Spinnaker fishing on the final stage to Toulon, 23-25 October

 The final stage from Menorca to Toulon was 215 nautical miles. The wind was as forecasted, astern from start to end, in the 6-8 m/s (12-15 knots). We used our "code 0" rather than the spinnaker for ease of gybing at night from one tack to the other, as required.

Wind astern on the way to Toulon under code 0

We had planed for a 40+ hours ride. But this was without counting on the hazards of the sea...

We started early on 23 October and soon we were sailing back wind under code 0. It went very nicely all day long until 1:00 in the morning. This was a moonless night and we could hardly distinguish anything in our environment. At this time, we had the wind a bit sideways, and therefore the code 0 was behind the main sail, allowing us to go significantly faster. Suddenly, the speed decreased significantly, and the boat became a bit non reactive. We decided to gybe and hence, tried to furl the code 0, but the fuller was very difficult to operate. Using a torch light, we realised that the code 0 had gone. A quick inspection indicated that the halyard had broken and the spinnaker was right under the hull, still holding from the tack and the clew. It took a good hour to get it back onboard, unaffected by the rudders or the propeller! Therefore, we finished the journey under the genoa.

Departure from Ciutadela in Menorca, early morning, 23 October.

We arrived in Toulon around 1:30 the following night, and moored for the night in Méjean bay close to Toulon before heading to Saint-Mandrier in the morning. There was virtually no wind but still a heavy swell from the past days making it a bit rock'n roll to sleep onboard. But the spade anchor did again a perfect job along with the home made damper. We could eventually sleep a few hours.

Night trace on anchor in Méjean bay

Entering the Toulon bay, between old military boats and seized yacht under sanctions

Saint-Mandrier harbour where Belisama will winter, close to Louve and Yüna, my two grand daughters

Overall, from Rochefort to Saint-Mandrier (not including the Brittany tour in June), we covered 2081 nautical miles (3813 km) in 48 days. The route that we prepared was 1860 nm long but it took an additional 220 nm in relation to tacking our way at some stages. We averaged 44 nm per day, corresponding roughly to 8.5 hours sailing every day. Quite an undertaking overall!

We were very lucky with the weather, sailing in teeshirt for most of the trip!