You wait ages for a delivery. Then two come along at once. ?

[capnsensible]

Bins with a view.

Last stop......hopefully.......done. lovely evening in a sunny Alcaidesa Marina Bar. Great catching up with old shipmates and an old submarine comrade. Inevitable result!

Went to top of bay to show off the dolphins and now heading out across Straits. West winds of course but should ease past Tarifa. Looking to round Spartel at 1800 ish. Have waved goodbye to a rather cold Med, Atlantic beckons.

 

[capnsensible]

End almost in sight! Motoring past Arecife with around two hours to go. Our cheeky pigeon passengers have gone. They like muesli btw. Slowed earlier to admire a pleasant pod of pilot whales mooching along. A nice welcome.

Should be around 5 days and 6 hours when we berth in Puerto Calero. Around half and half for sailing and motoring. Had flat calms and overcast. Calms and sun. Choppy head seas but some good f5 to 6 quartering breeze for 7 knots boat speed. Oh and some 40 knot stuff that saw us do 10.3....

Lots of Moroccan fishing vessels without ais plus a few long tuna nets sw of Straits...one close encounter.

On AIS, lots of sports boats without plus warships operating in straits and off African coast, Guardia patrols in med and surprisingly the Almeria pilot boat also not tx.

Not much broke. Early problems with mast track looked at in Valencia. I decided to not put repair under load. It would have broke again .....seen this on Selden exterior tracks before. So limited to two reefs for trip but not a problem. We have some spare track in Lanza and a friend who knows how to replace the bits.

Both engines chewed up fanbelts in first 24 hours. Easy to fit spares but the muppet who did recent engine service re fitted the guards wrongly. Grr.

Only other problem involves the two starboard water tanks refusing to give up custody of their contents. Still, joy of a watermsker meant that i had several at sea showers.

Plus getting lagged up to go on watch on catamarans in a bit of a sea doesn't attract the usual bruises.

So another one done. What next????

 

[capnsensible]

Anyone got questions about the boat or the trip, dont hesitate!

 

[dom]

Anyone got questions about the boat or the trip, dont hesitate!

People I know report an increase in abandoned fishing net detritus in that area.

Given that catching a net is a right royal PITA - at best - what rope cutters did you have and any concerns about motoring at night?

 

[capnsensible]

People I know report an increase in abandoned fishing net detritus in that area.

Given that catching a net is a right royal PITA - at best - what rope cutters did you have and any concerns about motoring at night?

Hiya. This was very much a live net. It was actually marked with various flashing g lights and was a bit kinda obvious. Well except for our on watch crew. But he did put stbd engine instantly to neutral then decided to call me. So I armed him with a boat hook and with a little maneuvering we got off easily. He accepted that he had learnt some stuff....

 

[38mess]

Anyone got questions about the boat or the trip, dont hesitate!

Really enjoyed this thread capt, thank you.

 

[capnsensible]

Re rope cutters. Not fitted on the out drives. It always concentrates ones mind in the coastal waters of Spain but Morocco is a pain. Even aware of the usual nets near Spartel we almost caught one. I fully intended then to stand out well offshore but the wind didnt totally comply...

I reckon it's all part of the game and just one of a bunch of hazards that we just get on with.

 

[glynd]

Anyone got questions about the boat or the trip, dont hesitate!

No questions, just jealous