rose & brian 22 december 2009 mallorca to tunisia hi

8/14/2019 Rose & Brian 22 December 2009 Mallorca to Tunisia Hi

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Rose & Brian 22 December 2009

Mallorca to Tunisia

Hi All

Our Rough Guides forTunisia and Italy werescheduled to arrive onThursday 10th December, sowe were only able toleave for Tunisia thatday, skirting southaround the predicted highwinds and waves sweepingdown from the Gulf of

Lyon through the straitsbetween Sardinia andTunisia, like this!

Our week of continued rest in Palma was filled as predictedwith further shopping expeditions as well as sight seeing.

Having acquired a 10 trippass for the buses, weheaded up to the bigshopping malls at thenorth end of town, on theperipherique aroundPalma. Wandering aroundin pouring rain (yes, weare getting our sharenow), we found a massiveDIY store where we foundaluminium sheet for

Brians plannedinstrument panel. Therewas also decorative

panels which we decided would be perfect to make more storageracks for the saloon. Bill Cowie, the previous owner ofAlixora, had put up very simple but effective ones from Ikea.We had hunted for similar ones to match, but in vain, so wewere back to creating our own from scratch. The result is notquite as delicate as the originals, but makes masses morespace for our books and the wires for the TV, which was alsofixed in place with some ingenious brackets.

Our search for a wifi high gain antenna was finally rewardedwith the help of the recommendations we had received. Having


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successfully found the antenna, we were really lucky to thenfind a computer shop just over the road which had the USBconversion to co-ax widget, so we were fixed up. A rapidreturn trip to the antenna shop to get the appropriate cableand fittings and we were in business. This has worked reallywell along the way with boat access to distant internet sitesin all the ports we have visited (after a bit of fiddling!).Raising the aerial is now one of the first things we do whenarriving anywhere.

When it was sunny we cycled out alongthe promenade and up to the PuebloEspagnol a very weird collection ofsmaller size replicas of the facadesand

portions of famous Spanishbuildings all crammed together in a small walled enclave. Thecobbled streets were filled with stalls selling Christmassouvenirs and jewellery. The replica of part of the Alhambra(complete with Christmas tree) Roman baths and El Grecoshouse were the more memorable. We stopped off for lunch atthe Club del Mar caf a return trip was made on another daywhen we went to the Carrefour at the end of the prom to getfresh milk as the food was so nice and not too dear.

That weekend was the Nassau Beach hotel regatta held at theReal Club Nautico de Palma. This was a competition for tiny

dinghies (called Optimists I think) with young kids sailing


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them there were hundreds of them milling about including acontingent from Ireland. They look very cute!

One day was lovely and warm and I hadto make a Tunisian courtesy flag,having failed to find one anywhere onour travels. Brian was working in the

engine compartment, so I put thesewing machine on deck and made a verypretty flag with left overs from oursun awning and some white fabric thatI had in my box. Getting the appliquewhite circle with the cutout crescentand star in the same place on bothsides of the flag was an art!Judicious application of red felt tip pen to cover up some ofthe white stitching that wasnt quite coordinated on bothsides fixed it very nicely.

Finally our books arrived (after I almost chased a deliveryvan with an Amazon package on it but fortunately didnt asit wasnt ours!) and we set off at midday on 10th for a 3 daysail straight to Tabarka, the closest port in Tunisia.

Leaving Palma

It was a sunny but cool day, with a light breeze unfortunately not quite enough wind to just sail. There wereadvantages though at least it was nice and calm so I couldget on with making a huge spagetti bolognese which would lastus in various guises for the three day trip. That night and


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the following night the sky was alive with shooting stars some so close that you could see the vapour trail, and wegazed at the Milky Way and the constellations ruing the factthat we still dont have an astronomy book! We set up theexternal screen/TV with wires hung around doors and hatches it works brilliantly so the person on watch can see the routeto take on screen and ensure that we dont deviate too far offit. Being a TV, it has a remote control so you can switch itoff from the wheel when it isnt needed (it is rather bright,so it does nothing for your night vision which is required forspotting other ships)! This is luxury indeed. Our two wayradios were also pressed into use so that the person sleepingoff watch could be woken up in emergency (I am pleased to saythat we have not had to use them for that purpose yet).

