Family Time

Full-on family fun...

Unsettled weather

It has been a strange August...we have experienced incredibly unsettled weather over the last few weeks. Recently, anchored in Cala Jondal, we woke up to an enormous swell from high winds. We were contemplating moving to somewhere more sheltered when we saw a series of waterspouts marching across the entrance to the bay! In all we saw about 10 - large and well developed - needless to say we stayed put!

Now in Ibiza

Arrived in Ibiza on Sunday 5th August. We are anchored in Cala Bassa and having a lovely time catching up with family and friends.

New Spanish mobile number: +34 64 88 03 969

Sidi Bou Said

We are based in Sidi Bou Said, just north of Tunis, on Cap Carthage. It is a unbelievably picturesque spot – turquoise sea stretching out over shallow sands, a fertile green hillside with a gorgeous village perched on the top. The houses are painted white with blue balconies and doors and adorned with luscious bougainvilleas.

We have taken delivery of our new 55kg Spade anchor. We were keeping our fingers crossed that it would fit on the bow roller and miraculously, it does! Hopefully we can look forward to drag free anchoring in future.

Sunday we went into Tunis and visited the Bardo Museum. An old bey palace, many of the rooms are galleried and exquisitely decorated with high painted and gilded ceilings. It houses a huge collection of Roman mosaics. There is also a fascinating exhibit from a Roman shipwreck – the contents of a 40m ship destined for Rome and filled with 2^nd -1^st century BC furniture and artefacts (including huge marble columns) for a very rich man’s house. He must have been devastated to lose it all.

Despite being an affluent suburb of Tunis and obviously a playground for the rich, there is no internet access in the area. To get online to check the weather and emails, we have had to climb the 365 STEEP steps up to the village from the marina, take a train (after a considerable walk to the station) three stops to the town of La Marsa down the coast and a further trek! Our consolation was a delicious Lebanese lunch at a restaurant on the waterfront.

The weather looks promising on Wednesday afternoon for our 450 mile passage to Ibiza. More news from there.

Mooring Dramas

We could get no response on the radio from the marina at Sidi Bou Said so on arrival we moored alongside in the only available berth, just near the entrance. It was not long before someone came along and wanted us to move to another berth, much further into the tiny harbour. We were directed into a dead end and a berth far too small for Irony. As Nic tried to manoeuvre us in to the space we were hit with 25 knot crosswinds. Just to help matters, I couldn’t get the marinero to turn the rope I threw him around the bollard, he tried to hold on to it himself! We finally tied up but our stern was well into the already narrow channel. They decided we should go back to the original berth! Our departure was no less dramatic because, as Nic tried to reverse out, he was faced successively with 3 boats blocking the channel and showing no signs of moving until we gesticulated violently at them and shouted in French. Nic did a magnificent job getting Irony into position attracting much praise from other boats who were all thankful they weren’t in our place!

Pantelleria to Tunisia

On 26 July we set out late afternoon for Tunis, hoping the NW winds were turning more northerly. We met unpredicted 25 knot headwinds and a choppy sea. Just off the coast we had a major fuel leak with a failed float that Nic had to repair. Finally, about 10 miles into the journey we decided to turn back.

Take 2 the next day! Still NW headwinds but less strong with more moderate seas. We were forced to tack, adding about 35 miles on to our 90 mile journey and a lot of hours. Altogether an uncomfortable and tiring passage.

On to Pantelleria

We checked out of Mgarr, Gozo on 23 July and took on some duty free fuel. Unfortunately a grain ship was being unloaded near the fuel quay and the wind was blowing in our direction. We’ve been severely sanded before but not “grained”.

Once again we experienced no wind or headwinds on our overnight sail to Pantelleria. High NW winds prevented us from visiting the harbour and limited us to one anchorage on the SE of the island, Dietro Isola. The scenery was spectacular and the snorkelling very good if blighted by too many jellyfish for comfort.