Photo: Dol motor sailing past Mt Etna
The overnight passage from Montenegro was uneventful, the wind was light which meant we motor sailed across. With a three quarter moon up at 10 pm, we had good light and saw very few ships or fishing boats, non that were close. At sunrise Gail was on watch and saw a dolphin jump out of the water across the sun rising on the horizon, an image to store in her mind’s eye as there was no camera available and getting the shot would be near impossible. We arrived in Brindisi harbour and called the Port Authorities on the radio who informed us that we could berth the boat and then come in to complete clearance formalities. We then called the Harbour control for permission to enter the harbour as Brindisi is a very busy commercial port. We found a berth at the Marina de Brindisi, then took a taxi into town for the clearance formalities. This took some time, we decided that as Europeans do not need to clear in and out of euro-zone countries now, the officials are out of practice and it takes time. All were very nice but we speak no Italian and they had little English. However after a couple of hours walking between buildings and offices, ourselves and Wind Pony were cleared in.
It was then to the local Vodafone shop to get phone and internet sorted. Internet always has its frustrations in new countries and Italy was no different. We had a very nice taxi driver who was patient and ferried us around the town then back to the marina. We have been spoiled this summer with the beautiful stone buildings of Croatia and Montenegro, the concrete jungle of Brindisi was a shock to the system.
Friday, with a weather window available for heading south, we motored to Otranto and anchored in the harbour. Saturday we went ashore and spent five hours exploring the lovely walled town. Again it had narrow streets but none of the stone buildings of Croatia and Montenegro. We wandered up to the castle and went in to explore. They have made use of the small, cell like rooms for conference and exhibition rooms, some have been left bare and you can wander in and look out the narrow slit holes (windows), the walls must have been 15 feet thick. The centre of the old town has a large cathedral that opened at 15:00, so after lunch we had an ice cream and then went inside for a look. It was worth the wait, the ceiling and floors had amazing mosaics and the walls ancient frescos. One of the side alters had 6 tall glass inserts in the walls that contained human skulls and bones. As everything was written in Italian, we went back to the boat and looked the cathedral up on the internet. It transpired it was some of the remains of the Martyrs of Otranto, 813 people who were executed in 1480 for refusing to convert to lslam. It was quite eerie.
There was a potentially nasty weather front headed towards this coast of Italy later in the week, so the following morning we upped anchor and motor sailed down to Santa Maria Di Leuca marina for the night, with the intention of leaving again Monday morning to head for Crotone. We are marina hopping down the east coast of Italy as there are very few anchorages. Monday at 05:30 we dropped the lead lines and motored, although we did sail wing on wing for 2hrs and had the first pod of dolphins play in our bow wake for what seems like a very long time, to the marina in Crotone arriving at 16:30. The guys who took our lines and handed our lead lines over were a lot of fun, even though they had limited English and our Italian is even more limited. Once secured Brian went to complete the office work, the guy recommended a restaurant. With Lynn and Dick “Wind Pony”, we walked to the restaurant and had a wonderful meal at a very reasonable price, sitting on an upstairs deck overlooking the harbour as the sun went down. Who could ask for more?
With the predicted storm still in the forecast, we were up at 05:30 again and headed out to Roccella Ionica marina, 61 nm away. It was a great wing on wing sail arriving early afternoon.
Roccella Ionica was a good marina, the staff were very knowledgeable about the marina entrance which has a sand bank blocking almost two thirds of it, there was a dinghy to guide us in as the depth at the shallowest part of the usable channel is only 2.8m and we have a 2m keel depth. Brian spoke to the guys at the marina and they said that each southerly storm causes more silting, the marina has a small dredge that is put to good use to clear the entrance as required. On the way into the marina we put the tracker on, (it records our course on the chart and saves it for later use) as we expected to leave at first light a day or so after the predicated storm had passed over. Sure enough on our second night we had 45knots of wind through the marina, causing a few boats to check lines and covers. The next day the seas at the entrance were quite high, no doubt kicked up by the sandbank, so we stayed an extra day, walking into town for a look and to get some provisions. The staff at the marina were extremely helpful and friendly, the pizzeria where we had dinner was relaxed and the food was good.
