We have anchored safely in Mahon and will be here for at least a couple of days. The passage over from Mallorca was uneventful and the wind was even better than we expected. Because of the better winds we started getting too close too fast and decided to slow down because it was still well before sunrise. Around 2 AM we pulled in most of the sails and slowed to about 2 knots. The wind was on the beam and we had some small rolloers coming from the starboard side. After we slowed down, the boat lost the momentum to carry it smoothly through the rollers and we started getting some unplesant rocking side to side with each roller. For me this made sleep improbable. Oh well, plenty of time to sleep later.
Last night at about 6 or so the wind shifted to the Northeast just like the weather preditions said it would. I guess there is a first time for everything. That wind shift was our first taste of the Mistral winds of the Med. They came up fast and strong. We knew they were coming and our anchorage was well protected from the Northeast. It was a little chaotic in the anchorage becasue all of the anchored boats all swung around on their anchors at the same time and we got a chance to see how well everyone did at guessing good anchor drop points. By dark it had cleared out pretty well with only 10-15 boats around us with plenty of space.
We are anchored a long way from town now and there is no Internet at the boat. We took the dinghy in this morning and it was about a 45 minute drive and still windy. My posts will be limited for a few days. We plan to stay until we get a weather break. It looks like there are more Northeast winds on the way. Our next target is the Southern part of Sardenga. We decided to hit the South end first to try to avoid more of the Mistral winds coming off the coast of France. Our crossing to Sardenga will be at least three days. I'll try to post when I know we are taking off.
Last night at about 6 or so the wind shifted to the Northeast just like the weather preditions said it would. I guess there is a first time for everything. That wind shift was our first taste of the Mistral winds of the Med. They came up fast and strong. We knew they were coming and our anchorage was well protected from the Northeast. It was a little chaotic in the anchorage becasue all of the anchored boats all swung around on their anchors at the same time and we got a chance to see how well everyone did at guessing good anchor drop points. By dark it had cleared out pretty well with only 10-15 boats around us with plenty of space.
We are anchored a long way from town now and there is no Internet at the boat. We took the dinghy in this morning and it was about a 45 minute drive and still windy. My posts will be limited for a few days. We plan to stay until we get a weather break. It looks like there are more Northeast winds on the way. Our next target is the Southern part of Sardenga. We decided to hit the South end first to try to avoid more of the Mistral winds coming off the coast of France. Our crossing to Sardenga will be at least three days. I'll try to post when I know we are taking off.