10) Menorca, Spain

Puerto de Fornells, Menorca, Islas Baleares, Spain 40° 03.9 N 04° 08.2 E

 10:15am

The mouth to this natural inlet is fairly narrow.  This body of water is considered a safe haven for boats when storms occur and there is a navigation range that helps with the approach. (Range: Two lights in the distance on land; the forward light is lower than the aft light; when lined up vertically you are on an invisible line that extends out the entrance of the harbor; as long as you keep those two lights lined up vertically on your way in you will not go aground.) 

Range markers are the white towers.

There wasn’t any traffic to speak of on our way in and we had the entire channel to ourselves.  The approach went well and we set the 75lb CQR anchor and 125’ of

all-chain rode in about 13’ of water.  We had an issue of the boat not responding well in reverse while trying to set the hook and we think it might be the line wrapped on the prop shaft.  This morning I will dive it and cut it free if it is still there. 

 

Onshore looked pretty quiet last night so we decided to eat in.  Alan, of course found something to work on.  John found something to keep himself busy, too.  A couple days ago at sea I noticed that something dirty brown had leaked from the top shelf of the refrigerator (oh, by the way, on this boat there is a real refrigerator like you seen in a house).  I knew I was going to clean it up and edit the fridge contents but could not do it underway. 

Last night I discovered that the chili in a bag leaked.  I cleaned the fridge and cooked the chili.  Unfortunately, all the liquid had leaked out and it was a pretty dry looking chili.  I added a can of diced tomatoes and salvaged the grub.

We have some boat issues going on.  The gen-set (generator) can only be started from down below in the engine room due to some inter-galactic force that has gathered and conspired to make Alan figure it out.  Alan is an electrical engineer and apparently he loves everything electrical.  If he had it his way we’d still be in Rome and he’d be re-wiring the entire boat and drawing new schematics.  Hell, we were on our way into this inlet and John had to tell him to get up from the table he’d been at for the last 8 hours drawing the gen-set wiring to see what we were seeing.  It was beautiful.  The sharp jagged cliffs, the sun setting, the fishing boats, the buildings on shore, and the clouds.  We remarked that we were seeing the beauty of the world and Alan was missing it all.  I guess you can tell that there is animosity growing.  This is one of the risks of crews.  Alan wants a perfect boat that makes sense and John, and I, understand that a 20-year old boat is what it is.  Back in Italy John and I agreed to get the hell out of town and work on the boat in the next exotic port.  I felt that if we had sails, an engine and some food we’d be fine.  Don’t get me wrong about Alan’s talents.  He’s a genius regarding electrical work and wiring and understanding.  He has fixed too many things to list. 

The next big issue is that the freshwater pump will not stop running when a faucet is opened.  It is drawing air from somewhere.  John thinks an o-ring on the pump needs to be replaced.  The pump is located in a difficult place down below in the engine room.  The plan is to fix the gen-set first and then work on the water pump.  John is outside scrubbing decks, Alan is below in the engine room and I’m about ready to get in the water.

When we got into Bonifacio Sunday morning I got pretty wet doing the dinghy work.  I took a shower and got on some dry clean clothes.  I am still wearing those same clothes 4 days later.  You don’t really sweat at sea and it is impossible to take a shower underway.  While on a passage you tend not to care about anything but sitting somewhere comfortable while on watch and sleeping in your bunk.  Changing clothes is not that important in the big picture while underway.  Yes, the clothes got dirty and I did know it was not normal.  It takes a little getting used to altering your everyday habits to get along in this environment.  I had the opportunity to shower last night but I knew I was getting in the saltwater this morning and I thought why waste a shower and clean clothes.  Once the gen-set is turned on and the water is heated (electrically operated water heater, not engine heated) I’ll get in the water, cut the line free and then take a shower.

We talked yesterday of hiking up the hills for a view of the inlet approach.  There are some ruins on the other side of the bay.  There might be something to see on the shore where all the condos and buildings are. 

6:30pm

John was in the water this morning before me and said the water was perfect.  I looked at the temp gauge at the nav table and it said 75°.  I was shocked how cold it felt after I jumped in.  After I got my breath I made my way to the prop.  It didn’t look too good.  I noticed a large clump of line on the prop shaft.

On this particular boat the prop is within about 3-4” of the keel and does not have much room for a line to wrap.  After several breath-hold dives and a few attempts to cut it free I went and got a scuba rig.  I am guessing that it took me about twenty minutes to cut it free.  It managed to wind itself so tight while wrapping that it heated up to its melting temperature and some of it melted and was hard.  The line also scraped away bottom paint and fiberglass. 

There are some rope fibers that made their way into the bearing and some that fused with the fiberglass.  There is the possibility that the boat will have to be hauled out of the water during our trip west.  Water that migrates into fiberglass is a very serious problem.  One good thing going for this current problem is that the keel is lead and the glass does not go very far so real serious damage most likely will not occur.

So, I cut the line free, the gen-set is running, John takes a hot shower, Alan takes a hot shower, Alan puts in a load of laundry and then John tells me to hurry up and shower so we can go ashore and get a beer and some lunch.  I have taken my last cold shower on this boat and let them know.  During my shower the water pressure failed.  There was scant hot water for my first rinse and for my final rinse I had to use a 2-liter water bottle from the galley.  It was ice cold.  I didn’t appreciate the load of laundry Alan started knowing the laundry machine leaks and that I needed a shower, too.  Very inconsiderate and that falls in line with some other things. 

For example, and yes I’m pissin’ and moanin’ right now, during the rough passage where Alan got sick I made tortellini for John and I while underway in the middle of the seas.  I knew we needed a meal to keep our strength up.  We needed at least one big meal to hold us a long time and a big bowl of pasta will do that.  Around noon I finally talked myself into getting up out of the cockpit and making my way to the galley.  I fried some pancetta, boiled water and pasta, added fresh garlic, fresh tomatoes, pine nuts, ground black pepper, sliced some fresh Parmesan and paired it with a chunk of authentic French bread from Bonifacio, France with butter.  I knew this was going to be good.  John and I were in heaven.  We had so much that neither of us could finish our servings and we saved them in the fridge for later that night.  Keep in mind that the stove is gimbaled and rocks with the boat to keep it level.  But, you still have to hold onto whatever is cooking.  And, I opened the portholes so I could constantly keep sight of the horizon so as to ward off seasickness.

Our agreed upon ritual is that whomever cooks doesn’t clean.  Fair enough.  After I prepared this meal I put all the dishes in the sink and the big pot on the floor.  We knew neither one of us was going to clean dishes until it was safe and we knew that was when we made it to port.  Well, after we made it to port and Alan had come out of his fog he decided to do the dishes the morning after we dropped the hook.  At some point that morning wherein the three of us crossed paths in the galley and had a short conversation he actually said to us that he did the dishes and didn’t appreciate that the food had dried in place and that we needed to be more considerate!  I let him know in a nice way that I cooked that food underway while he was sick in the rough seas and there was a water pressure issue and neither of us was about to do the dishes.  We never woke him up for his watches or asked him to do his watches.  We covered for him and said that’s the way it goes.  Sleep on a boat on a passage is worth its weight in gold.