The forecast for Saturday and Sunday in the western Med has been absolutely appalling. Rough, force 8 and higher, swells of 3m. So we've stayed firmly put.
Actually our very first arrival wasn't so firm. It was raining so we had the cockpit cover up with the Velcro sides on. A black cloud swelled over the headland and then bam! A strong down draft, over 35kt, took us on the beam. For the frist time, the rocna shifted. It very quickly caught again and reset, as it's designed to, but we were then a bit too close to the harbour wall for comfort. So we moved out a bit, and became glad of it. Over Friday evening and Saturday morning this wee anchorage filled right up, but we kept enough clear water around us to be comfortable.
Late in the afternoon, the black clouds reached over the western hills, and we settled back on our chain. The forecast had been so emphatic you could sense the apprehension on all the boats. But then we were let off lightly and the wind didn't go over 20 kts all night, and we slept well.
This has given us a chance to catch up on this blog. We know people prefer a daily load, but it is a challenge what with power demands and a string of poor internet connections! If you don't already, then use the RSS feed on the blog, which will alert you when we make new posts, without you having to come back and check!
Tonight is still predicting strong southerlies (to which we are more exposed here) so we will stay another day, fill up with fuel and water in the morning and then see if the predicted nice northerly will take us to our next destination.