With our Schengen days running out, we need to get to a nice non-Schengen sailing destination where we can hang out for 90 days until our Schengen days reset. If that all sounds like I am just trying to clear my throat, do some reading about how Schengen works!

So we have had to sail some longer legs to get to Montenegro and Croatia, which both have great sailing but are outside the Schengen zone.

We left Menorca accompanied by Peter and Iris on "IP" and had a lovely overnight sail to Sardinia. Probably one of our best sailing legs, with good winds and kind seas. We arrived in Carloforte, Sardinia, and enjoyed a couple of days with Peter and Iris before saying goodbye as they headed north and we headed east towards Sicily. Hopefully we will meet up with them again next year in the Caribbean.

Then the fun started. One of the constant challenges we have found here is dodging the fishing nets, traps and floats that seem to be everywhere and anywhere. My great fear is getting one caught around the propellor and needing to go over the side in deep water to try and remove it. At night. Gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Well guess what? Sailing out of Carloforte we ran over a fishing pot line. And when I say we, I mean me, because I was on watch. I hit throttles into neutral as I saw the floats at the last minute, and prayed that, with the propellors stopped, we would just slide by. Instead we came to a fairly quick halt and it was clear we were effectively anchored to whatever the fisherman had on the end of that line. And it must have been big, because Jet-Lagged did not budge it.

I could not get it off with the boat hook, and so with much swearing I donned goggles and flippers, grabbed the knife, and stared down into the deep blue water. Luckily it was daytime, but this had little impact on the level of swearing. Over the side I went, with the soundtrack from Jaws playing loudly in my brain. Shut up stupid brain!

Luckily the rope had caught the rudder, not the propellor and I could get it off without needing to cut it. Even though I really wanted to! Bloody fishermen. And so we continued and after a day or two my heart rate returned to normal.

Or it would have but for the next bit of adventure. As we sailed away from Sardinia, the wind started to rise. And rise. And rise. Not forecast, but we are realising that forecasting in the Med is often wrong. Some of you may have seen Shannon's facebook post that it was on this leg that we hit our fastest speed so far, of 14.6 knots. Well that I can tell you is quite fast enough and need not be repeated!

We were pleased to see Sicily and here we caught up with Marcel and Karen on "Kiri Maia II" anchored in front of the town of Cefalu. We sailed together for a few days across the top of Sicily and enjoyed catching up. Then they headed for the Stromboli volcano and we, because of our Schengen time constraints, headed down the Strait of Messina between Sicily and mainland Italy, and then down under the "boot" of Italy.

It was whilst crossing the "arch" of the boot that we picked up a gale warning over the radio. So we have been tucked up here for a few days in a little bay in Castro, Italy, as storms and gales have been blowing through. One of the thunderstorms sat right over the boat and poured water on us whilst shaking us to our cores with massive thunderclaps and lightning overhead. How we did not get struck I do not know. Shannon ran down and hid in the bedroom! It is not nice having the tallest mast in the bay. Two unoccupied boats nearby dragged their anchors in the storm and needed rescue. Luckily, Jet-Lagged held firm.

The weather looks a little better tomorrow, so we will try to get moving again then. We are only 24 - 30 sailing hours from the marina in Montenegro where we plan to meet our Joe and Crystal with our gorgeous granddaughter Gray, so wish us luck!