5th April 2019
Just to note that there are clearly acceleration zones along this coast, and the forecasts on offer are not of high enough resolution to see them. So, watch out! The forecast was about 15kts of breeze from the East, which is what we had to start off with. But, we also had an hour of 25-30 knot winds (gusting to 38) which made for entertaining sailing – we probably covered about 10 miles in the hour. And, at other points, dead calm. Fortunately, we saw the white water coming and had put an extra reef in the jib – but it really is very difficult to distinguish between 25 knots and 35 knot gusts when the wind is coming from the same direction as the mid-morning sun… So, I kept one hand on the jib sheet ready to dump it if the wind REALLY picked up, and we just enjoyed the ride! That’s the advantage of a beamy catamaran – a 45’ or so monohull which started an hour ahead of us (and finished half an hour behind) had much less fun, from what we could tell.
Other sailors have mentioned similar experiences as regards the wind and forecast being a long way apart, so while this doesn’t appear in the guidebooks I have looked at, it may well be a regular feature. Hence, mentioning it here.