Sardinia Summer 2015

[jfm]

Fuel 1.41 euros - I did ask for discount but he said only on deliveries over 4000 litres.
Nice fast pump though - but no auto cut off so I had to watch it carefully.

Chinese restaurant - definitely worth a visit.
Name is Way - from the new marina walk past the Sunseeker berths and it on the left at the end - right next to the Princess offices
This Pic taken a couple of years ago - the Chinese restaurant is the red fronted restaurant

Muchas gracias Mike. I know exactly where you mean.
Did you tie up at Mahon fuel dock the night before after closing time then just make sure to be up when he opened the next day? Did this give you a free nights mooring?
Safe crossing to CF

 

[petem]

Yup that one lives there Mike - that's its permanent berth. It's hull #103. Owner (I won't mention name; a FTSE100 CEO) has had several previous Fairlines. The boat is this one (the one in the vid, but not in the still screen shown below) - has fin stabs and quite a few mods taken from mine (which is perfectly fine by me!)


I think they have done about 10 with hard tops. First HT was about hull 102, last boat to leave factory the other week was 112, and in between there have been one or 2 non HT boats but all the others have HT. Plus mine which is the only retro (so far) and the only "customised" HT (special lighting, wrap, antennae moved up, etc). I'll post update on my refit thread because my HT install was actually fully finished this last weekend

I hope you're enjoying Mahon. I really like it there and plan to be there weekend of 1 august. How much € was the fuel? And what's the name of the Chinese restaurant? I have heard of it but never been. Have a good crossing to Sardinia

Let me know if its my CEO!

 

[Hurricane]

Muchas gracias Mike. I know exactly where you mean.
Did you tie up at Mahon fuel dock the night before after closing time then just make sure to be up when he opened the next day? Did this give you a free nights mooring?
Safe crossing to CF

Yep correct on all accounts
However, there is a big board showing the opening times so all we had to do was set the alarm clock!

 

[Hurricane]

Is that the spot where the local forumite (Oceandrive?) came out to meet us and run into Mahon with us?

Yep - thats the place, Jimmy

I seem to remember getting a lot of stick here for my 'indian rope trick' to keep the fuel delivery hose off your cockpit teak...

Great posts btw Mike, safe passage for the big crossing.

You mean this rope trick

Whilst finding that pic, I was looking through my Photobucket Albums and fount this one

Enjoying some "Pootling" - although you will probably remember we had to do that to extend JW's range in order to get to Tunisia on a single fuel load.
Just thought the pic would bring back some memories.
And it proves that sport boat boaters can "Pootle" when required!!

 

[MapisM]

And it proves that sport boat boaters can "Pootle" when required!!

LOL, sport boat? Are you talking of one of JW tenders, or of the mother ship?

Again, have a wonderful crossing tomorrow!

 

[Hurricane]

Arrived Carloforte at 20:00 safe and sound.
Fantastic crossing - one of the best - like a mill pond most of the way.
I'll post some pics of the crossing tomorrow if anyone is interested.

The guys at Marina Sifredi were waiting for us.
Berthed next door but one to Deleted User.

 

[BartW]

well done!
I know the feeling of exitement and relief after such a crossing
send my best regards to MapisM, and not to forget S !
yes pls we like the pics

 

[jfm]

Good going Mike! Yes please post pictures, even of a millpond. Very pleasant to look at midweek in the city!

 

[Pinnacle]

well done!
I know the feeling of exitement and relief after such a crossing
send my best regards to MapisM, and not to forget S !
yes pls we like the pics

Mike R

Well done from me too. I hope you and M have a fantastic time in Sardinia this summer.

Please also pass on my best wishes to P and S.

Remember, neither of them likes rose wine, so to avoid possible offence, best to not offer them any.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Excellent, Mike, well done. Yes, pics please. See you in a few weeks

 

[MapisM]

Excellent, Mike, well done. Yes, pics please. See you in a few weeks

+1 to all that.

@ BartW+Pinnacle:
thanks for your thoughts folks, but I'm afraid that at the moment Hurricane can't pass on your regards more directly than through the cyberspace, as you are doing!
This year I'm a bit late in putting the old tub back in the water, hence bring her to CF.
In fact, on one hand the long trip down under left us with plenty of stuff to deal with at home, and otoh we must assist a bit my mother in law who has some health troubles - though she's actually in great shape overall, considering that she's 86yo: up to last year, she always spent a few weeks onboard with us. For this year, we'll see...
Anyway, we should join M & M by the end of the month - right in time for the Girotonno.
A good opportunity to take some pics of some local dishes & wine, while toasting to all the remote forumites, before posting them in this thread...!

 

[Hurricane]

OK - so after a late start this morning, it is a bit of a "chill out" day today - weather is good - hot and sunny.
We took a walk round the town of Carloforte but just taking things easy today.
JW has been 99.9% faultless - the only error was a nav glitch - never had one before - about half way across, the Raymarine plotter decided that it had finished so deleted the destination waypoint. Throughout this trip, we have just been using "Go To Cursor" and letting the pilot get on with the job. So, as soon as the plotter had removed the destination waypoint, the autopilot did the electronic equivalent of Huh!! - where to next!!
Apart from that, and with all her systems, the boat hasn't put a foot wrong.
She is still as good as she was 7 years ago!! - in her 8th season now.

