October 1-10, 2020
We left Cagliari for our 48 hour sail to Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia in the afternoon of October 1. Because of the Covid restrictions, Cagliari would be the last port we were able to get off our boat to explore until October 19 when we arrived in Marina di Ragusa to store our boat for the winter.
Leaving Cagliari. Beautiful day. 
Great first day
Our weather forecasting models forecasted that we would have a calm sail. As we would find out the second day and night, they were only partially correct. Our first night and day was a mixture of good winds (higher than forecasted but manageable) and motoring. Not much traffic the first night. The only incident was a sailboat on a collision course with us sailing on a port tack. We were tracking it for some time on radar and expected it to change course as it was required to do when we are on a starboard tack. When it became clear the sailboat was not going to change course, we had to take evasive action. It was a close encounter but still a safe distance. Either the other skipper did not know the rules, did not even see us visually or by radar or was just an asshole. My money was on the last one.
Sunset on night one 
Full moon on night one.
The second day and night is when the actual weather deviated dramatically from the forecast. The wind and seas were building all day. By nightfall the wind had shifted enough to require us to tack in order to get around Cap Bon and down the east side of Tunisia, with large waves coming at our bow. The winds and seas continued to build all night with winds reaching over 30 knots and waves crashing over our bow with some flying over the dodger. Our watch schedule fell apart as neither of us could sleep and the extra help was needed on deck. We had put in our third reef earlier and the boat was sailing well but waves going in the opposite direction slowed our progress quite a bit. It was tough sailing.
Heavy traffic enroute to Tunisia
During the night we started sailing across the east-west shipping lanes off the coast of Tunisia. In fact, there are so many ships who take this route on the way to or from the Suez Canal, there was a traffic separation scheme for most of the distance off the Tunisian north coast keeping the ships in designated lanes depending on whether going east or west. We could see the ships’ lights from a distance and it was rush hour traffic for these ships. One after the other with few miles between them. Using AIS and radar we had to dodge around them. Similar to crossing a multi lane road as a pedestrian when the cars do not stop. Difficult to do when the ships are traveling at 11-14 knots and we are only going about 4-6 knots with little maneuverability when sailing. Later we started motor sailing to sail closer into the wind to our destination.
Once across the shipping lanes, we then needed to look out for fishing pots as we had been warned that Tunisian fishermen put out numerous pots off the coast . Getting a fishing pot line around our prop could seize our prop and render us without an engine. We did not want to dive under the boat at night, in bad weather, to free the prop. If we did snag a line we could still sail but would take many hours longer. With the wind and waves we could not see any of the buoys marking fishing pots even with a full moon and, with the bad weather, the radar could not pick up the buoys. We were at the mercy of Poseidon/Neptune.
We rounded Cap Bon and stayed well offshore hoping there would be no fishing pots out that far. Not so. About 10 hours from our destination, still dark, we must have run over one as the engine started to sound differently and RPMs decreased. We tried going in reverse and forward a few times which works reasonably well with a fixed prop to unravel something around the prop but not so well with a folding prop, which we have. It did not work at first but after a half hour of trying, the engine increasingly got better and then was back to normal. We went further offshore.
By sunrise on October 3 the wind was more favourable and we sailed the rest of the way but not without another incident. As we were about to go into the port, we tried pulling up centerboard (there were some shallow spots in the port) but could not. We could see through the centerboard trunk viewing port that the line used to pull the centerboard down was caught between the centerboard housing and one of the spacers for the centerboard. It had the effect of jamming the centerboard tight so that it could not go down or up. This was something Allures was to fix but had not done so. We went into port with the board down and avoided the shallow areas.
Tough Sail 
Sun coming up after a rough night. Toque weather.
Just before we left Cagliari, Italy went from Tunisia’s green list to its orange list. This meant we needed a Covid test as soon as we arrived and another test 5 days after arrival and would be in quarantine until we received the results of the second Covid test. It effectively meant we were in quarantine for 7 days. Tunisian immigration would not check us in until we were out of quarantine. We were directed to the quarantine dock with all of the other boating quarantine “lepers”.
VIew from Chinook for 7 days in Yasmine Hammamet
During quarantine, we could only get off the boat to hook up our water when we needed it. Could not even walk down the dock or go to the beach for a swim. And it was hot. Had a good neighbour next to us. Coincidently, they ran a guardianship business for boats left in a port in Marina di Ragusa, Sicily, for the winter. Ragusa was one place we were considering leaving the boat for the winter. Mike, an affable Brit, who had been in Tunisia for many years, would come by every morning in quarantine with baguettes and pain au chocolat. A legacy from the French colonial days. The baguettes were subsidized by the government and cost 1 Euro for 15 baguettes. No lacking in pastries, especially bread.
We kept busy with boat chores. We hired a diver to check the prop (it was good) and to free the jammed line around the centreboard. He came back to the surface with an octopus which he offered to us but we politely declined. The harbour was the dirtiest we had seen.
The Covid testing was not conducted with same protocols as accustomed to in Canada or Mahon but the tests were done on time and we received results within 48 hours.
By the time we were released from quarantine, the Covid news in Italy and elsewhere was getting worse. We then made the decision to leave Tunisia as soon as the weather was good in order to get into Italy before any lockdown. But where should we go? We had always intended to go back to France. Allures said they cannot go to any place other than Port Napoleon to finish the warranty repairs but it was a long way back to there and with the weather getting worse as heading into the fall, the days getting shorter and possible lockdowns, it did not seem like a good option. We decided to head to Licata, Sicily to check into Italy and then to Marina di Ragusa to winter the boat.
Had one night quarantine free in Tunisia and left the next morning on October 10.
Walk along the beach in Yasmine Hammamet 