Call of North - Oyster 665
9/1/2015
Nic very kindly transported me to the airport for my 11:40 flight to Milan.
Andy Dell met me at the check-in desk for Flybe.
After an in-terminate wait for him at security (he has a metal knee, which for some reason caused absolute havoc with the metal detector, surely they've come across this before !!!!!).
Eventually sorted , off we trundle to wait for our flight.
The plane was soon boarding, off we went into the queue, over the tarmac, into the aircraft via the rear door. it very quickly became clear there was only about 30 people on a 100 seater aircraft............spread out time...............excellent...........a very comfy flight followed.
We got caughtup in a very strong airstream and i actually watched as we shot past another aircraft about 2000 feet above us, it was amazing !!!!
Then the Alps appeared out of the clouds............lovely all covered in snow.
We landed at Milan without a problem.........now the 5 hour wait.
We found our bags and meandered to the customs exit, as we had to move to Terminal 1 from 2.............woooow.....some geezer in a pair of jeans, a floppy jumper and a scarf around his neck stopped us and demanded our passports and asked if we had anything to declare...........hang on a mo.....who the h#ll is he ???
Turns out he was Italian customs officer.......he looked more like a hairdresser...........
Anyway, off we trundled again, caught the bus for T1, sorted.
Now then a brew, i'm gagging said Andy.........hey up there's a cafe .............off we pop.......2 coffee's please in Andy's best Italian..................well Gordon Bennett.........the strongest coffee i've ever tasted was the result..............blooming heck.....i was on the ceiling for about an hour !!!
The we see our flight is boarding...................off we go................streuth.......it's chocka.............full to the gunwhales............TO OLBIA !!!
At least it's only a short flight, we are soon in Sardinia.
Kevin meets us at the airport and we quickly make our way to the boat.
We meet Carolyn, have a couple of beers get ourselves sorted and hit the sack.
10/1/15
Not too early today.
Had breakfast, looked around the boat and went into town to do some shopping / provisioning for the boat. Wifi is rubbish, gawd, it's like being back in the Arctic !!!
Gave the boat a quick wash before we set off for Palma. It looks we will take a northerly route to Palma, between Sardinia and Corsica.
Went to a local restaurant in Porto ottiolu tonight for a pizza.........woooow.....the defo best i have ever tasted, we watched them making the pizza dough...........just superb........so soft and doughy......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......i had calzone.........yum yum !!! :-)
11/1/15
We had a run down the coast in the hire car to find some decent wifi.
Yeah, yeah, here..............it's a cafe with internet access........in we go..........we order 4 coffees ..........ooooh sorry all, the wifi is not working............BRILLIANT !!
Drink up we're off.
200 m down the street.............aha......another cafe......more coffee..........at least it has decent wifi !!! WE all get in touch with our families, excellent.
Back to the boat.
When we are back at the boat, Andy says lets try the water for a swim..............i try it first..............FFFFFFFFFF that it's bloody freezing.....even colder than Windermere & Cambridge Bay !!!!!
We are off in the morning, no rush................say 10:00 says Kevin.
12/1/15
Up sorting out the boat ready for our departure. We eventually leave about 11:30......set of North for Corsica................engine on..........wind on the nose......AGAIN.
We make the Benafacio Strait by night fall......wind better we soon have the sails up..........flying along at about 8 knots.
13/1/15
the wind eventually drops and we are back motoring.
At about 02:00 hrs i hear the engine thud, struggle and eventually die........what the FFFFFF was that.....................Kevin thinks we have caught a rope or plastic bag.....we are just off the NW coast of Sardinia about 5 miles West of "Point Ta. Dello Scorno"...............
Kevin tries in vain the release the prop.................he tries a few times to run the engine...........it struggles a bit then sounds awful...............a real grinding noise............he puts her in reverse..................still no good !!!!!
The wind is a bit better, we manage to put the sails up and make some way.
About 12 hours later, after a slow passage.....we have another go at the engine, thinking the sailing might have eased the prop/ moved the rope/plastic bag.
I watch at the stern as Kevin puts the engine through her paces, forward...in reverse.......forward..........in reverse...............suddenly a large plastic fertiliser type bag comes floating up from the stern and we are clear.........engine revs at full speed......we're on our way again !!!
14/1/15
We pass south of Menorca in the night, during my watch i see a couple of fishing vessels, a NATO ship F69 and a large tanker.
We are making good time now, the wind comes and goes, so we have bouts of sailing and then back on the engine.
