Spain to Balearic's daytime or night passage?

DavidJ

DavidJ

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I seem to remember that Mike & Mary in "Jenny Wren" prefer to do the crossing from St Carles to the Balearic's by night. I might have got this wrong, but I can see the positives as dead calm seas and a fantastic night-time experience. I can't help worrying though that if I did hit a semi-submerged container or similar at night then I've decreased my chances of survival (and the crew's) significantly.

I still fancy having a go though........Am I being foolhardy?
 
If you're travelling from Sant Carles way, you can easily break the trip into two legs by stopping at the Columbretes. When we went to Ibiza from SC we did a day trip to Columbretes, spent the night on the free mooring, then another day trip the following day.
 
I have done it Early Morning. Set off just before 6am and before the sun comes up and it warms up. Easy 4 hour cruise.....of course pick a calm morning! I like arriving as the sun gets warmer..lovely trip!
 
Cardo said:
If you're travelling from Sant Carles way, you can easily break the trip into two legs by stopping at the Columbretes. When we went to Ibiza from SC we did a day trip to Columbretes, spent the night on the free mooring, then another day trip the following day.
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I've just looked up Isles Columbretes on Google Earth, I didn't know they were there!! I'll be coming via Palamos or thereabouts (100km north east of Barcelona) so not on my route but I've learned something today.
Thanks
 
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Hi David

No, the Columbrettes wouldn't be much help from your home port.
Here is a link to its position on our Sant Carles Forum Map Feature
http://www.scmchat.com/extraweb/map/scmmapmin.php?poi=Columbretes Islands

You are correct though, I do like night passages and they are reasonably safe in the summer.
The nearest that we've done to your trip was from Barcelona to Mallorca - no that far
Most things round here are about 100 miles or so

We always try to pick a good weather window and I'm not always successful
The trick is to get a night with no moon, no clouds and no wind - and flat sea.
It is magical, once you get about 40 miles from the shore, away from all the light pollution.

You do need to get all those things right (no clouds, no moon and great weather) to get the best out of it though.

Have a go
 
Hurricane said:
Hi David

No, the Columbrettes wouldn't be much help from your home port.
Here is a link to its position on our Sant Carles Forum Map Feature
http://www.scmchat.com/extraweb/map/scmmapmin.php?poi=Columbretes Islands

You are correct though, I do like night passages and they are reasonably safe in the summer.
The nearest that we've done to your trip was from Barcelona to Mallorca - no that far
Most things round here are about 100 miles or so

We always try to pick a good weather window and I'm not always successful
The trick is to get a night with no moon, no clouds and no wind - and flat sea.
It is magical, once you get about 40 miles from the shore, away from all the light pollution.

You do need to get all those things right (no clouds, no moon and great weather) to get the best out of it though.

Have a go
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I guess night time is displacement speed, then increase with available light?
 
Hurricane said:
You do need to get all those things right (no clouds, no moon and great weather) to get the best out of it though.
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That's exactly the experience I'm looking for. It must be over a couple of decades since I've seen a decent night sky.
I guess "no moon" gives a better star experience.
What start/arrive times do you aim for? I would plan for a 4-5 hour trip at planing speed.
Great article by the way, Mike, in April's MBY
 
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vas said:
+1

from experience, night, flat calm, full moon and of course Displacement speed on the f/b...

V.
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Agree, absolutely the best time to travel. On a trip from Mallorca to Torquay, we came from the Bay of Biscay into the channel and had the most amazing view of the Northern lights in a gorgeous clear night sky, Truly unforgettable.
On another occasion, a very tired racing pigeon hitch a ride from Cherbourg to Hayling overnight. He just sat on the Radar arch and slept most of the way. I am guessing he did not win that race!
Try the night passage and enjoy it.....bet you get hooked!:)
Mike.
 
vas said:
+1

from experience, night, flat calm, full moon and of course Displacement speed on the f/b...

V.
Click to expand...

We have taken our boat SCM-Mallorca in daytime and despite a favorable forecast it can get a bit bumpy! We will be going again in June of this year.