Friday 11th September the seas were down and we left the marina at 06:00 motoring 71nm to Reposto marina in the shadow of Mt Etna on Sicily. When we were 18nm from the marina entrance a yacht called us on the VHF requesting a tow into the marina as they had mechanical issues and with no wind could not sail or motor. We altered course and took them in tow, arriving at the marina at 17:30. In the marina, Mike and Gaie “Archangel” from England, came over to thank us for the tow, and gave us a bottle of bubbles. We had drinks with them later and then joined them for dinner. This is a part of cruising we enjoy, chance meeting with other cruisers and who knows the start of a long term friendship. Reposto marina was nothing special but it knew how to charge like a wounded bull, maybe it was its location in the shadow of Mt Etna, but it was more expensive than Montenegro.
Saturday we left Reposto and motor sailed 41nm down to Syracuse, anchoring in the large bay early afternoon. Syracuse old town, Ortiga, is an island joined to the mainland by a small bridge. It was first founded in 734BC and was the most powerful city state in Magna Graecia rivalling Athens in power. It became the largest fortified town in the Greek empire, again we are seeing the historical connections between Italy, Greece and Turkey. It is a fascinating town, again very narrow stone streets and alleyways, beautiful old churches, some with the original interiors although the outside facades have been rebuilt due to world war two damage. In typical Italian style there are wide open areas or piazzas with cafes and trees, great for sunshade and dinning.
Sitting in the bay on Sunday afternoon we noticed another Kauri built Warwick 47, Shalimar, sailing in, we have not seen another Warwick 47 since leaving NZ, so Brian called them on the radio and had a chat with Bill Matthews the owner. They were going onto the town wall and leaving for Greece the following morning. With the wind at 20knots and white water in the anchorage, we could not get ashore to meet them for drinks. The following morning on their way out, they came past and we had another quick chat with them. Later we moved to the southern end of the bay as the wind came up to 25+ knots and the white water was prevalent. It was a lot calmer down the southern end and after a chat with Wind Pony on the radio, we decided to leave Syracuse the following morning and head to Ragusa then onto Licata. We could not see the point in staying in Syracuse longer if we could not get ashore.
At 06:00 Tuesday 15th September we upped anchor and headed out of Syracuse for the 54nm motor sail to Marina di Ragusa for the night. We refuelled on the way into the marina ready for tying Dol up for the winter season. After tying up and having showers we walked along the promenade with Dick and Lynn “Wind Pony” for dinner. The following morning we left Ragusa at 09:00 and motored to Marina di Cala del Sol, Licata were we will spend a couple of weeks cleaning Dol and putting her to bed for the winter, as we fly back to New Zealand for summer with family and friends. The marina seems to be an ideal place to leave Dol or to winter over if you are staying on board. There is a shopping mall at the marina gates with a good supermarket, appliance store, pharmacy, clothing stores and a bar with a pizzeria. The stores within the marina look like, with the exception of the chandlery, they close for the winter.
Licata is a wonderful old town. We took a walk with Dick and Lynn “Wind Pony” to a Food Festival one evening and on our way back through the town had to stop for a procession for Padre Pio, a much revered saint in the area. The town itself dates from the 13th century and many of the old buildings remain. Again it has very narrow streets and alleyways and we commented how some of the shops do business, as without local knowledge you would never find them. Lynn often commented on the number of men that sit around in the squares and cafes, drinking and playing board games every day, or the young people dressed up and walking around. Licata not being a tourist town certainly has lots of atmosphere.
It has been another great season in the Mediterranean, we said goodbye to Turkey and Greece then spent a wonderful 10 weeks with Lyn and Dick “Wind Pony” in Croatia and Montenegro. We have had a taste of Italy with more to come next year. In total we have travelled 2000nm, not bad in 7mths. With the temperatures dropping and the dark mornings and evenings filling in, it is time to head home.