After a wonderful winter in Marina di Ragusa, Sicily, we said our see-ya-laters to our new friends, and putting the finals touches to turning a home into a sea-going ship. It was time to go.
We made a break from the dock at 0430 for a two hundred mile passage to Monastir, Tunisia. I want to return some of the Sahara sand that was deposited on our boat over the winter. The weather forecast was good with wind on the starboard beam that would get us there after 38 hours, if we maintained a 5 knot pace. We would spend one night at sea to arrive before sunset the next day. We started motoring in light winds off the bow and as the wind filled we raised the main for a little assistance to the engine. With 15 knots of wind we shut off the engine and were close hauling at 4.5 knots in choppy seas - H2OBO was sluggish due to the winter growth on her bottom, which is one of the reasons for hauling out in Tunisia. Our course was about 15 degrees south of our intended one, but we thought that the forecasted winds would veer to the north, bring back us back on course, and we would make up time by setting sails for a beam reach.
Our destination is known for having good cruising facilities, inexpensive prices, especially for fuel. Many cruisers go there just to buy fuel at a fraction of the cost here in Italy. Being frugal I calculated that we were only carrying 80 instead of the 120 liters that would be needed to motor all the way to Monastir. We needed to sail; why bring fuel to Tunisia?
After 45 miles, we became concerned when it was apparent the forecast was failing - instead of being carried northwards we were backing to the south. This brought the reality that we would be traveling northwards along the Tunisian coast riddled with unlit fishing boats a second night in high winds that were due from the west.
So we turned back for Sicily and sailed into the anchorage in Licata at 2000 hours. Two boats set off with us, one turned back also and the one with enough fuel to motor all the way continued. When we were safely tucked away at anchor for the night, I checked the updated forecast and it showed that had we continued everything would have worked out fine.
We have no regrets, though, when faced with a decision we always try to choose the safer one. The upside is that, we got a good night's sleep, everything worked well on our 80-mile shake-out cruise, we saw three sets of dolphins, and we get to check out a new anchorage.
We have to make new plans, but there is no rush: Africa is still there.
Branko
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