March 2016 and a new sailing season has started.
After days of waiting for a weather window, at 06.30 on 15th March we set sail for Malta. The wind had forecast NW 4 and we got what was promised and a bit more; within minutes we were skating along at 7.5 kts and at times over 8 kts bashing through the seas that where building all the time. Seven and a half hours later we were picking up one of Captain Morgan’s mooring buoys, but before we had the chance to settle with a cup of tea, we has a visit from Morgan’s shore staff. After some joking about we were allowed to use their buoy for that night .
With that all sorted it was time to enjoy our first night away from the marina after some months.
The next few days were spent visiting family, stocking up with food we can't buy in Sicily , picking up spare part from the ship chandlers and taking Eddie to the vet for his annual jab. This is no easy task, Eddie is never keen to visit the vet. After a 15-minute walk Eddie wasn't too pleased to be carted in his box on the trolley, his vocal got louder and louder and by the time Christine got him on the vet's table he decided he had enough and wasn't going to come out of his box. Now, where Eddie is in this frame of mind nothing is going to move him; with four legs stuck out to each corner of his box, no amount of tipping was going to budge him out. In the end the box had to be dismantled .
Returning back to the boat wasn't much better, somehow the box gate that kept him in opened and like a greyhound out of a trap Eddie took off like a bat out of hell, now being chased not only by Christine and me but also by a policeman , a lady and several other members of the public. He eventually took cover under a car, and another stand-off came into play. The car was too low to the ground to prize him out, the police called out for anyone who had any sweets - overall he never had a cat. Another woman stopped her car and she happened to have some treats. Now as a rule Eddie would have been happy to be given such nice things to eat, but under these circumstances there was no moving him. In the end I managed to grab him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out from under the car. To this very day I still have the scars on my hand . Safely back in the box we managed to get him back on Isabelle without any more problems.
One thing that’s always on our mind when we are away from the safety of the marina is the weather. Every day it has to be checked and not only for that particular day, but also for the next few days. At the same time we were looking for another weather window to return back to Sicily. Friday was looking ok but there was too much north in the wind and as it had it been blowing hard, the chances where that we would have quite big seas to deal with. Saturday looked better with the wind forecasting to start from the NW then to turn to the West F 4 to 5.
Once again at 07.00 we set off back north. The seas where still quite large but with a strong breeze Isabelle went just straight through them. The wind turned out to be a bit more than forecast; under reefed sails once again we did the 52 miles in just under seven and a half hours. Good speed for us!
So our first sail of 2016 went according to plan, other than Eddie’s adventure.
After days of waiting for a weather window, at 06.30 on 15th March we set sail for Malta. The wind had forecast NW 4 and we got what was promised and a bit more; within minutes we were skating along at 7.5 kts and at times over 8 kts bashing through the seas that where building all the time. Seven and a half hours later we were picking up one of Captain Morgan’s mooring buoys, but before we had the chance to settle with a cup of tea, we has a visit from Morgan’s shore staff. After some joking about we were allowed to use their buoy for that night .
With that all sorted it was time to enjoy our first night away from the marina after some months.
The next few days were spent visiting family, stocking up with food we can't buy in Sicily , picking up spare part from the ship chandlers and taking Eddie to the vet for his annual jab. This is no easy task, Eddie is never keen to visit the vet. After a 15-minute walk Eddie wasn't too pleased to be carted in his box on the trolley, his vocal got louder and louder and by the time Christine got him on the vet's table he decided he had enough and wasn't going to come out of his box. Now, where Eddie is in this frame of mind nothing is going to move him; with four legs stuck out to each corner of his box, no amount of tipping was going to budge him out. In the end the box had to be dismantled .
Returning back to the boat wasn't much better, somehow the box gate that kept him in opened and like a greyhound out of a trap Eddie took off like a bat out of hell, now being chased not only by Christine and me but also by a policeman , a lady and several other members of the public. He eventually took cover under a car, and another stand-off came into play. The car was too low to the ground to prize him out, the police called out for anyone who had any sweets - overall he never had a cat. Another woman stopped her car and she happened to have some treats. Now as a rule Eddie would have been happy to be given such nice things to eat, but under these circumstances there was no moving him. In the end I managed to grab him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out from under the car. To this very day I still have the scars on my hand . Safely back in the box we managed to get him back on Isabelle without any more problems.
One thing that’s always on our mind when we are away from the safety of the marina is the weather. Every day it has to be checked and not only for that particular day, but also for the next few days. At the same time we were looking for another weather window to return back to Sicily. Friday was looking ok but there was too much north in the wind and as it had it been blowing hard, the chances where that we would have quite big seas to deal with. Saturday looked better with the wind forecasting to start from the NW then to turn to the West F 4 to 5.
Once again at 07.00 we set off back north. The seas where still quite large but with a strong breeze Isabelle went just straight through them. The wind turned out to be a bit more than forecast; under reefed sails once again we did the 52 miles in just under seven and a half hours. Good speed for us!
So our first sail of 2016 went according to plan, other than Eddie’s adventure.