14th May

The Mistral, a strong westerly wind, continued to blow. As we headed north up the coast of Sardinia we had to cross the Golfo di Orosei. We were warned that the wind is funnelled off the mountains at this point. Well they weren't wrong. The day started pleasantly enough but as we reached the gulf the wind increased and for the next 3 hours we had winds of 30 knots or more with at least one gust of over 40. That's windy, perhaps the highest speeds we've encountered so far on Imagine. Although there were plenty of white horses the sea wasn't too bad as the wind was coming off the shore. After we closed the land things were a little easier but the direction turned against us so it continued to be hard work. Later on the wind increased again blowing a steady force 8 and gusting 9. Fortunately there was another harbour eight miles short of our destination and we headed there happy that we had done enough for the day. There were white horses in the marina and the wind whistled through the rigging and tugged at our mooring ropes. The boat is now in the centre of a cat's cradle of lines. It's going to take more than a strong puff of wind to move us now. Someday we hope to have the warm weather, calm seas and gentle breezes that we expected.