Sardinia to Tunisia

Hi everyone,

Our final passage of our first Schengen cruise from the UK to Tunisia was the usual Mediterranean mixture of sailing and motoring.  We tried a new strategy for our route, staying clear of high CAPE (thunderstorm prone areas) in the hope of seeing the predicted gradient wind.  That seemed to work quite well.  Sadly however the gradient wind varied between light and calm after few hours of thunderstorm-related moderate wind.

Approaching Tunisia

We departed Carloforte at 1030.  Our track shows as getting our southing initially so as to stay out of high CAPE SE of Sardinia.  The worked nicely.  The sail south was in a nice breeze which veered from WNW towards NNW.  We gybed east and the NNW wind held in until after midnight, giving us a very pleasant sail.

The motor stayed on until 1000 on day 2.  A new bank of high cloud came over early in the morning, presumably from the high CAPE area now to our north.    By 1000 the cloud was starting to clear and with that came a little wind - 7 to 9 knots, gusting to 12 knots.  Zen Again loves reaching in light airs and we made pretty good time.

The engine came back on at 2100 on day 2 and stayed on until 1700 on day 3.  We were alternating between motoring and motor-sailing as the wind varied between flat calm and 5-6 knots.  Around sunset we zigged south to 'cut the corner' and cross the main shipping lane between Suez and the western Med.

Shortly after passing Cap Bon the Tunisia Coastguard called us on VHF 16.  They wanted our destination, last port, flag and crew nationalities, very like when approaching Australia except they didn't ask if we had animals aboard.  It was nice to sail the last 2 hours prior to arrival in Monastir.  Our Fremantle Sailing Club friends on sv Revision II answered our call to the marina on VHF and were there to take our lines on arrival.  Twas surreal to meet them so far from home!

Here are the plots...

Track

Arrival Detail (note the CM93 offset and lack of detail)

Graphs

And here are the vital stats for the passage…

    • Distances/Speeds

        • Route Distance = 290nm

        • Logged Distance = 354nm (log still under-reading)

        • GPS Distance = 299nm

        • Duration = 57 hours

        • Average speed over ground = 5.2 kt

        • Minimum boat speed = 3 kt

        • Maximum boat speed = 7 kt

    • Weather

        • Minimum wind speed = 3 kt

        • Average wind speed = 8 kt

        • Maximum wind speed = gusts to 26 kt

        • Apparent wind angle range = 90 to 150

        • Seas up to 1.0m

        • Swell up to 0.75m

        • High overcast slowly clearing to cloud-free but hazy sky

    • Engine

        • Total = 32 hours

Sardinia in our wake

Nice sailing for part of the passage

Hazy Sunset

Approaching Monastir

Approaching Marina Cap Monastir

Entering the marina

View to north from marina entrance

Monastir Ribat

On arrival we secured Zen Again at the fuel jetty.  There's a sunken motor vessel alongside part of the jetty.  From there we walked with the Revision IIs to the police and customs office to clear in.  The police inspected our (single) Covid vaccination cards and our PCR tests done a few days ago in Sardinia.  These were sufficient for us to avoid quarantine aboard - fantastic!  Customs gave us our entry stamp in our passports, with no comment about Schengen exit stamps.

We then had to move Zen Again into her assigned berth, just on last light.  The Capitainerie staff helped us moor and then the customs officials came aboard to inspect the vessel.  We'd prepared lists of our electronics, wine/spirits and medicines prior to arrival which proved useful.  Within 2 hours we were officially in Tunisia and able to stay for 3 months.  The Q flag was struck.

Yesterday morning we paid for our 3 month stay.  A total (inc power & water) of about 2400 TND, equivalent to 1160 AUD.  The Tunisian Dollar is interesting in that each comprises 1000 millis.  So amounts look 10 times higher than they really are!  So 2400,000 is 2400 TND, not the 24000!  

Later the Revision IIs took us for an interesting walk around the town.  Lots of similarities to parts of Indonesia, unsurprisingly since both are developing Islamic countries.  There are many cafes and restaurants in the marina complex, and a small supermarket.  It's a 10 minute walk into the Medina (the old walled town with many shop-lined lanes).

Today we got our local SIM cards - 58 TND  (28 AUD) for one month including 55GB.

Looking forward to exploring Monastir and further afield in Tunisia over the next 3 months.  Watch this space!