Wild and stormy in Mahon

Just had our stormiest night yet on the boat, a humbling experience which really brought home the power of mother nature, and which we thankfully experienced in the safety of a harbour.

We knew there was a storm brewing and so postponed our departure for Sardinia. We'd prepared ourselves for the expected 30 knot winds by bringing down the bimini, which we'd almost lost last time there was a storm in Pollensa, and Colin moved the boat from alongside to bow to and well off the pontoon.

We were woken up at 4am with the wind howling, rain lashing and lightning flashes, with the bow and stern lines jerking us forward and aft. The noise was incredible. Colin was up for 2 hours keeping watch. The wind instrument reading peaked at 53 knots, with sustained periods around 50 knots (Force 10!). The town blacked out with a power cut for a while and it was generally pretty fierce.

We were lucky to suffer only minimal damage, a snapped (and lost) flagpole and a burnt out wind generator. Some others in the harbour were not so lucky. One boat was holed by repeatedly bashing against the concrete harbour wall, and the neighbouring boat to us which was on a mooring buoy rather than the pontoon slipped its mooring and travelled half the length of the harbour til it hit an island further out. Wandering through the marina today there were obviously a lot of boats which had taken a beating too. Tonight the water is flat calm, and the wind instrument reads 0.0. Hopefully we'll sleep a bit better tonight. (By the way, the girls slept through the entire storm!).