The American Armada of Time Warp, Azure II and Juno departed Mahon harbor yesterday bound for other anchorages. But prior to leaving the harbor, both Azure II and us needed to visit the fuel quay for fuel and water. Besides wifi, water continues to be a hassle. Nearly all the fuel quays have water, but the marinas put pressure on them not to give it out in order to force boats to take up moorings in the marina. It is stupid. But the fuel guy said "to heck with that" and allowed us (and others) to fill with water. For that attitude I rewarded him with a tip!

Off we went, Azure II and us to some anchorage further west that Juno had selected. Shirish on Juno has been to Mahon several times before and so has been selected as our unofficial caravan guide. He got an early start while the two of us were fueling up and so had a head start of several miles. We left the narrow harbor with a large ferry, and even as Azure II and us hugged the starboard side of the channel the huge bow bulb and steep sides of the ferry loomed over us and took our wind for several moments.

Once clear of the harbor we set a spinnaker to work offshore so we could dump our holding tanks. Azure II had no such need and so stayed closer to shore and in the leeward protection from both seas and wind. As we moved offshore the seas got tremendously big! At one point Ruth was standing in the cockpit and saw that the crest of the larger waves were actually above her head! That gave her pause for wonder!

After dumping our tanks it was time to gybe in the large seas. It was blowing 10-15k with puffs to 20k and the wind was quite unsettled. Our first gybe attempt ended in a wrap of the kite around the forestay. I ran forward to clear the wrap and came about as close as I have ever come to falling overboard! I was bent at the waist with my head outboard of the lifelines and level with my knees. I felt my feet go light on the deck and dug my shins into the lower lifeline. My mind was racing and I had a chance to wonder how Will and Ruth would respond and what they might do (what with the spinnaker still up and all). It was a scary moment.

Just when I was getting ready to reach with my hand for the lifeline for the final throw overboard, the boat swung back the other way and I regained my balance on the foredeck. Whew! Saved! That little 'exercise' has underscored a need - it is time to graduate Will up to the foredeck so he can get backup experience dousing the kite -- "just in case".

So after that little scare we managed to get the gybe right only to find out we had way overstood our course and would not be able to carry a kite! So we immediately had to douse the kite and tight reach under head sail and full main to the island. The seas were huge and the boat was getting tossed around quite a bit. We were in a big hurry to get in the safe lee of the island and it came none too soon.

We reached for the rest of the day and it was tough - real tough. The wind would puff, then lull, then veer, then back. Rather than sail to the changing breeze, I opted to trim sails instead. Big mistake. I have forgotten that my recovery time from strenuous exercise is not what it was in my youth. So here I sit (the next day) totally overcome by weariness. I plan to take the whole day off and do nothing.

But back to the sailing....As we approached our anchorage, and we were still several miles away, the wind had changed to our quarter enough that I called for the spinnaker again. Always the glutton for punishment, I had to have one more go at it!! Well, during the set, the spinnaker accidently self-deployed half way up and stranded the control line aloft and out of my reach. Will's quick thinking had me running for the boat hook to see if I could hook the loop that was swinging wildly 12' above my head. The sea had flattened out so we didn't have that to deal with that. So I climbed on top of the dinghy on the foredeck, extended the boat hook, and swung wildly in the air several times.

But as luck would have it, I captured the elusive tether and wrangled it back to earth and my greedy mittens. That exercise drew more blood, this time from my right foot. But it was minor compared to the morning's exercise. The rest of voyage went by without further incident and as soon as we dropped the anchor Ruth and I collapsed out of exhaustion while Will took the dinghy out to play with his newfound friends. Indeed, Azure II met up with Revolution -- a British-flagged boat here in the anchorage that they had met earlier in Mallorca. They have a boy of about 10 years old so now there are no less than six English-speaking kids here at anchorage - all wreaking havoc!