Crossing from Menorca to Sardinia in May next year

[SaltyMetals]

Dune,
my info comes from the daughter of an Italian admiral (as was my father-in-law) so i suppose she is well informed. You now have the Navtex info so maybe that will help.
Andrew

[dune16]

Originally Posted by SaltyMetals

Dune,
my info comes from the daughter of an Italian admiral (as was my father-in-law) so i suppose she is well informed. You now have the Navtex info so maybe that will help.
Andrew

Yes, appreciate the info. First big crossing for us so a little bit of information overload 🤣

From what I can see on navtex info we would be OK to go direct from carloforte to cagliari, no stopping and hug the coast line. We'd almost certainly be doing this on Tuesday 24th (not 22nd) if weather forecast holds up.

Any opinions from the more experienced cruisers than myself really appreciated.

[goeasy123]

We've just done that crossing... with a nervous 1st mate:


1. There are potentially three opposing weather systems from S France, S Sicily and from the Alboran Sea. This means you can get very confused and uncomfortable seas despite low forecast winds. Wait until you have a settle single wind direction.

2. Also a weather routed sailing track is likely to be bent considerably. It's worth looking a 12 hour spaced departures on weather routing software. The differences in times can be significant.

2. Sifredi Marina on Carloforte is good and the town is a good place to recover. Buy fuel at the local road station behind the marina office. The marina has a 100ltr transfer trolley. The nearest dock fuel is at Calasetta at 2.24EURO/ltr last week!!

[dune16]

Just a quick update. We left Mahon Sunday morning at 5am. Calm seas and not enough wind in the right direction to be useful for 90% of the crossing. 28 hours later we arrived safely in Carloforte. Following day we left Carloforte for Cagliari and arrived 8 hours later after taking a very wide course around the naval exercises going on. Mission accomplished, now to relax for a few days before heading back to the UK on Saturday.

Thanks for all the advice, it was appreciated 👍

[Arnod]

Great to read all of this advice as we are hoping to cross later this week! So many wind forecasts to review!

[dune16]

Originally Posted by Arnod

Great to read all of this advice as we are hoping to cross later this week! So many wind forecasts to review!

Yes, pick the best weather window and all will be fine. We are on the move again this Saturday. This time we are going from Sicily to Croatia.

Have a great crossing 👍

[Arnod]

Croatia is on our list, too! Enjoy your voyage.

Our Volvo engine has started emitting steam, so staying in Palma to get it looked at before crossing. Don’t want to risk engine failure in the middle of a crossing.

May end up staying here overwinter if we miss the weather window before heading home to Canada late October. We had originally planned to overwinter in Sicily, but will move moorage deposit to next year if required.

[SaltyMetals]

Arnod,

Crossing from Palma (better angle to the wind if you cross from Mahon/Menorca) is not difficult as long as you watch out for the mistral which can be vicous, breaking waves, etc. Aim for Carloforte, then if going to Sicily go direct from Carloforte instead of stopping Cagliari or Vilasimius. Latter would give you shorter crossing to Sicily and has the option of anchoring (free?) outside on E or E side of the peninsular depending on wind, or taking a spot in the marina.

If you go to Sicily don't miss the Aeolie islands. Magical.