Allan McCashin

Gentle motor sail round to Portinatx.

Wind behind me as I left Cartagena. doing 7-8 knotrs for about the first 8 hours.. Wind dropped off and speed down to 5-6 Knots. A lot of traff8ce right through to 2am. Both vertical and horizontal. Wind changed direction to strong NE 40 degrees on the starboard bow 25 knots. Decided to change my landing spot to here, rather than hippy bay fir more protection from the NE winds. Engine Hours 545.

Fuel stop.

Weather reasonable. Slight wind 10-11 max on the stern which pushed me along at 8 to 9 knots for about 10 hours. Motored round the Almeria point, speed reduced by 3 knots. Now anchored in the south side of the bay at Cartagena. Engine hours Start 487 end 520. No maintenance issues. 😁

Great sail back to Gibraltar. Picked the perfect day and conditions. Steady westerly 13kn gusts no more than 17kn. Traffic in the straits were a bit busy than usual all the way into the bay. Bombay Sapphire hit 10.3 Kn coming round and the point into the Bay of Gibraltar.

Waited until I cleared Punta Alema Cueta until I could get a better feel for the wind gust. 60% head sail out and headed 345 for the middle of Gibraltar bay. Bit lump but a great sail over. wind dusted 30 kts max.

Tonic the Cat's first saling passage. Beautiful sailing over the straits. First passage under sail with the new sails and rigging. Perfect!