We arrived in Vieste at dawn. Vieste is a pretty old town settled above white cliffs. The oldest section has very narrow pedestrian streets with stairs up the hill. All houses are painted white. It is very pretty. We anchored in front of the white cliffs in a sandy anchorage well protected from the prevailing winds. The locals said it almost never rains here; it is always nice and sunny. It reminded me of the south of Spain, cloudless and dry.

We enjoyed walking around and shopping for food in the small shops: the butcher, the grocer, and the baker. We came back to the boat for a relaxing dinner and movie. Then off to bed I went until - at midnight Mark woke me up: "The dinghy is gone" "What do you mean gone?" "The rope is still attached to the boat but the dinghy is not there". We started looking around with our powerful torch and binoculars. There was not that much wind or current or waves, so we had hopes that maybe we could still see it (if it had just got free, not stolen). We thought we saw something not too far so we left anchor and motored towards what it turn out to be a fishing buoy. We then did a big circle a couple of miles in radius, searching in the dark, but no luck. We came back to the same anchorage spot a bit crestfallen. We discussed the issue at large and decided that considering the conditions the most plausible explanation was robbery.

Next day, we paddled ashore and reported the lost/theft to the carabinieri and then the Guardia Costiera. Both places indicated what we already knew, chances of recovery are small. Bummer!

Our current plan is to sail to Venice as soon as possible and replace dinghy and outboard engine there. This is going to put a dent in the cruising kitty even with the insurance partial reimbursement. Bummer!

We really liked that dinghy, and the orange cover we made for it and our orange painted outboard. Bummer!