The wind picked up as predicted,and while at the mast sorting out a

stuck reefing line I found that thevang or kicker (a heavy metalsprung strut which both supportsthe boom and holds it down withpulleys attached for adjustment)had broken its inch base plate inhalf and ripped it away from therivets holding it to the mast!Some time was spent sorting that out and tying it out of theway. The broken plate had gouged big scratches in one of thehatch covers and some of the tape covering the saloon windows,but nothing too serious.

On Friday night we passed our 3,000 nautical mile mark sincecollecting Alixora from Rhu! We celebrated with a glass ofwine and patted her deck for being such a sound boat.

Friday and Saturday we were bouncing around a lot, withintermittent strong winds (up to Force 6) every few hours anda heavy swell of about 3 or 4 metres all day, both wind andwaves from behind us. If you remember, the autohelm doesntusually like that at all, but we found that leaving the enginejust ticking over gave it enough power or direction to keep

behaving this time. During the worst of the weather ourtoilet pump decided to pack in, so Brian spent a lovelyafternoon rocking about, up to his elbows in poo, swapping thehi tech valve from the toilet in his workshop to the one weuse. The high tech bit is a rock clipped to a rubber flapthat acts as a weight to create a one way valve! The clip hadrusted through.

Tunisia


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Tunisia at dawn

Finally Sunday dawned, the wind and waves had died downovernight and the sun was shining on the dramatic NorthAfrican coast. I raised the smart new Tunisian flag and a newyellow quarantine flag as we were no longer in the EU and

that is what you are supposed to do! We were hailed on theVHF radio by both Algerian and Moroccan coastguards, and agrey motorlaunch came out from Tabarka to greet us and checkout our credentials yet again. We had probably sailed for athird of the time, and had the engine on the other two thirdskeeping us underway.

Tabarka Harbour

We were directed totie up alongside acatamaran (calledrafting up) and spenta couple of hoursgetting ourselvesofficially checked into Tunisia with muchfilling in of forms,stamping ofpassports, questionsbeing asked and

brushing up our French. The final office we called at was theCustoms man, who portentiously and very slowly strolled thefew hundred yards back to the boat with us in tow to checkthat we werent hiding any contraband. All were very friendly

and welcoming.

Next to our dock wasa small parkingspace whichperiodically filledup with camper vansof French, Belgian

and Swedish origin.The Swedish couple


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who were there when we arrived said that our friends on Swyn-y-Mor had just left for Bizerte that morning! We wanderedthrough the small town, got our Tunisian Dinars from an ATMand checked out the small fish, vegetable and meat shopslining the roads, as well as cafs and fast food outlets thatsold the local delicacy - a brik. These are deep friedpancakes filled with fish or vegetables and an egg that iscooked just enough to have liquid yolk that leaks out all overyour fingers! We stopped for a huge lunch at the caf justnext to the boat where I had my first brik, and then after alovely shower slept for the rest of the day.

Tabarka beach

Meals in restaurants are preceded with complementary horsdoeuvres of a variety of crudites and hot bites these are

almost enough for a meal in themselves. The Tunisianspecialities are fish (of course) but also couscous disheswhich sometimes have to be ordered in advance. Eating out canbe extremely economical if you find a non-touristy place, buteven in the more expensive restaurants the prices are veryreasonable compared to UK or European standards. Food is alsocheap about 12p for a baguette (warm and crusty) and lessthan 50p for a kilo of most fruit or vegetables. Only meatseems a bit more expensive around the same price as home.Fresh milk is from dairies where you have to take your ownjug! The port fees are also a bargain about 5 a night atTabarka although double that in the more sophisticatedmarinas. We have also worked out where to buy wine and beer,and have stocked up as it can be a bit tricky to get hold of!


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Tabarka was agreat place tostop andintroduceourselves toTunisia,listening to thevery tunefulmuezzin every fewhours. We stayedfor five daysuntil the nextweather windowenabled us tomove on. It did rain for a while, and blew hard, but therewas plenty to do a castle to climb to, a huge beach withwaves crashing onto the shore, and fishing boats coming in and

out and landing their catch. There is a big touristdevelopment about 3 km east along the beach for whom the portwas obviously a day trip attraction. Ertsatz 17th centuryPirate ships seem to be the in thing for tourists there were3 tied up just behind us, with mock square rigging and lookingvery tatty! There was a steady stream of Tunisian visitorswalking along the dock having their photos taken in front ofthem.

