LinoCat

We reached Formentera at 2100 and realized that mooring buoys were in place. So we grabbed on and tied LinoCat to it. After nice spanish sausages and icebergsalad for dinner we decided to go to bed early. We also had the red MOJO sauce which was still on board from the Canary islands and the red peppers which were from the caribbean. All washed down by a Piton beer from St Lucia :-)

We got up at 7 and we both slept well. Olaf bought a warm baguette and then Ludger Peters from the Lagoon 380 "Green Duck" visited us. He recently bought his boat in Italy and is now on the way to Wismar. He will stay in Real Club Nautica tonight and then follow the same route. So after a chat we left at 8.30 and motored away because the wind was zero. I did a safety briefing with Olaf and we adjusted one life vest for him. around noon the wind picked up and now was coming more from the port side and so we set sail but we kept one engine running because we needed speed if we wanted to arrive in daylight in Formentera. From the current wind and swell direction i picked Cala Sahona as a possible anchorage. 4-6m deep and sand well protected against southerly wind and swell. We agreed that we will decide in the evening if we anchor or directly sail through the night. Currently Olaf is having a nap and so lets see how our mood is later. The last butane bottle has been put in actio...

After getting up at 1.30 my brother Andy drove me to the Frankfurt airport. Poor dude! Thanks for that! 06.45 i landed in Palma de Mallorca and took a cab to the Dic del Oeste where the Amstelgracht was moored. The Philipino crew welcomed me and offered coffee and so i was chatting with different crew members for 30 minutes and then LinoCat was the first boat to be unloaded. Meanwhile Olaf showed up and i picked him up after being unloaded. Over the radio we asked for a berth since the boat was mega dirty and we also needed new fresh water and some fuel. They gave us a berth (stern-to) and it was quite rolly. It has calmed down now until the evening. Diesel costs 1.08 EUR. Welcome back to Europe! Also the german boat behind immediately complanied about some things, so you know you are back! We went to buy some food and had some coffees and later went to a blockhouse steakhouse after walking around in the city. The berth for LinoCat for oen night here was 70EUR. Tomorrow in the morning...

Amstelgracht has reached Mallorca. To be more precise, the Dique del Oeste, the westerly part of the harbour. I have no confirmation from the real club nautico yet about a berth but i am sure LinoCat will find a space somewhere. We also need to fill up water and gas and since the wind predictions have changed, we have to hurry a bit in the beginning. We will keep you informed :-)

I will be back on linoCat the 4th of june for around 10-14 days. Olaf, a friend which i have not seen for ages will be with me and we will sail LinoCat from Palma de Mallorca to Portimao in Portugal. YES; there will be pictures and reports on the website :-)

Lani asked twice about going to the beach. Well, there is no real beach so she got her big plastic shell filled with warm water and she played and had fun. Since it was her birthday many people were here and played with her. She also asked about Peter and Tina but they were not able to come :-) Lani is enjoying the freedom to walk around alone and the attention of all people around. I have the feeling she is not missing the boat yet.

During the past year i used a ALFA AWUS036H adapter with a one feet 9dbi vertical antenna. It is soooo much better than the built in Intel chipset that i can only highly recommend it. Most of the sailors i met are using the same. They come in different versions, mainly with more transmit power. be aware that in some countries (like Germany, the transmit (TX) power must not exceed a certain limit. Also when using the adapter with the driver that allows to adjust the power, try as low as possible first. To connect it to the Laptop (i used a DELL 6400ATG and an Asus EEPc) i used a simple 5m extension cable. Here i would recommend an expensive one with golden connectors since the others rot away quickly. If you plan to sail for one year take at least 3 adapters since they are only around 30 Euro each anyway. If you leave them in the rain over night just open the housing, dry it in the sun or with a hair dryer and use it again. After a few weeks it might stop working. Also if you let it han...