The best laid plans of mice and men

Stephen and Shenna flew into Sardinia on the 27th. Since we were stuck in an industrial port, they spent a couple of nights in Cagliari and took the train to Porto Torres on Sunday. Getting to the boat was tricky because it was in a large industrial complex with controlled access by land. So, I took the dinghy for a slow, bumpy ride to pick them up. It’s only about 1.5 miles, but it felt longer in those conditions. We made it safely back to the boat, a little damp but otherwise fine. Our plan was to cross to Menorca as soon as the rudder was delivered. At the time, DHL showed the delivery date as Monday. However, by the end of the day, the rudder still hadn’t been delivered—it was stuck in Milan!

On Tuesday morning, the DHL status changed to “Delivery date cannot be confirmed, please check back later.” We had Nautitech expedite delivery, but nothing changed. By that point, it didn’t matter, as the Mistral was set to blow on Wednesday night, meaning we missed the weather window for the crossing. We accepted the situation and relaxed for a few days.

The marina team was very helpful and friendly, especially the diver. He offered to drive us into town for supplies, and he also brought us fresh fish that he had caught while spearfishing—they were delicious.

On Wednesday, we took Shenna back to Porto Torres by dinghy so she could make her way home to Scotland. Unfortunately, her exotic Mediterranean cruise was spent in a small marina in an industrial estate. But we made the best of it and still had fun.

The rudder finally arrived on October 4th—nine days to get from La Rochelle, France, to Sardinia. So much for DHL Express 72-hour delivery! But I was happy to see it and we got it installed the next day. We also got a few other things done during that time: We had the rigging inspected—everything was good; we installed a tricolour masthead light (since the ARC requires a backup set of navigation lights); cleaned and polished the props; and replaced the zincs (the prop ones were nearly gone). Cheryl also did a lot of food prep for the crossing.

As soon as the rudder was installed, we left the industrial zone and returned to the marina in Porto Torres. We did some grocery shopping and went out for dinner that evening.

The rudder incident cost us about 10 days (and quite a few euros), so now we need to speed things up. The original plan was for Cheryl, Gabe, and me to sail from Sardinia to Menorca, and from there Cheryl and I would continue to hop from Menorca to Mallorca, then to Ibiza, and on to mainland Spain. We were supposed to rendezvous with Stephen and Shenna there (fortunately, they were flexible enough to meet us in Sardinia instead). We planned to sail to Gibraltar, where Cheryl and Shenna would depart—Shenna flying home, and Cheryl flying to the Canaries. Two of Stephen’s friends, David and Patrick, from his Clipper Round the World adventure, would join for the crossing to Sardinia. But so much for plans!

The new plan is as follows: Cheryl will leave the boat today (Saturday, October 5th) and fly to Lanzarote. Stephen and I will sail to Mallorca. Fortunately, the Mistral has passed, so we should be able to leave today. It will be a bit bumpy until the swell caused by the Mistral flattens out (hence Cheryl’s decision to fly), but otherwise the weather looks good. We will pick up David in Mallorca on the 8th and then head to Gibraltar. Unfortunately Patric had to drop out. Next time PatricK!

Devi essere adattabile quando navighi!

Port Torres; Another docking challenge with 20-25 knot winds blowing off the dock

Dinner: