Cartagena to Formentera

Hi everyone,

We had a pretty good sail from Cartagena to Formentera in the Balearic Islands.  On arrival we anchored in 7.5m over sand in Cala Saona at 32 42.0N 001 23.2E.  Overall it was a good passage.

Playing dodge'm in the shipping lane

Here are the plots...

Track

Graphs

And here are the vital stats for the passage…

    • Distances/Speeds

        • Route Distance = 135nm

        • Logged Distance = 146nm (log still slightly under-reading)

        • GPS Distance = 155nm

        • Duration = 39 hours

        • Average speed over ground = 3.9 kt

        • Minimum boat speed = 3 kt

        • Maximum boat speed = 6 kt

    • Weather

        • Minimum wind speed = 4 kt

        • Average wind speed = 18 kt

        • Maximum wind speed = gusts to 22 kt

        • Apparent wind angle range = 40 to 100

        • Seas up to 1.5m

        • No swell

        • Clear skies!

    • Engine

        • Total = 16 hours

The passage started with a 15 hour beat into 15-20 knot winds and a lumpy sea followed by 12 hours of motoring in light winds and then a lovely 12 hour sail beating into a light SE breeze and almost flat water.

After our brief beat into stronger winds when approaching the Gibraltar Strait it was good to have another beat in better conditions.  As the track shows, our tacking angles weren't great.  For the first time for ages our boat speed was higher than our SoG which tends to suggest adverse tide.

The motoring wasn't too bad.  Perhaps we're getting used to it.  In calm conditions we now motor at 1600rpm which is a much less noisy experience than our usual 2000rpm.  Nevertheless it was very nice to kill the donk and enjoy a very nice sail to our destination.

Sunrise

Windpilot in charge

We arrived in Cala Saona on the west coast of Formentera just after midnight with the moon just rising.  We used radar to help pick our way between anchored boats in the bay.  We slept well in the light offshore breeze.

The next morning we awoke to find ourselves in a light SW breeze which was bringing a little chop into the anchorage.  We had a very nice swim in the 25C water.  As boats came and went we moved Zen Again south into the lee of the headland and enjoyed the antics of the day trippers.

View SW in Cala Saona

We decided to stay for another night which was a mistake.  There were 8-10 boats in the bay and all were rolling heavily.  The wind died but the slop didn't.  Seems that the slop was a short swell from the stronger SW winds to the W.  We've anchored in much more rolly conditions but it was not pleasant.  We'll be paying more attention to the Wave GRIBs from now on!

Rockin'

From Formentera we head north around the 'top' of Ibiza in several day sails.