With the boat almost sinking under the weight of provisions and stores (you never know when there will be another shop) we dropped the lazy lines and set off out of San Pedro.
The plan was to sail with the wind and see where it took us but hopefully to Sardinia and Corsica. We hoisted the sails and with a perfect 14 knots of wind we sailed the coast towards Alicante, passing the Isla de Tarbarca on the inside. It looks an interesting place with its tales of pirates and crazy fisherman but that will have to wait for another day. We were on a mission to get far enough up the Spanish coast on the wind to be able to head across to the Balaerics and then straight on to Sardinia.
It was a very easy sail - the boat was perfectly balanced and close hauled so Gemini was sailing herself without auto pilot and with neither of us helming - she just followed the wind. I often think left to her own devices Gemini would make a far better of job of sailing than we do. Martyn and I just sat and watched the view. We were far enough out to sea to admire it.
By nightfall we were sailing in to Benidorm Bay, having decided to stop for the night before setting out for Sardinia in the morning. So far so good, we had sailed further up the coast than we had dared hope without the wind dying. At least when you are tired, it is getting dark and you don't feel like complicated navigation it is easy to find Benidorm. You can`t really miss or mistake it! We motored in as close as possible to try to find some shelter from the swell and couldn't see the usual large yellow buoys marking the limit that boats can go in to. There was a line of small red buoys that were quite hard to see in the dark and we were tempted to go past them but in the end stopped just short of them. Just as well we did - in the morning we realised that they were marking a wakeboading circuit and if we had continued our mast would have collided with the top rail. Another lesson learned I think!! The swell continued and it was a very lumpy, uncomfortable night with not much sleep as everything in the boat from tins in cupboards to spare shackles in lockers was rolling about, clinking and generally making as much noise as possible. After the first three or four attempts at wedging everything we just gave up and tried to ignore it.
Next day the wind was still in the right direction so we lifted the anchor and set the sails for Sardinia. Well Ibiza anyway. One island at a time... Heading across to Ibiza Martyn caught quite a large tuna (well large for us, small by tuna standards I guess). Fresh fish for dinner then!
By nightfall we were passing Ibiza, going through the gap between Ibiza and Formentera. We couldn't really see the area as it was dark but I think it must be really attractive by day. The wind dropped over night and we had to use the engine to help us along the east coast of Ibiza. Sunrise was amazing as we were sailing due East and the sun came up over the water like a fiery ball floating on the sea which turned red. We both felt so lucky to be here, doing this and know we are privileged to get this opportunity. I always feel a connection with people all over the world throughout the ages who have seen similar sunrises over the different seas around the world and experienced the same feelings of being very small and insignificant and at the mercy of the sun and wind for our life and survival. At the same time as the sun rose the wind picked up, we stopped the engine, the sails filled and the only sound was of the hull cutting through the sea. We decided then that we were going to complete the rest of the voyage without using the GPS or the engine. We were going to sail the old way, using the wind, taking bearings to find our position on the charts, working out where we were by distance travelled and course steered. God knows where we will end up!!
For the next 3 days that is exactly what we did. Hourly logs and course recordings, plotting our position on the chart and taking bearings whenever we could. We sailed past Mallorca and Menorca and got a really good fix on Menorca which reassured us exactly where we were. Most of the time we headed almost due East so we came to expect magnificent sunrises and sun sets over the water as a daily occurrence. After leaving Menorca behind we couldn't see any land however distantly so there was nothing to take a bearing from and we were only working out our position from distance travelled and course steered. By the evening of the 2nd day out from Menorca we so we really hoping to see the lighthouse at Porte Conte in Sardinia. The chart said it should be visible from 24 miles but if you aren't positive where you are, then you don't know which way to look or when to expect it! Suddenly there it was, almost where we expected and flashing away to guide us to land! Huge feelings of relief and exhilaration!! And feelings of gratitude to all the people who maintain the lights and lighthouses around the world that guide the world`s sailors and shipping. We will never meet or know the guy who changes the bulb at Porto Conte lighthouse or be able to let him know how grateful we are that he does his job. It does make me reflect on all the work that goes on in all sort of industries that I take so much for granted until you need them...
We were glad that we had approached Sardinia at night because it was so much easier to spot and follow the lights in rather than trying to pick out the land from 20 miles out. After sailing nearly 450 miles without GPS we were only about 4 miles out from exactly where we thought we were so we were pretty heartened by that. We usually do always plot our position on a paper charts and keep logs on a passage anyway but with the GPS on there is always that added feeling of security - it was good not to have it this time. (Although ,of course, we could have switched it on at any time!!)
That last 10 miles back in to port always seems to take forever and this was no different. The headland and cliffs where light was rose up huge and spectacularly from the sea but we hardly noticed how stunning the scenery of our first look at Sardinia was - we just wanted to get the anchor down and stop.
We finally dropped anchor deep in the Bay of Porto Conte where we had shelter from what ever the wind and sea might do. Gemini had looked after us very well as ever and within minutes it felt as if we hadn`t just been at sea at all and or just sailed over 500 since leaving San Pedro. It felt like we had been at anchor for days. Amazing how the boat that has travelled through all sorts of seas and weather and kept us safe turns in to a caravan on water and our home again once we drop anchor. We put up the Italian courtesy flag with a small ceremony - we were in Italy at last!!........
The weather forecast looked ominous - north westerly gales force 7 & 8 in the Sardinian and Corsican seas so it looked like we had been so lucky with our sail across and now we were going to be lucky again as we had landed in a very sheltered bay. From the forecast it looked like we might be here a while. Thank goodness for all that provisioning in San Pedro - there wasn't a shop or any civilisation in sight!..... From Martyn`s point of view there was no where that I could spend any more money on food.
We settled in and went to bed..