Sun 28 Apr to Fri 3 May – First sails of the season!

Marina di Ragusa to Portopalo

• Distance: 35NM
• Sunday 28th April. Departed 09:00, arrived 15:30

Our original plan was to sail around to Syracuse today, a journey of approximately 12 hours so we wanted to be up and out by 07:30 to make sure we arrived still in daylight. The alarm went off at 06:00 and bleary eyed I set off on the 10 minute walk to the showers, conscious that this would likely be my last “proper” shower for at least a few months. 

Meanwhile Tom started getting the boat ready which meant filling up with water, disconnecting the electricity, preparing the sails and securing every loose item in the cabin. At 07:30 we called the marinairo on CH74 to let him know we were ready to leave. The strong winds of the past week had build up a sandbank at the entrance of the marina, and although we weren’t at any real risk of running aground the marina (quite rightly) insisted on escorting all boats safely into open water. Trouble was however, we weren’t the only boat wanting to get an early start. Along with another 8 other boats we were on the VHF every few minutes making sure we’d not been forgotten which was driving the poor marinairo crazy. 

A few of our friends came over to wave us off and by 09:30 we’d left the confines of Marina di Ragusa and we were on our way. I felt quite emotional as we left, this was the official start of our sailing season! With not much wind we motored along for the first few hours at a rather meagre 4 knots which we put down to winter growth on our prop. Before any longer passages we’d need to give it a good scrub, otherwise it’d take us twice as long to get anywhere, and we’re pretty pedestrian as it is.

On the way to Ragusa last year we’d stopped in Portopalo, a weird little anchorage on the SE corner of Sicily. The water was far clearer than the rather muddy Syracuse so we decided to stop there for the night and brave the still extremely cold water to clean the prop. We dropped anchor next to our friends Simon and Claire, squeezed into our wetsuits and slivered into the water, both of us squealing like stuck pigs! The prop and Bini’s hull didn’t look too bad considering she’d sat stationary for 6 months so after half an hour it was as good as it was going to get. That evening Simon popped over for a cuppa. He and his family have a lovely catamaran, a decision he was even more pleased about having taken after spending an hour being rocked around on Bini!

Portopalo to Porto della Grazie

• Distance: 125NM
• Departed Monday 29th April 07:30, arrived Tuesday 30 April 11:00

Most of the people we chatted to in Ragusa were planning on going direct to Greece from Sicily. After not having sailed for 6 months we weren’t too keen on the prospect of a 300NM passage, so took the decision to hop up the coast of Italy and across over to Corfu. 

From Portopalo, based mainly on the forecasted wind we choose Porto della Grazie (Rochelle Ionica) as our next stop. It was to be a passage of 125NM and take about 30 hours. We weighed anchor at 07:30, found some nice wind and sailed under jib only until about midday. By now we were a few miles from Syracuse so had a decision to make, go there for the night, continue up the coast to Catiana or stick to the plan. The forecast had some rather strong looking northerly winds blowing down the Messina Straits (20/25 knots) but feeling mostly OK with this  (in truth, me more than Tom) we turned 40 degrees east and started across to mainland Italy. 

We were sailing along pretty sedately until 1830 and then the sea state changed, we now had a meter or so swell coming off our port quarter. We’ve learnt that this can only mean one thing, it’s about to get windy. And it did. Within 5 minutes we had 18 knots so in went the first reef, then minutes later we had 28 knot gusts so in went the second reef. With a smaller amount of sail out, even in the gusts Bini was light on the helm and easy to handle. Even so  though Tom and I were starting to regret our decision to push on. With darkness falling we were being buffeted by wind and waves and it wasn’t long before it was a pitch black moonless night. The wind was howling through the rigging, Tom was at the helm and I was on the high side arms tightly wrapped around the port side winch. “This is my fault isn’t it” I said to Tom. “I don’t want to talk about it right now” he replied as wave after wave showered us in cold salt water. Whoops. I did feel responsible for us being here as it was me who encouraged us to keep going. On reflection I always underestimate what a BFT6/7 at sea feels like so this time I made sure to take in every last detail!

