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Siacca (sicily) 2 May, 2002
Paparazzi e I Carabinieri,
After waiting a long time for good weather to depart from Mallorca to Sardegna, we finally departed at April 5 towards Tunisia. The wind was NW force 4 and the predictions were good, but lateron feeble SE winds were predicted for the second part of our crossing. Nothing to worry about so we skipped the plan to stop and assess the weather in again Menorca and set sail directly for Tunisia. Anticipating the S and SE winds, we went far S so we could always �fall down� towards Sardegna in case of bad weather. The first 2 days this strategy worked and we got halfway Tunesia (which is 300nm from Mallorca, or 3 days of sailing, normally). Then the wind disappeared, and changed to E and increased. At that moment we had to choose to change our course for either Algeria or Sardegna. We chose the latter (because we did not have visa for Algeria and did not know mucho about recent political developments there) and went NE while the weather became more and more instable and windy. The third night we could see the lights of Sardegna but had to tack into an increasing wind. On the forth day, the wind increased to a force 6 and later a full force 7 and we were quite tired and did not make any progress against the wind (storm jib and 3 reefed mainsail) anymore. We motorsailed for five hours to get into the bay of Oristano with the motor at full power, just making 2,5 knots. We were quite glad to arrive.
In Oristano the Caribineiri (some kind of Italian police) wanted a paper about our insurance which we discovered had just expired (the paper, not the insurance) and took our passports until we gave them a fax with our proof of insurance two days later. They were very fuzzy and formal and a complete oposite to the Sardegnan fisherman (Federico) that �adopted� us from the first moment and did not cease to invite us at his home, for pasta and other lovely italian food. Very very friendly people in Sardegna. The weather remained bad and we wanted to depart for Tunisia because our friends Petra and Rene were coming to visit us there. To make the waiting easier we took the train to Cagliari and visited this pretty town, stayed in a hotel and ate pizze. Finally the weather improved and we departed from Oristano for another Sardegnan town towards the south, but on the way the weather improved and we decided to continue to Tunisia.
�Il est rigolo, le Tunesie�, Adrien, (sailor on board of the Salta Ola, 4 years old).
The trip from Sardegna (Oristano) to Tunisia took two days and two nights. The first day we had little wind and quietly floated along the coast of Sardegna, but in the afternoon a steady wind from the NW came up and we started to make good progress. The night was clear with tons of stars, some of which shooting. At daybreak, at high seas, Mira woke me up because there was another sailing boat in sight. Dolphins played around the other boat and Mira was hoping that they would come play with us and the boat were our friends from the Salta Ola. Of course and too bad it was a huge posh British yacht. The wind stayed from behind force 4-5 and we �flew� towards Tunesia and we started to see some cargo ships. The night was clear again but loads of ships as we approached the coast. In the morning two huge commercial ships, side by side, came so close that I had to change course 90 degrees and call them on the VHF radio to find out what their plans (with us) were. After a breathtaking 10 minutes they passed us each at one side at about 50 meters. We could clearly smell their coffee.
The problem with these ships is that they are so much faster that you feel like a snail on a motorway: whatever you do, it doesnot really matter. Also, with their radar, they can plot your course and speed long before you can even see them. They only thing you can do (without a radar) is hoping and praying that they notice you, that they like Dutch people and take a wise decision.
Around 9 o�clock we entered the port of Biserte where we moor in the port de plaisance, a small and pleasant place. Immediately, the customs and police come on board to complete the paperwork. They are friendly and helpful but quitely ask for a bottle of wine and chocolats when their superior has left. The bottle routinely disappears in the inner pocket of his overcoat.
One thing that we did not like about the trip to Tunisia, was the appearance of an awkward sound in our rudder. The sound was caused by play on the bearings of the rudder stock. We did not like it at all, although there is no risk for loosing the blade of our rudder since it is not only suspended from above but also supported by the skeg. However, when we arrived in the Northern Tunisian port of Biserte on Monday, we heard that it was very cheap to take the boat out of the water. So we made a quick decision and on Tuesday we took the boat out of the water in the port de peche (our 3,5 ton boat in a huge 150 ton boatlift�) and we hired someone to clean and paint the bottom while we started to take out the rudder. On Wednesday we found that the play on the rudder could be eliminated by placing a ring somewhere. I had a teflon ring made for this purpose and we put the rudder back in place and on Thursday we went back to the port de plaisance with new paint, the hull waxed, new annodes and most importantly a repaired rudder!
From email and phonecalls we knew that Jose and Sandra, our Swiss friends and neighbours from Mallorca, were on their way to Biserte and we were looking forward very much to see them again. They arrived tired but happy on Thursday evening and we cooked them a meal with fresh fish and tons of strawberries (it is strawberry time here). �Il est rigolo, le Tunesie�, Adrian, 4 years old, had quickly formed his opinion after eating a pound of strawberries the first evening.
The following day, our friends from Utrecht, Petra and Renee arrived in Bizerte. Planning to meet us, they had booked a vacation to Tunesia on the day we departed from Mallorca and were very happy to see that we had actually made it in time. We had already prepared (cleaned up) the boat for them (the berths that they were going to use are normally full of ropes, sails and sailcovers etc that now had to find another place). Fortunately, they are not too big both of them and have no huge egos either. Such things help a lot when you plan to stay with 4 people in a space of about 12 sq. meter. Although P&R had prepared themselves formidable by taking a sailing course on the Vinkeveense plassen, we decided to stay in port for the first few days because of bad weather. So we made a trip into the interior close to the Algerian border and visited the Bardo museum with its marvelous Roman mosaics in Tunis. After that we had a very fast trip to Sidi Bou Said (Carthago) which our guests enjoyed very much. On our way we say dolphins and almost caught a huge tuna that was so heavy that it broke our fishing line. We were very pleased that P&R got all these experiences on their sailing trip with us.