Apparition in the night sky
Crossing the southern approach to the Strait of Messina the moon was setting over Sicily. I had seen the huge lump of Mt Etna at dusk and the lights of Riposto were clear on the…
Category Archives: 25 – Mediterranean
Scylla and Charybdis
Scylla and Charybdis guarded Homer’s Strait of Messina. Charybdis was a beautiful daughter of Poseidon, changed by Zeus into a monstrous , floppy bladder with flipper limbs and a vast maw. She sucked in huge…
The first volcano
The Straits of Messina are now tame. Especially if Corryvreckan, Lemaire or the Merry Men of Hoy are your yardsticks. Still noteworthy however, are the current which alternates between 4 knots with and 2 knots…
Spinnaker (not)
Tainui’s 250 mile passage from Cefalu north to Sardinia was noteworthy for 2 reasons. First, she had a fresh tailwind. Incredible, I know, but true! For the first time since the Sea of Marmara the…
On to the Balearics
The 200 mile leg from Sardinia to Mallorca is almost due west, just perfect in the fresh northerly wind which blew for 36 hours. With reefed main (another novelty) and the yankee sheet-blocked well forward,…
Palma
The marina at Palma is big (1,000 yachts), hot and very expensive (120 euros per night). Little Miss Perfect arrived like a breath of fresh air. She immediately armed herself with scouring pads, and threatened…
Ibiza
We had a splendid sail south to Ibiza, anchoring in one of the many rocky coves along the northern coast to swim and catch up on sleep. Ibiza has a very pretty coast – high…
Dead, dead and never called me mother
In San Antoni I dropped my iPhone into the water. Vale Navionics, iSailor, Wikipedia offline and all manner of accumulated electronic goodies. The last straw for this poor old fart. (It might be the last…
Formentera
It was a relief to leave San Antoni, even without a telephone. Not far to the south is the quiet island of Formentera, where we found anchorage in a snug little bay on Isla Espalmador.…
Cartagena
Overnight we lurched and rolled west across the Ibiza Channel, with no wind and a lumpy beam swell from the north. Not un-tedious. But it was a gorgeous night and with, for me, an unusual…
Pillars of Hercules
With brute strength, Hercules forced his way through the mountains at the western edge of the Mediterranean, creating the Straits of Gibraltar. The Pillars of Hercules on each side bore the notice “ne plus…
The Best thing about Gibraltar…
…is its strategic location. I’m not talking about military strategy but the wonderful range of destinations within a 2 hour drive or ferry trip from the place – Morroco and most of Andalucia, to begin…
Degrees of separation
I have talked about this before. Discovering that in Tromso the yard manager’s father had built and owned Norbu (the ship in which I first went to sea in 1966); learning that 3 friends of…
Tainui is put to bed
In rain and fresh winds I managed to back the old girl into the Travelift pen. To my surprise, given her wilful and difficult behaviour when being driven in reverse. I was lucky to have…
Berlin interlude
Funny how these things happen. This year, Xmas saw 7 of Tainui’s past and present crew in Berlin for various reasons – me en route Gibraltar; Chris visiting Jasper who is studying script-writing there; Lucy…
Gibraltar again
Back in Gibraltar I had 5 days to get the antifouling on, grease the MaxProp, install new anodes and refloat Tainui before Maxine and Ian arrived. This re-commissioning business always depresses me. I look around…
Ne Plus Ultra
…except for us, roaring west in bags of wind. We left Gibraltar at 2 pm in a levanter, the moist easterly wind which cloaks the Rock with a plume of cloud and funnels west through…
Departure delayed
After a splendid farewell meal last night we waltzed back to Tainui in good spirits. Moored bow in, the boat presents a mildly challenging hurdle when boarding, even though the thoughtful skipper has rigged a…
The Death of Shelley
Sailors and mountaineers commonly act in ways which make you gasp. Sometimes their actions work and then you applaud. Sometimes they don’t, and then you say “tsk tsk, how foreseeably stupid”. Sailing the coast of…