Anyway, back to the last passage.
We left Mahon just as the sky was lightening so it was dead easy to see down the harbour and out to sea.

SWMBO putting the fenders away - just as she does for every trip - however short.

As soon as we were clear of the harbour, we set that "Go To Cursor" - the nav system reported 185 miles to our destination.
(Quite short by JW's standards - her longest being 330 miles)
So a gentle Pootle whilst we watched the sun rise.
Here's a gif file - I hope it animates for you.

An hour or so later, I decided that it was time for Breakfast so I started the generator and got the frying pan out whilst SWMBO ran the boat.
I can't believe it - yet again, I'm posting a photo of my food!!

After breakfast, I was washing up and our "half hourly" log event occurred - so I grabbed the camera and took some video quickly. Sorry for the mess inside the boat - the Teddy Bears are mascots that we buy - one each year from the RNLI - there is an interloper amongst them though - one with a Princess shirt that came with the boat.
If you switch your audio/speakers on during the following clip, you will hear our "logging event". Those of you that know it will hear that I've upgraded the voice. We now have a much "posher" voice but she does sometimes have trouble pronouncing some of the nautical expressions!! All "home brew" software though.



And here is a link to the full screen version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=k70i0ZBpHI8

After breakfast, we popped onto the plane and for the next few hours we alternated between pootling and planing.
10 miles Pootling followed by 10 miles planing.
SWMBO and I took it in turns to have a nap.
We both managed a couple of hours sleep.

And the inevitable wake shots
First from the cockpit

Then from the Flybridge

Here's a pic of the plotter - half way across - OpenCPN (PC's screen) again.
It is encouraging that there are ships around if anything were to go wrong.
Although, in the middle of nowhere - nothing on the radar and we suddenly got "buzzed" by an RAF jet - maybe he was checking up on us - we were only 100 miles or so from north Africa. BTW - I had turned our AIS transponder off - I didn't want any unwanted visitors.

Here are some Pootling shots - during the second half of the passage the sea became as flat as millpond (flatter than a flat thing in flatland!!)

Look closely at this one and you will see lots of small fishy things on the surface.
In some places sunfish seemed to be eating them

We were making good time so we stopped - got a fishing net out and picked one of these fishy things out.
It had a hard "bone like" back to it - the rest looked like jelly.
No idea what they are - maybe someone reading this will know.
We did see some dolphins that seemed to be eating them as well.

So, as usual, all good things come to an end - we actually saw land from about 35 miles out.

And here is a shot of our destination island.
MapisM can probably tell you all about it.

We were waiting for two ferries to sort themselves out before we entered the harbour - so SWMBO got the fenders and lines out ready.
Headsets were used again.

By then, we were actually looking forward to tying up and going to bed so this is a shot taken this morning - all berthed and ready for our next adventure.

 

[djefabs]

Hi Mike, what a brilliant post. Those sea conditions really making me very envious. The sea certainly registered a zero on the flat thing scale. Can't believe Jenny Wren is in her 8th season !! she is looking very good. I will be keeping a very close on this thread as it develops thro' the summer (I also have a great interest in the food probably explains my waistline) . Have fun and best regards to M

 

[John100156]

Great read Mike, excellent crossing. Look forward to future posts on CF.

Best regards to you and Mary.

 

[MapisM]

No idea what they are - maybe someone reading this will know.

Well, it seems that you've been welcomed by some typical island guests of this time of the year!
IIRC, "Velella" is their correct name, though the locals actually call them "Battelini", which means small boat, sort of.
As I'm told, they are an excellent bait, if fishing is your thing.

Congrats for the fantastic weather planning!
It would have been great also for enjoying the anchorages along the NW coast of the island (shown in your pic), which are rarely so flat, because in summertime Mistral is the prevailing wind.
Keep some of that weather aside for the end of the month, pleeease!

PS: your YT video doesn't work for me, it says it's private.

 

[NGM]

Great post Mike, what amazing conditions, good luck with the rest of your trip..

 

[pan]

Great report & photos Mike, what a fabulous sea for the crossing! As you set off just before sunrise & looks like you arrived about 7.30ish, am I right in assuming the crossing took you about 12 hours? How many hours pootling & at cruising speed, any idea of fuel burn for the passage?

Enjoy your next adventure & keep posting please..

 

[scubaman]

Simply fantastic! A bit late on the Alcudia pics, but you've found the perfect way of being involved with your son's competition. Love it .

Loving the pics of the crossing as well. Please keep them coming, they are greatly appreciated here where the summer is still a faint promise.

 

[Hurricane]

PS: your YT video doesn't work for me, it says it's private.

Thanks - video should now be public.
I must get a grip on this technology!!!
That was probably the same for the previos youtube video - some of the competitors at the start of the Iron Man - also fixed now.

 

[MapisM]

Yep, all good now.
I was struggling with your previous comment re. teddy bears, now I understand.
That's a fantastic collection you've got there, beat scattered cushions hands down!