26th September 2005 I'm Off!!!!!!

At last it's time! I've had a great summer in Mallorca, made really great friends, some of whom I hope to stay friends with forever, but it's come time to set off for the Caribbean! It seems strange now to think I'm just sailing over to Ibiza, but it's actually the first leg on my journey of a lifetime to sail across the Atlantic and experience 6 months cruising in the Caribbean! I dropped my Buell off at a shipping company (Trev's removals) better described as a man with a van! and he's returning it to Wales for £285 which I thought was pretty good. I've been into the firendly bars and said my goodbyes, collected DVD's and Scuba gear that I'd loaned out, then back to the boat and prepare for the off! It's 10:30 at night as I weigh anchor, which is a good time to leave as it means I will be in Ibiza early morning, giving me all day to sail round Ibiza and anchor on the West of the island ready for the next leg! It was a good crossing, if anything winds were a bit light, around 7-10 knots, but the boat made a steady 4-5 knots, only motoring as I came near to Ibiza to give the batteries a bit of a charge. (The freezer was on!) The sun was out as I approached Ibiza, 10am and I could sunbathe out on the boat, as it gradually made it's way West along the Northern coast of Ibiza. I think I can handle this cruising lark, but can I cope with 3 whole weeks at sea, with no sight of land?? I guess we'll find out the answer to that one in the coming months?

As I neared San Antonio it became decision time; Should I stay or Should I go Now? I'd planned to anchor near here and get a good nights sleep, but the weather is great, steady wind going exactly in the right direction and a good forecast. I know there are thunderstorms forecast behind me, so I decide to just keep going and aim straight for Mar Menor.

To be honest, the sailing was so easy, I set the autopilot on 245' when I left Mallorca and just as I passed the Northern tip of Ibiza, changed course to 230' and that was it until I was approaching Puerto de Tomas Maestro at the entrance to the Mar Menor. I set the sails goosewinged (Main out to Port and Jib to Starboard, when I left Mallorca and gybed twice during the whole journey! I left Mallorca 1at 22:30 on Monday and arrived at the entrance to the Mar Menor at 13:30 on Wednesday. I ran the engines ( 1 at a time) for 16 hours out of the 39 hour journey, due to lack of wind over Tuesday night. I did manage to sleep, but had an alarm set every half hour, so I did a quick scan of the horizon, checked wind and weather, slept for 20 minutes, then alarm and wake up and check again. It actually wasn't too bad! During the crossing from Ibiza to Mar Menor, I went for about 8 hours without seeing another boat, even in the distance! When I arrived at Puerto de Tomas Maestro, my mum had driven round to meet up with me, so I visited the fuel dock and topped up the diesel. Mum and Charlie came aboard for a beer and their first visit, then I sailed across the lagoon with mum and anchored off Los Urrutias, where they have their villa! Mum was surprised at the sailing, as she is used to racing dinghies, which feel really fast as you are so much a part of the boat. We had full sail up and were just gliding across the Mar Menor at about 5-6 knots, very little sensation, especially as the lagoon is so flat, with very small waves if anything at all.

29th September 2005 (Mar Menor)

OK so I'm here in the Mar Menor, and my next major event will be when Graham, Patty and Michelle arrive on 11th October, we then set off towards Malaga next day. I'm looking forward to meeting them at last, they've been touring Europe for a couple of months and will have so many tales to tell I'm sure!

I guess that leaves me 2 weeks to finish the odd jobs! Actually there isn't much left, except for cleaning the boat, barnacles from the hull and tidying up inside ready for guests! Luckily, mum has a good washing machine at their villa, so several trips with clothes, bedding and towels, and a major task is dealt with! I hated the trips to the Launderette, and it would be hard to find one here!

Other jobs to do; Service engines, or at least check levels etc! Rivet a cover plate back onto the mast. Whip an eye into the spinnaker halyard around a swivel clip for connecting the sail. Modify wind generator supports, it's actually less solid since I added the stainless support bars, so I think I need to shorten one of them slightly! Stow away my surplus junk! ( I have lived aboard for nearly a year and I have a lot of stuff that I just haven't needed all year, so that's all going under one of the beds (maybe today?)

30th September to 10th October 2005 (Mar Menor)

Nearly 2 weeks is plenty of time to do all the jobs that need doing, until things go wrong!

I spent a few days fixing things, tidying the boat up, stowing motorbike gear and other things that I don't need.

I went shopping a few times with Mum and Charlie, bought a printer, which has proved useful already, printing charts out fo the area I'm sailing. I also bought a huge electric frying pan! It's big enough to cook full meals for 6 easily and will provide a contingency plan in case we have a problem with the gas. I had been warned about relying on gas, as a friend had 4 gas bottles onboard, but their gas regulator went and they had no spare, hence no gas! I now have 4 gas bottles, 2 spare regulators and an electric frying pan, so we should be ok! I was hoping to find a slow cooker also, but they don't seem to sell them in Spain!

