What was supposed to be a 110 nautical miles in straight line ended-up being 200 miles when considering the tacking involved in relation with headwinds and currents. We had planed for a 24 hour ride but it took us 36 hours all together to reach Cartagena (a day, a night and a day).
Belisama track exported to Google earth
So, what went wrong in the planning?
First, we did not consider seriously enough the currents once we had passed Gibraltar. On the first segment, we had supportive strong current as we passed along Malaga. We were tacking upwind, but as you can see on the track, when tacking our new route would be at a 120° angle rather than the 80°/90° that such boats are capable of. But once in the Golfo de Vera, between Almeria and Cartagena, we started experiencing much stronger head current than expected during the night as we were sailing through heavy headwinds and waves under trinquette and one reef. Our speed was around 3.5 to 4 knots and the tacking particularly ineffective with tacking angles around 60°!
Overlaying our trace from the Belisama chart plotter over Windy suing the "current" layer
Second problem, the engine! We decided in the middle of the night to try going straight to Cartagena under engine as tacking was so ineffective. We could maintain a speed of 4 knots running the engine at 2000rpm. But at least these 4 knots would be heading in the right direction! But within minutes, the engine developed a long coughing fit and I preferred to stop the engine preventively.
Having learned from Cybèle 17 similar cough due to dirt in the gasoil, I thought that we might have the same problem, and that heavy shaking of the boat in the tough sea might had put the dirt in the tanks back in suspension. Below, you can see the result of the investigation once securely moored in Cartagena. Indeed, in the pre-filter gasoil, we could identify a thick layer of dirt (bottom of the glass) that would make cough any engine.
We had to wait until Monday morning to get new filters supplied by the marina, which we fitted and departed late afternoon to cross to Alicante.
Filter and pre-filter clogged with dirt...
By the way Cartagena has a lot to offer beyond ship-chandlers and mechanics.
'Pablo Picasso' by Spanish Goyo203 (@goyo203) in Cartagena, Spain
Departing late afternoon from Cartagena to Alicante
The trip so far in 2022...
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