We arrive off Cape Salinas around 14:00..........about 3 hours to go.
We enter Palma port just after 17:30 as the light is fading.
We moor up at Port De Mallorca......phew................a few beers.
Marina ( the owners partner) arrives from the airport, she has just flown in from Oslo.
Foie gras and champagne from Marina for us all......................very nice !!!
15/1/15 to 19/1/15
Working on the boat, doing some boat provisioning and generally getting "Call of North" ready for the TransAt.
We motor over to the STP berth on the opposite side of the dock, for a lift out and the undersides power washed. During this operation we notice the sacrificial anodes are looking a bit tired, so we get them to replace those as well.
Total amount of time at STP, about 2 hours, just enough time for a relaxed lunch.................the bill for all the work comes to $1300 !!!!............i knew i was in the wrong industry !!!!
We leave Palma at 17:00 hrs........the winds are'nt perfect on "Passage weather", but hey they rarely are. There are a number of "bale out" points/ports on the way to Gib, so not too desperate.
By night fall we are just North of Ibiza........Andy and i reckon we could slip in a few clubs as we pass !!!!! :-).................Kevin is having none of it.............meany !!!!!
Winds pick up over night and we have quite a rough crossing to the Spanish mainland coast............35 to 50 knots at times..............................woooooooooow hhhhoooooo !!!
The forecast is not good.............winds getting bad again the "Levante", (a strong wind between Morocco and Spain) is about to blow from Gibraltar. Time to get into port. Cartagena is near , so we head there.
"Call of North" at her berth in Sardinia
Mr. Dell looking a bit glum, you would'nt think he was on a free trip to cross the Atlantic would you !!!!! LOL :-)
Mr. Dell still glum and Carolyn, the other member of the crew.
A $4 million boat..............good job i brought my £10 binos from the Oxfam shop !!!
Palma from the sea
On the berth at Port De Mallorca
The cathedral in Palma
Being lifted out at STP for a wash and brush up.
Palma from offshore
Sailing out of Palma for Gibraltar.........before the bad weather.
Mr. Dell........STILL glum........i think it might be the snow on the hills.
A tanker passes by.
Sails are up
Nearing Cartagena
At the berth in Cartagena.
9/1/2015
Nic very kindly transported me to the airport for my 11:40 flight to Milan.
Andy Dell met me at the check-in desk for Flybe.
After an in-terminate wait for him at security (he has a metal knee, which for some reason caused absolute havoc with the metal detector, surely they've come across this before !!!!!).
Eventually sorted , off we trundle to wait for our flight.
The plane was soon boarding, off we went into the queue, over the tarmac, into the aircraft via the rear door. it very quickly became clear there was only about 30 people on a 100 seater aircraft............spread out time...............excellent...........a very comfy flight followed.
We got caughtup in a very strong airstream and i actually watched as we shot past another aircraft about 2000 feet above us, it was amazing !!!!
Then the Alps appeared out of the clouds............lovely all covered in snow.
We landed at Milan without a problem.........now the 5 hour wait.
We found our bags and meandered to the customs exit, as we had to move to Terminal 1 from 2.............woooow.....some geezer in a pair of jeans, a floppy jumper and a scarf around his neck stopped us and demanded our passports and asked if we had anything to declare...........hang on a mo.....who the h#ll is he ???
Turns out he was Italian customs officer.......he looked more like a hairdresser...........
Anyway, off we trundled again, caught the bus for T1, sorted.
Now then a brew, i'm gagging said Andy.........hey up there's a cafe .............off we pop.......2 coffee's please in Andy's best Italian..................well Gordon Bennett.........the strongest coffee i've ever tasted was the result..............blooming heck.....i was on the ceiling for about an hour !!!
The we see our flight is boarding...................off we go................streuth.......it's chocka.............full to the gunwhales............TO OLBIA !!!
At least it's only a short flight, we are soon in Sardinia.
Kevin meets us at the airport and we quickly make our way to the boat.
We meet Carolyn, have a couple of beers get ourselves sorted and hit the sack.
10/1/15
Not too early today.
Had breakfast, looked around the boat and went into town to do some shopping / provisioning for the boat. Wifi is rubbish, gawd, it's like being back in the Arctic !!!
Gave the boat a quick wash before we set off for Palma. It looks we will take a northerly route to Palma, between Sardinia and Corsica.
