A bumpy sail to San Pedro de Pinatar!

We arrived on the peninsula, by Torrevieja just after midnight on the 22. The trip should have taken around 40 hours if we could have sailed a straight line.. The weather forecasts were not too bad before we started, but it turned out they were too optimistic! We sailed almost twice the distance and spent more then 80 hours at sea. The wind direction was not NW as we had thought it would be, but SW.. Met a gale south east of Ibiza that gusted up to 40 knots.. This was our first sail after the dismasting so we didn't like it very much.. There were thunderstorms visible on the sky to the west, so Ibiza did not seem like a nice rescue either. After heaving to for some hours, to see if things would change, we decided to turn around and go north of Ibiza. We had reefed down as much as we could, and had reduced the speed to 4-5 knots. It was sunny and the conditions were not too bad on board. But the appetite for food was reduced.. Poor Ingeborg was sick, and ended up sleeping in the cockpit all through the second night. North west of Ibiza we tried to steer as close to our destination as possible, but the wind kept blowing directly in our faces. We expected lighter winds, and maybe from a different direction closer to the coast and steered a northwesterly course towards Valencia. As we approached the coast we realized the wind was rather stronger than lighter. To avoid being trapped north of the cape separating Costa Brava and Costa Blanca we decided to turn around and sail in the SE direction. Eventually the wind died down a bit and it was time to start the engine. We could relax after a tough "come-back" at sea. The appetite was back and we enjoyed delicious meals of hot sausages with bread, coffe, cereals and bisquits.. The last distance was split by a night at anchor off Torrevieja. We enjoyed a good night sleep and could arrive in a quite good shape in San Pedro the day after.
All in all it had been a good sail, even if it was a bit tougher than we had wanted for testing the new equipment..

Back again..

We turned around after half an hour. A leakage in a diesel line this time.. Well, it's a small thing and we don't want to get depressed over such a bagatelle. Now we'll meet with the people from Rigging Mar again tomorrow, and we will hopefully get rid of the sinus infections that has caught up with us the last week. And I will have time to write up some reports and load up more photos to our web page before we leave.
Gjertrud

Goodbye Mallorca!

We are leaving Mallorca today! We have sails on the boat, but they are not quite perfect yet. So we will get them done in Murcia on the mainland. That is where the factory is. We hope that we won't get in more trouble, and that we can leave Murcia shortly after we're there. We think the trip will take about 40 hours, so that we are there the day after tomorrow. Wish us good luck!

Mom will come back with a more extensive report from our time on Mallorca. Hasta luego!
- Ingeborg

Still in Palma de Mallorca..

We should not be amazed anymore, when things take longer than expected.. Now we are waiting for sails, again. When the mast was stepped we thought the sails were just days away, but that was not the case. They say the instructions from Sailtainer (the rollerboom system), on how to make the sails were wrong. So the mainsail had been cut wrong and had to be resewn! Who's to blame? It doesn't really matter as we are the only part to feel the consequenses. Another two weeks in the marina, two weeks later before we can cross the Atlantic..

It's hard not to be depressed, but on the other hand: Palma has a lot to offer, even in the winter! A wonderful historic city, catedral, museums, a nice promenade in the harbour, restaurants. We still haven't seen more than a small part of it.

Today we have spent a few hours in the museum Es Baluard: the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Palma. There were several exhibitions in addition to their permanent collection. A lot to see, paintings, photography, video, sculptures, some more experimental than others. On Fridays they have decided to let the visitors decide themselves what to pay for the entrance. Sympatic, but I guess that is also why several kindergartens pick Friday as their day to visit the museum. A bit noisy sometimes, yes, but actually the children were very well behaved and didn't disturbe other visitors at all. The museum is only a few years old, and the buildings are a modern complex fitted into the old walls of a castle. The whole bay of Palma can be seen from the rooftop terrace, where there are also sculptures on display. A very nice spot to visit!

On Sunday there will be a concert at the Club Nautico, to raise funds for Haiti. We have decided to go there to support the haitians. It also gives us an opportunity to listen to some live Spanish music. Live music is always appreciated. By the way, there is a Ibsen project on the Theatre Principal of Palma later in February. Hedda Gabler and a Dolls House, I think. We will not wait for it, though, hopefully we have left!

Good news!

I just wanted to update you on our progress. Today the new mast was stepped by the people from Rigging Mar. The mast looks so nice and we hope that everything will work as it should now! The sailmaker from Hood sails came by once we were back in our berth. He will come by Monday morning to take the last measurement when the rig has been tightened. Then the electricians will come to connect all the cables and the rig should be perfect. As soons as the last details on the sails are finished, and a new life-line stanchion is replacing the one that came loose we will be ready to go. I guess it will be next week-end if the weather looks good.

We are setting out for Mallorca

Hi! Today we are leaving Ibiza for Mallorca. It will be great to move the boat, and of course to get a new mast over there. We have been waiting for quite a while now, but we think we have used the time well. Christmas has been relaxed and cosy. We rented a car to see more places on the island. So now we know Ibiza better. The weather has been a lot of rain and wind, but since yesterday it has been quite good. Christmas eve we celebrated home in the boat. With very nice food, presents and a movie. On new years eve, we went to some new English friends over at S/Y Sea-Vagabond. Francesca and Terry. They had also had a scary accident with loosing their steering outside Algerie. We had a great time with music, food and talking. This is all for now, we are leaving very soon. Mom is writing a letter in Norwegian for the webpage, so stay tuned! Now we are looking forward to go to Mallorca, get a new mast and continue our adventure with good luck in 2010!

- Ingeborg

Short visit to Norway!

A couple of weeks ago it was finally decided that the repairs should be done by Rigging Mar in Mallorca. Then at last the new mast could be ordered from Z-spars. It will take another 3-4 weeks before the new mast arrives and can be stepped on Sirius. We are getting quite impatient, but doen't really have any problem finding things to do! Reading, school work, running, swimming, shopping.. Watching Spanish TV for language training and DVD films every night. We have decided to keep the boat in Ibiza until we know that they are ready to do the work in Mallorca, and found it was a good time for a visit to Norway for all of us! We spent a couple of days in Barcelona before heading north, but now we are in Porsgrunn! Ingeborg is at school, Thorstein is with a friend, Stein is at work and I will do a little of everthing.. Later this week we will go to Trondheim to meet up with family there. It's a long time since we last saw them! We go back to Ibiza on the 23., and then it's hopefully not long before we can go back to Mallorca. Christmas in Gibraltar, may be.. We'll see.