I do like sailing at night, the last trip over to Mallorca I rounded Formentor around 2am en-route to Pollensa. I would plan to go straight across though, rather than dropping into the Columbretes. If you're going alone the only concern with a night run other than some blooming big boats running between Barcelona and Valencia (that will not move out of the way for a 43ft GRP boat ;-) is lobster pots! Perhaps leave as the sun sets and aim to arrive as it rises so you have a better chance avoiding them - you can save a hell of a lot of fuel that way and if you do hit anything submerged, at least it will be at less speed!
 
John100156 said:
Don't listen to Mike, he can't even park his boat the correct way around.....

OK, so why is JW bow and stb-to today Mike? Is it to get that new toy off/on?
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I should never had written that web cam software!!!
I only turned her round this morning!!

Time for A Glaze again
This time, I'm trying to do it on the berth rather than in the boatyard
I've made a "kind of" youngmans to span the triangular bit where the bow hangs over the main pontoon.

Big session tomorrow.
 
Deleted User said:
Why no moon?
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OK Mike - I'll explain

For the moon to be most helpful, it needs to be on your heading (the silver road)
Over the years, we have had some fantastic "silver roads" but I'm not sure you would see a submerged container even in daylight.
DJEFABS will remember a fantastic "silver road" when we crossed Biscay a few years ago.

No moon means no light from the moon
No clouds and a clear night well away from any coast where light pollution is everywhere - means a fantastic star experience.
It always makes me feel so small - most people won't ever experience nil light pollution

I tried to get everything right last summer on our way back from Mallorca.
We had a small window of opportunity but even 25 miles north of Mallorca, we were still getting a glow on the horizon - I think from Palma - yes Palma
There were also a few scattered clouds which seemed to diffuse the light pollution and spread it further.
The moon was due to rise at 02:30 and by then the clouds had built up.
So, thats that challenge - and it is difficult to get it all to happen together.
 
Having just crossed and back again and liking night crossings, I must say I was amazed how many lobster pots there were on our run back from Valencia, they seem to be increasing exponentially! That's the only reason why a day crossing may be better, or perhaps run out late but still light, then pootle to save fuel and arrive at dawn....
 
At night I always like a full ish moon. It's in the south in the middle of the night so you'd get the silver road heading to Balearics but coming back northwards you'd still have a decent streetlight effect

The one time left St Carles at sunrise to head east after clearing the lagoon, I was glad I didn't leave an hour earlier, as I'd been contemplating. I've never seen so many lobster pots! It feels like an impossible task to enter/leave there on a really dark night
 
jfm said:
The one time left St Carles at sunrise to head east after clearing the lagoon, I was glad I didn't leave an hour earlier, as I'd been contemplating. I've never seen so many lobster pots! It feels like an impossible task to enter/leave there on a really dark night
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We have two ship buoyed fairways which I use to clear the harbour areas at night.

jfm said:
At night I always like a full ish moon. It's in the south in the middle of the night so you'd get the silver road heading to Balearics but coming back northwards you'd still have a decent streetlight effect
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I disagree - a fullish moon helps with the navigation but you miss the real point about night passages.
And, in our case, once you are 10 miles or so from the land, it is too deep for pots anyway.
The big thing I like is once you get about 40 miles from land - no light pollution.
You need a clear sky - no clouds and definitely no moon.
Then the sky becomes magical - something most people don't see in their lives.
Any moon ruins the whole experience.
It is fantastic just looking at the night sky without any light pollution - something you just can't do on most places on land.
It makes me feel so small and tiny
It is just so wonderful - we've tried to do this lots of times but only got it right a few times.
 
Nice to have a moon when in a hurry and single handed cruising around Cabo de Formentor, which I did not have a few years ago thank goodness for clearing lines! Mind you, I do agree when out of any light pollution, the number of stars seen is quite staggering and beautiful, I'm pretty good with my constellations but have never seen so many stars in between them!
 
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