Went to a local restaurant in Porto ottiolu tonight for a pizza.........woooow.....the defo best i have ever tasted, we watched them making the pizza dough...........just superb........so soft and doughy......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......i had calzone.........yum yum !!! :-)
11/1/15
We had a run down the coast in the hire car to find some decent wifi.
Yeah, yeah, here..............it's a cafe with internet access........in we go..........we order 4 coffees ..........ooooh sorry all, the wifi is not working............BRILLIANT !!
Drink up we're off.
200 m down the street.............aha......another cafe......more coffee..........at least it has decent wifi !!! WE all get in touch with our families, excellent.
Back to the boat.
When we are back at the boat, Andy says lets try the water for a swim..............i try it first..............FFFFFFFFFF that it's bloody freezing.....even colder than Windermere & Cambridge Bay !!!!!
We are off in the morning, no rush................say 10:00 says Kevin.
12/1/15
Up sorting out the boat ready for our departure. We eventually leave about 11:30......set of North for Corsica................engine on..........wind on the nose......AGAIN.
We make the Benafacio Strait by night fall......wind better we soon have the sails up..........flying along at about 8 knots.
13/1/15
the wind eventually drops and we are back motoring.
At about 02:00 hrs i hear the engine thud, struggle and eventually die........what the FFFFFF was that.....................Kevin thinks we have caught a rope or plastic bag.....we are just off the NW coast of Sardinia about 5 miles West of "Point Ta. Dello Scorno"...............
Kevin tries in vain the release the prop.................he tries a few times to run the engine...........it struggles a bit then sounds awful...............a real grinding noise............he puts her in reverse..................still no good !!!!!
The wind is a bit better, we manage to put the sails up and make some way.
About 12 hours later, after a slow passage.....we have another go at the engine, thinking the sailing might have eased the prop/ moved the rope/plastic bag.
I watch at the stern as Kevin puts the engine through her paces, forward...in reverse.......forward..........in reverse...............suddenly a large plastic fertiliser type bag comes floating up from the stern and we are clear.........engine revs at full speed......we're on our way again !!!
14/1/15
We pass south of Menorca in the night, during my watch i see a couple of fishing vessels, a NATO ship F69 and a large tanker.
We are making good time now, the wind comes and goes, so we have bouts of sailing and then back on the engine.
We arrive off Cape Salinas around 14:00..........about 3 hours to go.
We enter Palma port just after 17:30 as the light is fading.
We moor up at Port De Mallorca......phew................a few beers.
Marina ( the owners partner) arrives from the airport, she has just flown in from Oslo.
Foie gras and champagne from Marina for us all......................very nice !!!
15/1/15 to 19/1/15
Working on the boat, doing some boat provisioning and generally getting "Call of North" ready for the TransAt.
We motor over to the STP berth on the opposite side of the dock, for a lift out and the undersides power washed. During this operation we notice the sacrificial anodes are looking a bit tired, so we get them to replace those as well.
Total amount of time at STP, about 2 hours, just enough time for a relaxed lunch.................the bill for all the work comes to $1300 !!!!............i knew i was in the wrong industry !!!!
We leave Palma at 17:00 hrs........the winds are'nt perfect on "Passage weather", but hey they rarely are. There are a number of "bale out" points/ports on the way to Gib, so not too desperate.
By night fall we are just North of Ibiza........Andy and i reckon we could slip in a few clubs as we pass !!!!! :-).................Kevin is having none of it.............meany !!!!!
Winds pick up over night and we have quite a rough crossing to the Spanish mainland coast............35 to 50 knots at times..............................woooooooooow hhhhoooooo !!!
The forecast is not good.............winds getting bad again the "Levante", (a strong wind between Morocco and Spain) is about to blow from Gibraltar. Time to get into port. Cartagena is near , so we head there.
"Call of North" at her berth in Sardinia
Mr. Dell looking a bit glum, you would'nt think he was on a free trip to cross the Atlantic would you !!!!! LOL :-)
Mr. Dell still glum and Carolyn, the other member of the crew.
A $4 million boat..............good job i brought my £10 binos from the Oxfam shop !!!
Palma from the sea
On the berth at Port De Mallorca
The cathedral in Palma
Being lifted out at STP for a wash and brush up.
Palma from offshore
Sailing out of Palma for Gibraltar.........before the bad weather.
Mr. Dell........STILL glum........i think it might be the snow on the hills.
A tanker passes by.
Sails are up
Nearing Cartagena
At the berth in Cartagena.