We went sailing in the Mar Menor a few times, once with very little wind, but we hoisted both the spare genoas (foresails) and tested that they could be used. The 65sqm genoa had to be tied to the starboard (right) bow, with the clew right over the Port (left) side. It was huge and did fill even in the light winds and pulled us along at a couple of knots. The problem we found was that the sail is extremely heavy! When we lowered it even in almost no wind, it was a real struggle for 3 of us to fold the sail and stow it away! I think it is usable if we have a problem with the other sails, but only in lighter winds and it's most likely going to stay in the locker! The 35sqm genoa that I got from Dave and Lisa was a lot more successful it hoisted easily and set nicely so will be our second foresail for the journey. The head and tack fittings on the 35sqm were a bit week, so we had it strengthened at a local sailmaker and it's now ready for use!

We did a couple of trips out with mum and Charlies' friends, just sailing round the Mar Menor, eating salad, drinking sangria, going aground! Easy to do in the Mar Menor, as the deepest point is only 6 metres and it is very shallow even 400m from the beach.

All was going well, until one evening I had tea ashore with Mum and Charlie, then went back to the jet rib and when I pressed the starter button, a horrible grinding noise came out! I decided it was best to swim and paddle the boat back, then look at it next day! When I got up, I removed the spark plugs and pressed the starter again, and it sounded bad! This was going to be a probloem, so out with the old tender! I pumped it up and dropped it back in the water, fitted the engine, topped up the fuel and the old faithful worked first time! I loaded up the tools and towed the jet rib to the beach. I set up my workshop on the beach and started stripping down the engine. Mum and Charlie came and gave me a hand to move the rib right up away from the water and Charlie stayed with me as we took it apart and found the pistons had seized badly in the barrels. They would have been usable, but the crank was also tight in places, which usually means a twisted or damaged crank! No option, but replace the engine! It would be far too hard to rebuild it myself, whilst on a beach with no worktop!

Luckily the engine is only about 6 months old and has a years warranty! so a few phone calls and arrange a courier to ship the engine back to Barcelona (thanks Connie) and they will ship one back to me next day! It didn't go quite as planned, shipping was a problem as it couldn't be collected on a saturday, hence it would arrive in Barcelona on the tuesday. Wednesday was a national holiday (Columbus day) so it would be shipped out on thursday and arrive back with me on friday! I had Graham, Patty and Michelle arriving on the tuesday night in the middle of this and Michelle had to be in Malaga the following monday to catch a flight home! I couldn't wait around near mums' for the engine to be returned! After a few phone calls home, I got the address of the ex commodore of the Cotswold Water Ski Club, where Claire and Carl taught me to water ski last year. Spencer runs a chandlery in Almerimar, which is conveniently near to Malaga and over half way from the Mar Menor. He was really helpful and happy to have the engine shipped directly to them and for me to collect it as we sailed past! and so the story goes on.......

11th October 2005 (Mar Menor)

They (Graham, Patty and Michelle) arrive tonight, 8.35pm at Murcia airport! I'm really excited as we will be living together for about 3 months and yet we've never met! I'm confident we'll get on, but who knows? The boat is clean, all freshly laundered bedding and towels. One last shopping trip with mum and I stock up on everything I think we'll need for at least 3-4 days to get us started!

I get a phone call from Mauricio Mancini in Barcelona, they have the engine and they have looked at it, but it is not covered under warranty. He claimed that the boat ran out of 2 stroke oil, which is why it seized. I explained that the 2 stroke oil was always full and that I had checked and the oil pump was not pumping the oil into the carburettors, which is why it had seized! He argued that he had checked the pump and it was ok, but I had no way of proving anything as he had the engine! He also pointed out that there was water in the stator plate, which is probably true as I had been flooded by a huge wave, when I left the rib tied to a jetty one day! We bailed the boat out and it ran fine for a month afterwards, so I thought it was ok! The end result of our conversation, was that I would get nothing under warranty, not even a discount on the replacement engine! The only thing he would do, was drop the IVA tax, which would save me about 150€. I had no choice but to agree to pay and arranged to have the engine shipped to Spencer in Almerimar.

Charlie took me to the airport and we met the crew at last! They were equally excited to meet me and they had a lot of tales about their trips through Turkey etc. They had almost missed the flight to Murcia, as they had missed an earlier flight from Turkey to Belgium! They had travelled through the night from Turkey, to Holland, then caught a shuttle from Holland to Belgium, with a few hours to spare before their flight to Murcia! We stopped at Mums for a few drinks and nibbles, then set out to the boat! We had to do 2 trips out as old faithful isn't really designed for 4 people and their rucksacks! At last we were all aboard and together! I showed them where their cabins were and let them settle in and just look around! As Patty and Graham had been travelling for a couplke of days and were knackered, we decided not to stay up too late and went to bed about 2am! Amazing how time goes by when you're chatting!