align the boom attachment fitting so that we could reinsert the pin and put the locknut back on. Everything is OK now, but this is a very flimsy design and in my opinion completely inappropriate for this boat. I will post photos as soon as we have WiFi access again.

Today we are sailing from Ibiza over to Barcelona. About 140 miles, so we should arrive early tomorrow morning.