Crewing the Med: Cabin fever

Jumping dolphin, Sicily

Log & Chart

We are such different people crammed into this small vessel, cabin fever sets in as tiny quarrels develop between some simply for the sake of it. I’m not sure if it’s a hangover from some high corporate practice but if something goes wrong the excuses are sounded and blame allocated with great efficiency, unlike the fix or the sense of shared learning.

Over a two-day crossing the waves grant us little sleep as the boat wallows and slams around.
During my night watch we cut between lightning storms passing to the north and south, great flashes mark either end of the Milky Way.

In the middle of the ocean a board private jet dives down to buzz our mast then roars off. WhatsApp notifications sounds a 21st century Land Ho; Ping! Ping! Sardinia must be within range. Even in a seemingly empty seascape modern times make their mark.

The mood sinks again as the two alpha males duel it out with passive aggressive one liners, one using belittling direction the other happy to use ignorance to avoid participation. Given the minimal introduction, compact and sometimes stressful environment with a side order of sleep deprivation life aboard feels like a social experiment even NASA would be wary of running.

While others go ashore to explore a beach I doze on deck. Months on the bike binging on cheap solitude and ferrel independence has meant the transition to crew life has required some acclimatisation, my more introvert self is rejuvenated with a little space.
Swimming round a tiny island also helps ease the mind with exercise.

Two day crossing to Mallorca

A rough sea makes sleep a distant dream, as the bow of the boat crests up over waves it then slams down into the deep troughs. Weightless.. thump. Weightless.. thump. Weightless…. THUMP. As if slung from ceiling to floor buy a ceaseless wrestling team, you have to wedge yourself into your bunk, torrents of water rushing past inch away trough the skin of the hull. When I do nod off its to a bazaar purgatory dream state; Walking through a fantasied town with the gravity of reality persisting through, floating me up then crashing me down like an astronaut on a moon walk through a beanie crowd.

Morning coffee helps thaw conversation between two crew members where it had iced up over the last week, it’s a relief for all.

An oil leak dribbles from the gearbox just as the wind dies. We bob along, limp sails as a flurry of spanners and wrench work try to diagnose the issue. We use a small camera on a stick to peer under the immovable lumps of machinery deep in the engine compartment. After an hour or tweaking a few hydraulic hoses it seems to stop though its guess-work, so we potter on with caution, still miles from land.

A patches of flat features sea erupts in a frenzy of white froth, something is chasing a large shoal to the surface, opportunistic birds flank from above.

Late into my solitary night watch I’m finally caught in a lightning storm, a moonless deep star-scape outlines pitch black clouds, glowing bright as cracks of white light racing across their bellies. Rain lashes across as I batten down the hatches, soaked through in seconds, exhilarating as it washes the salt from me and the boat. Tempestuous winds howl around playing havoc with the sails, then in a flash all falls quiet again, just the sound of dripping sails in darkness.

During travels with the bike I was given meals and shelter by strangers to whom wealth was a roof, they would laugh if I were to try to repay in either action or money, it was the most warming confirmation of humanity. Aboard its strange watching those of a dramatically differ economic status fall out in bitter fashion over petty sums; worth of fishing equipment – neither dare lose face, both condemn the other an idiot.
People have the right to use their hard-earned wealth as they see fit but despite insignificant value would rather quarrel themselves angry, ransoms a collective spirit and solicited others into the fraction.
For a leg spent spectating such behaviour in such contrast to the one before it feels very educational. Money and happiness; the cliché rings true, as the old ones always do. I preferred it when people talked of houses as homes not assets.
For the first time since leaving England I find myself thinking of home and the road again along with all the warm relationships I’ve found along the way.

Palmer Mallorca welcomes us to Spain and the fist new country for me in a while, usually “border days” would have me excited, though it seems a little uneventful, traveling by boat seem to have subdue the interactions that I have found mark the changes, many marinas seem to mute their local character. On a boat you have to consciously opt into the surrounding, stepping out over the sea water moat, while on the bike there is no choice, you’re naked to the environment, the passing hellos, wild dogs and hospitality. It can make it stressful but all the more richer.

