Stormbound in Mahon

Tom Auckland and his girlfriend, Jasmine ( Jazz ) were flying to join us on Monday for the trips to Sardinia and Sicily. The day before they arrived we just chilled out in the anchorage and prepared for them arriving. We had stocked up with food in Alcudia as we know Tom is very food of his grub. Whilst we were checking the engine there was a knock on the side of the boat. A nice man called Alberto was taking orders for groceries that he would deliver to the boat the following day for a delivery charge of 2euros. Deal, he got an order, and he had a good chat with him. That evening we went for a spin in the dinghy but much to my disgust we ran out of fuel and I had to row back. Susan sang, apparently to encourage me. It worked. The faster I rowed, the less time I had to suffer her singing ( sorry Susan ). We checked the weather again for the trip to Sardinia. It did not look good. Things were lively up in the Gulf of Lions and the northerlies were bringing it all down to us. Big seas were due. Next day Alberto arrived with our groceries and we then up anchored and went across the harbour to collect Tom and Jazz. There is virtually nowhere to berth and when we spotted them on the quay we literally went alongside, no ropes, they jumped on, then out again before we were spotted by the harbour patrol. We then went for fuel. There is only one fuel pontoon in Mahon and all the superyachts go to it for a top up of 5000+ litres. We were fourth in the queue and circled for two hours till we got in, but I like to run with full tanks so it had to be done. We went back to Teleura and re-anchored. Decision time. Go now and try and beat the weather or sit tight. Decision made to sit tight. This was a wise move as that night it began brewing up nicely. It was now looking like Thursday or Friday before the weather was right for us to go so we just had to settle in for the wait. Jazz was really nice and we all got on well. The rest of the week was spent watching the weather, doing dinghy trips, swimming, lounging around and reading. Very arduous. Tom decided to try his hand at fishing so we dinghied across the harbour to Es Castell where he bought some hooks and line in 'the chinese shop' ( remember them ). After a few attempts to perfect his technique he reeled in six big ones!! Well, big ones for sardines that is.....unfortunately we had already eaten, so he cooked them and ate them himself, although we did help him out a bit. We had two mornings of very heavy rain but each time it cleared by mid afternoon. One evening we all went across in the dinghy to Es Castell for a meal (see piccy). Four in a three man dinghy was fun across the choppy harbour. The trip takes about 12-15minutes depending on how much traffic you have to try to avoid. Es Castell is a beautiful fishing harbour, very picturesque. We had a pleasant meal then dinghied back in the dark with Susan at the bow with the olympic torch held aloft to guide the way ( and to stop big stuff cleaning us up ).

The weather forecast was still not good. We put departure back to Saturday, bearing in mind that Tom and Jazz were due to fly home from Sicily on the following Wednesday, it was starting to get tight.On the Friday Susan and I checked out the old fort on the headland which was an amazing piece of construction, although obsolete by the time it was built. Tom and Jazz had a better time watching a three way international incident when an italian motor boat caused a french boat to drag its anchor with nobody aboard. The owners rushed back in their dinghy just in time to stop their boat crashing into a german boat. The german lady ( who we got on well with ) then boarded the frenchies and a slanging match ensued. The italians sneaked away to hide, but the frenchies spotted them and once under control, chased after them and boarded them.....cue more heated exchanges and arm flailing!!!! Its been quite funny because a lot of the people on the boats around us think that we are a family. They say to Tom, " is your father on the boat ", he hasn't tried to explain, its probably easier.

Friday night and the forecast was good for an early departure in the morning so we had a drink to that. 270 miles to Cagliari, Sardinia, lets do it.