David's Diary: Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Leaving Spain

The weather forecast informs us that there is high pressure over the entire Western Mediterranean Sea. We cast off from Ciutadella at mid-morning and motor out past the harbour light. The wind is light as we motor around the northern end of Menorca. We had hoped to spend more time on this Balearic Island, but good weather forecasts in May and hard to come by.

Karalee In Charge

We plan to do our longest passage ever, more than 275 nautical miles (600 kilometers) from Menorca to Corsica, France crossing almost the entire Western Mediterranean Sea. We have made enough passages that the boat takes up our watch system right away with Karalee in charge for the first four hours. We do three four-hour watches during the day and four three-hour watches during the night. This passage is expected to take a day and a half.

Middle of the Mediterranean

More than a year ago, Karalee and I planned this passage. Even then, we knew that this would be one of the biggest challenges that we faced in our Mediterranean travels. The afternoon weather forecast is good and we motor away from Menorca on a glassy smooth sea. In the late afternoon, we are far out of sight of land. The kids are hot so we stop and float on the gentle swells as Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen all go for a swim.