On 4th June, Nigel and his crew brought Stratagem in to Woolverstone Marina, exactly a month since leaving Corfu. The passage of 2807 nautical miles included stops in Palermo (Sicily), Ibiza, Gibraltar, Cascais, Portomao, and La Caruna and then on to Woolverstone after a brief stop in Dartmouth for fuel. The weather had proved favourable with only one forced stay in port at Potomao awaiting large Atlantic swells to abate before rounding the cape. The passage had been without incident or damage/breakages, thank goodness. That said, we did find a couple of issues needing attention. The Facnor genoa furl was sticking (not experienced before) and was found to be as a result of a bent piece of wire used in the original installation back in the Beneteau factory to hold the extrusion in place whilst assembling the system. This had dislodged and was catching on the drum when furling/unfurling. All it needed was to remove the offending piece of wire. The old genoa showed signes of wear which needed some stitching at the sailmakers but highlights the need for a new sail. The only other issue is a damaged port side navigation light, broken by a wave accross the bow in heavy weather. Not a big deal.
So, Stratagem is back and safely berthed in Woolverstone marina and in the process of being emptied of all the cruising gear and paraphenalia that long term cruising attracts. This season will be no more than some local sailing, some tlc inside and out and agreeing work to be done for her major winter refit, including hull respray, new standing rigging, new sprayhood and cockpit tent and as previously mentioned, a new genoa. We will decide on the furling gear after it is removed.
To summarize our Mediterranean adventure, we visited France, Spain (including the Ballearic islands), Italy, Greece (including the islands of the Ionian and Aegean) and Turkey. Stratagem covered 12409 Nautical miles, and added 2594 hours on the engine.
That's it ..............