At midnight the huge marina falls quite except for dolphins splashing among the monstrous super yachts.

Crew members Tigs and Mike depart while Wayne joins us for a few days. Tigs unfortunately must be with her family while Mike has got what he needed from the experience, both have felt the push of our unbending skipper and seem relieved to be moving on, I just hope the relief is shared with him as well so that we may all relax. It’s sad to say goodbye to Tigs but is has opened up a spot on the boat for me, one going all the way across the Atlantic. To the Caribbean. Maybe even Panama and South America.


Log & Chart

Date
Time
Latitude
Longitude
Trip
Wind
COG
SOG
Bar
Sea
Cloud
Engine
Notes
3/9/201506:003468V 12535.51013Sm0Left Rinella, water maker on
10:0038.2583°N014.9842°E3493SW 224571013Sm0Water maker off, 3hr: 150ltr
12:3038.2085°N013.5711°E3510E 22506.61014Sm0
17:2038.2073°N013.3304°E3540xAnchored Mondello, Sicily - 72nm motoring, 🙁
4/9/201507:303540Heading for Sardinia
11:0038.6886°N3563SW 42806.41014Sm0Engine on
14:0038.2136°N012.2949°E3581SW 42906.71013SL1xSailing, watch change
17:0038.2684°N012.0461°E3601S SW 42857.71012SL0x
20:0038.3039°N011.3958°E3621SW 42707.81011M2xFull beam reach
22:1038.2403°N011.1790°E3638SW 52757.81011SL2xFull sail, storms passing to south and north
5/9/201502:0038.3843°N010.4453°E3666S SW 628581009M0xOver 9 knots, Wind 30 knots, all sails reefed
05:1038.4874°N010.2483°E3686N NW 724251009M0xLow passed through 1009 bar rising, wind veered 160°
10:0038.5249°N010.0128°E3717W NW 63326.81013M1x
14:0039.0575°N009.4169°E3743W 63196.61013M3x
16:3039.1194°N009.5062°E37561013Marina Villasimius
6/9/201508:0039.1194°N009.5062°E3756V 12446.11016Sm2xSlipped marina on motor, switched to sail 08:35
13:003786Engine on
14:103792NW 22276.81016Sm2Water maker on, noticed small leans in engine
15:2038.8934°N008.8114°E3796Anchored Porto Malpatano
7/9/201506:5038.8934°N008.8114°E3796NW 2P6.91016Sm1Upped anchor
08:1038.5143°N008.3994°ENW 32591018SLMotorsail around headland
14:0038.5269°N007.5439°E3840NW 42667.41017M1xFull sail
22:0038.4364°N006.4070°E3899N NW 72766.91017M0xPut reefs in all sail, close hauled at 55°
8/9/201502:2038.4682°N006.0994°E3923N 42795.51016M1Engine On
07:5038.5420°N005.2824°E3956N NW 22806.81014SL6Water maker on, Diesel: 275ltrs
08:50Water maker off, oil leak - hydraulic clutch, from filler cap
10:5038.5820°N005.0950°E3971NW 1-22815.41014SL5Check oil filter, coolant hose (may need new washer) added oil, 1500 RPM
14:0038.0105°N004.4571°E3990NW 1-22776.21014SL6Pit reves to 1800 RPM, no sign of leek
21:0039.0676°N003.5424°E4035NW 12856.31013SL2Lightning in the distance
22:104037N NW 42707.81014SL7xHeavy rain, engin off
9/9/201502:0039.1350°N003.1445°E4062N 42837.11013SL2xStill Lightning N and S
06:0039.2120°N002.1711°E4084N 42977.11013SL3x
09:1539.5648°N002.6347°E4101N NW 11013SL3xArrive in RCNP Palmer Majorca. Goodbye to Tiggs & Mike
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