Being on watch was pretty hard going so we took hourly turns. Given the sea state there was no chance of getting any sleep or making anything to eat so we remained on deck together until the wind dropped, again as forecast at 02:00. From there we still had about 8 hours to go so we went back to our 3 hour watches and tried to get some sleep.

We’d read that it should be possible to anchor outside the marina but when we arrived we couldn’t find a decent spot so headed in to get a berth. For our next passage the wind looked promising on Wednesday so we booked in for two nights. Exhausted we put Bini “to bed” then did exactly that ourselves and slept until about 16:30. After a much needed shower we went to the local restaurant for pizza. Just as we were ordering we noticed they come in 1/2 meter portions so we went for just the one. The French crew behind us weren’t so lucky, and the look on their faces was a picture when 2 meters of pizza was delivered to their table!

Our next passage was to be over to the heel of mainland Italy. The forecast told of strong southerly winds on Saturday so we needed a good place to hide from those. Otranto looked promising so after a leisurely day of doing laundry and having a walk along the promenade we cast off our lines at 20:00 and set off.

Porto della Grazie to Otranto

• Distance: 155NM
• Departed Wednesday 1st May, arrived Friday 3 May 07:45

We left just as the sun was setting. The wind was light but due to pick up as we crossed Gulfo di Squillace so we put one reef in the main in preparation. We motored along for the first few hours until the telltale swell came rolling in. We got our first 25 knot reading so put in the second reef just before the end of my watch. As I tried to sleep down below I could hear the wind picking up and feel the boat being buffeted by the growing swell. I dozed a bit then got up for my 03:00 watch. I came up to very different conditions than I’d gone down to, and groggy from lack of sleep I took the helm from Tom who stayed with me for a few minutes before going down. The wind was 22/25 knots but over the next hour the gusts we were getting stronger which were pulling Bini up into the wind. What also unnerved me was a large tanker heading our way, and the looming headland ablaze with flashing red lights of an onshore wind farm. The tankers position on the chart plotter claimed he was on a consistent baring heading straight for us, and I couldn’t change course if we were to clear the headland. Now also battling somewhat to keep control of the boat I woke Tom up and he helped furl away some of the headsail which immediately made a big difference. Now what to do about the tanker? Tom, who has way better judgement than me on situations with neighbouring boats wasn’t concerned. My sleep deprived brain was doing its best to convince me that unless he changed course, we’d end up colliding. Tom called the tanker on the radio just to make sure he’d seen us. He claimed he had, and to put our minds at ease he altered course 10 degrees to port. Disaster averted! In reality we were in absolutely no danger whatsoever, but better to be safe than sorry. Did I also mention we were at least 6 hours from the headland!? A lack of sleep does really weird things to your perspective.

Poor exhausted Tom went to sleep and for the next hour we were bombing along at 7 knots, then as the sun came up the wind dropped and calm was restored. It’s funny how in those moments you almost wish you had the wind back!

The forecasted wind for the rest of the trip never materialised so we ended up motoring the rest of the way. In the early hours of Friday on our watch change we heard a massive thud. Pretty convinced we’d hit something out came the torches and we peered over the port side. Nothing to be seen. It was only when we looked on deck did we noticed our (5kg) radar reflector had fallen off the mast. We think it must have been shaken loose by the vibrating rig which combined with lousy rivets lead to it falling to its death.

 arriving to Otranto at 07:45 on Friday morning. We anchored with just one other boat in the bay and good a few hours sleep. I’d been battling with a cold and a bit of a fever for the past 24 hours so I was grateful for the rest. In the afternoon we took the dinghy ashore, picked up some diesel (in or newly acquired jerry cans), Tom helped some guys unground a yacht, and we went for a short walk. There were a few dodgy looking dudes hanging around the waterfront so we weren’t sure Bob (the dinghy) would still be there when we came back, but of course he was and back we headed to Bini.