We met a couple of other boats in transit one young Frenchcouple (Thibault and Marie) who keep their yacht in Tabarkaand fly out for their sailing visits from Marseilles. Theywere enormously helpful and gave us some great tips on thebest places to sail to. The other yacht arrived all the wayfrom Ceuta (a six day marathon) with a young white SouthAfrican captain (Karl) and two American (Brian and Kat) crewhe had recruited in La Coruna, Spain. Their story is too longand involved to recount here, but they are on their way toVietnam! We went out for a meal and exchange of stories withthem before we left.

Brian spent a while fixing up a temporary kicker, and I wentup the mast for the first time on a calm afternoon to replace

the topping lift which had seriously frayed and was now theonly rope holding the boom up without our sprung metalsupport. We were rather pleased with ourselves that we hadachieved that, although Brian didnt remember to take apicture he was too worried about dropping me! Our two wayradios came in very handy again.

On Friday 18th the weather forecast looked better, we saidgoodbye to Tarbarka at lunchtime and set off round the cornerto Sidi Bou Said on a 24 hour trip which included the usualquota of high wind up to Force 6 again (30 knots). While Iwas up the mast, I had managed to lubricate our anenometer so

we now see the real wind speed a bit of an eye opener! Butit only lasted an hour and everything calmed down for a fairly


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uneventful sail apart from the autohelm dying now fixedagain. We are getting much more used to just taking thingsapart and fixing them without worrying about it so much.

Sidi bou Said harbour isjust north of Tunis and nextto the Carthage ruins. It isalso next to thePresidential Palace, whichhas a very large flag and aneon light flashing like anarrow when the President isin residence. Policepresence is quite strongwith barriers on the roadsaround, and police at thetrain stations but that

might be normal rather thanjust because of thepresidential presence.

Presidents Palace with Tunis behind

We tied up safe and soundafter a bit of negotiationand wandered round the dockonly to see Swyn-y-Mor tyingup an hour after us. Afterour snooze in the afternoonthey fed us a wonderfulvegetable curry that night inreturn for a bottle or two ofwine! The next few days werespent in a social whirl for us a cinema evening on ourboat with James, Rose, Rhiannon and James son Owen who wasvisiting for a week, using our new screen and computer, a

night out with them at the local restaurant, as well asspending a day on our own investigating the excavations andmuseums in Carthage and a day checking out the local townincluding the old village on the top of the hill here.

In harbour with Swyn-y-Morin front


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Sidi bou Said is not as convenient for shops as Tabarka, but ahalf mile up the road we can catch the train for 20p a trip tothe towns and Carthage sites along the coast and into Tunis ifwe so wished, and then get a taxi back again with our shoppingfor about 1. What an adventure!

Here are a few recollections of our cultural day

Setting off from the trainstation

Punicbeheadingstone forchild

sacrifices!

Ramp where Punic

warships were pulled upunder a huge circularcanopy held up by thepillars


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There is so muchlying aroundthat you canfind bits ofmosaic floor infields!

Remains of thePunic citadel onthe top of the hill

One sole remainingRoman pillar!


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And lots of bits

Whichthey usedup tobuildwalls forthemuseumdisplays!

Even thetrainstationshad bitsof Romanpillar asseats


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Rough seas off SidiBou Said

After a day or soof rain, wind andcool weather thetemperature hasrecovered and wehave been back outin the sun in abalmy 20C, looking

at the pictures of snow in Glossop that our neighbours havesent, and planning to move south again to more consistent heatin the near future. We might even be sailing on Christmasday!

So thanks for all the Christmas greetings, pictures and funnycartoons that have made us laugh. I hope this epic episodehelps you beat the winter blues and escape from the snow thatseems to be surrounding everyone!

Merry Christmas and all the best

Rose & Brian

rose & brian 22 december 2009 mallorca to tunisia hi

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