After exhausting days from Cassis to the Ebro Delta, we needed a break. The night in the small town of Sitges was so rolly that we could actually have sailed through. Rolling means that the wave comes from a different direction than the wind and therefore the boat is constantly rocking. The trimaran doesn't rock in the same way as a monohull, which can really rock up so that everything flies around. The rolling motion is stopped abruptly by the outer hulls, which is better than rocking, but then leads to somewhat choppy rocking movements. In any case, it was bad for sleeping and after little sleep we weighed anchor again at 07.00 in the morning. Our destination was the deep bays of the Ebro Delta, where we wanted to hide from the coming strong winds. That worked out well, as Katja has already reported.
As a friend of weather forecasts from as many weather models as possible, I had seen that a strong wind front from the west was supposed to sweep through the Gibraltar Strait and bring not only wind but also waves from the front at exactly the time when we wanted to sail along there. What to do? The wind should be favourable beforehand, so let's set off quickly and get through beforehand... . That was the plan. However, it didn't suit our mood at all, our need to relax, our desire to explore the biosphere reserve better and to enjoy the time in general! When we realised this, we changed the plan without further ado, something we admittedly like to do often. We decided to sail relaxed around the delta and anchor on the other side. There we would visit the maritime museum and the large mussel market. It felt wonderful! The prospect of another night at sea was swapped for the reason why we were actually travelling. We probably still have to learn to think less about function mode and more about enjoying our time and focussing on the essentials. And the wind? Well, nobody can reliably predict it for more than 3 days anyway and it will change in our favour. If not? Gibraltar won't run away from us, then we'll just arrive later!
This gave us time to take care of the anemometer and here too we decided not to climb up the mast in wind and light waves, where we probably wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway. The anemometer is part of the NMEA2000 network on board and that's where everything is connected. It is therefore possible that problems in one corner could lead to a failure in another corner and that is more likely than cables suddenly coming loose in the mast. Thanks to Elon, we were then able to download software updates for the critical components and after resetting the entire system, the anemometer was up and running again. Hooray, another problem solved and without wild actionism! And the dinghy is sailing again. Obviously, problems almost solve themselves with calm and relaxation.
Today it turns out that the wind is now so unfavourable here that we won't be able to continue until Monday. So even more rest and relaxation, let's see what happens next :-). It's definitely good for me, not wanting too much and above all not forcing anything are definitely good lessons for me. In the meantime, Anja has put up more awnings and the Biosphera is getting cosier and cosier. The only thing that would do her good is a water hose with plenty of fresh water. The water splashed on deck has caused thick salt crystals to form in some corners. I could have filled several salt shakers with thick crystals that remained on the floor and lines after the water had evaporated in the dinghy, which is laid up at the back and gets a lot of water. I'm sorry to see the smart new dinghy under such a crust of salt, but despite the watermaker (multi-water desalination system), the capacity of our freshwater tank is not sufficient for rinsing the deck.