Torrential rain. Lightening across the sky and deafening thunder. Thirty knot gusts and hours of 22 knots plus. Swell of up to a meter.
Dead calm. Baking sunshine. Flat seas. Gentle zephyrs.
Boat speeds from 6 knots to half a knot under sail. Leaping dolphins, dramatic thunderheads and magnificent visibility.
We had all of these in the 36 hours it took us to come the 126 miles from Valencia to Sitges. A fine example of the changeability of the Med. All against a forecast of F1-2, variable, with southerlies late on the Monday afternoon.
Roaring Girl motored out of Valencia at 1515 on Sunday, expecting a very slow passage, cruising chute bundled on the deck to make the most of those southerlies. A gentle easterly was blowing in the dock, maybe just enough to let us sail on a close reach for a while before the wind died at dusk.
Outside the harbour it was blowing a good F4. The first task was to take a picture of the race markers used for the northern regatta diamond of the America's Cup. (Behind it, you can just see the Veles y Ventes building beside the super-yacht basin.) Then we got the sails up for our north easterly course. The wind held up well for a long time. From 1630 till 0630 on Monday morning, a record for us since Gibraltar. At times it blew fairly strongly; from midnight till nearly 0200 we had Maurice Griffith's 'exhilarating rush in the darkness'. Happily it was Sarah's watch and she enjoyed it, and Pip slept on. By the time of Pip's watch it had calmed down again.
At 0600 the wind died away, but by 0800 the heavens opened, just behind the lightening. It was like standing under the rose of a celestial pressure washer as drops the size of hailstones hit the sea, the hastily-dug-out oilies and bare skin with such violence that they bounced. There were a few more showers and then it all died away leaving us drifting at 2 or 3 knots for hours of baking sunshine. At dark it all started again, with some very dramatic thunder storms, but fortunately rather less rain.
We got into Sitges at 0330 on Tuesday morning, glad to tie up under the little torre (presumably an ex-lighthouse) that serves as the office. Entry into the marina is pretty straightforward. The fuel dock is to port of the entry, and straightforward tie up. We went there, but the marianero wanted us to move to the rather smaller, bows-to visitors pontoon. This was easy with his guidance and help with the lines, but would otherwise have been difficult in the dark. The harbour seems to have most facilities, including free wifi, but it's expensive (?'?45/dia!!) so we may not stay too long.
We've been too tired to explore much yet beyond a damp stroll around town yesterday afternoon. Saving it for later.