Mallorca to Toulon (South of France)
The wind around the west of Mallorca was good, but on rounding the western tip, we found we had a headwind. We nearly decided to pull into Soller port and wait for better wind, but finally decided to carry on. Eventually after dark the wind dropped to almost nothing, then about 11 p.m. a lightning storm blew up a force 4-5 from nowhere. Luckily I did the washing up when I first saw the lightning, because it would have been everywhere otherwise! The sea got very confused. We headed more north to use the NE wind. In the latter part of the night the wind increased to a force 6-7, before dropping off after dawn on the 21st August. We continued to head north in order to use the wind, and got within sight of the headland of San Sebastian in NE Spain. By this time the sea had changed into a consistent long swell almost on the nose with a wavelength about 1.5 times our boatlength, producing a funny motion. Then we decided to motorsail NE into the wind from there, aiming directly for Toulon, as we didn’t want to go any closer into the Golf de Lion. Later in the day the wind backed slightly, and by evening was a force 5-6 from the north or NNW. We continued to motor a little but reefed the mainsail and hoisted the staysail to provide a good sail component. The sea was rough, and we discovered a problem with our air conditioning installation – with sea all over the deck and now sailing on port tack it leaked into the outflow pipe of the air-conditioning unit and into the saloon! It was 11 o’clock at night, and there I was with two towels trying to stop the cushions and carpet getting soaked in sea-water, and holding a tea-towel above my head against the unit. After a little consideration we blocked the outside of the hole with a wine stopper, the rubber sort that expands with a lever. It seemed to work, luckily.
The night was windy and we made good progress.
Sunday 22nd August – the wind continued at force 5, and mid-morning we sighted France. The wind eventually backed a little more and we got in a few hours of pure sailing. We arrived at Toulon and moored in the marina, because the decks and sails were completely encrusted from all the salt spray over the past two days and needed washing off. In the evening I started packing for my trip home with Dan.