Ciao everyone, I am back! Arrived in Palma on Friday evening after two nights at sea from Alghero. What a crossing.
Left Sardinia Wednesday morning with a good forecast — 12-15 knots from the northeast for the first 24 hours, then lighter and variable for the approach. The first night was beautiful, steady beam reach under a nearly full moon, making 6.5 knots without even trying. My cousin came along as far as the Sardinia-Balearic midpoint and I dropped him at a cargo vessel heading back to Olbia (I am joking, he flew home last week).
Second night was a different story. Wind dropped to almost nothing around 3am and I motored for about five hours through the most glassy calm sea I have ever seen. Stars reflected perfectly in the water, dolphins came through around dawn. One of those moments where you just stand in the cockpit and wonder why you ever do anything else.
Picked up the breeze again mid-morning Thursday, southwest this time which put me on a close haul for the last 60 miles into Palma. Arrived just before sunset, beer in hand by 19:30.
Total distance was about 185nm, 48 hours door to door including the motoring. Not fast but I was not in a hurry. The boat ran perfectly — well, the autohelm started making a grinding noise around hour 30 which I need to look into. Anyone had issues with Raymarine autohelm bearings after extended use?
Good to be home. Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do on here!
Welcome back Marco! That glassy calm stretch with the dolphins sounds like it was worth the motoring. I had a very similar experience crossing from Menorca last autumn — sometimes the Med just decides to be a mirror.
On the Raymarine autohelm, yes. The bearing in the drive unit is a known weak point on the older EV units after long continuous use. Worth pulling the drive arm off and checking for play. If it is the linear actuator bearing you can get replacement kits from Raymarine directly — about 80 euros and a couple of hours work. Better to sort it now before autumn passage season.
Marco!! Welcome back, we missed you! That moonlit beam reach sounds absolutely dreamy. And the dolphins at dawn — honestly jealous.
How was Sardinia? I have never been but my partner keeps suggesting it for a holiday. Did you get decent sailing in over there or was it mostly family time?
Welcome back Marco! I am still very new here but your crossing story was amazing to read. Two nights at sea — I cannot even imagine. The dolphins at dawn part made me smile, that is exactly the kind of thing I dreamed about when we decided to move here.
Quick question — when you say you hand-steered through the squall line, how long was that? I get tired just steering for an hour in flat water on my course days!
Benvingut Marco! Glad you made it back in one piece. That northeast window you caught sounds perfect — the tramuntana can be your best friend or your worst enemy on that crossing and it sounds like it behaved.
The squall line south of Menorca does not surprise me at all, we had a few of those come through here mid-week too. September weather is twitchy like that.
Did you come in through the Cabrera channel or swing wide to the south? Curious because I have been thinking about the reverse trip next spring.