The journey begins...
Trogir, Croatia - Carloforte, Sardinia
Before we could leave Trogir we were waiting on the installation of solar panels and AIS so we used this time to do some maintenance jobs ourselves. We fitted the life raft cradle to the coast roof, we installed the EPIRB in a case in the cockpit, we got a new hinge for the engine room door, we fitted the furler for the gennaker and tested it out. We also tidied, cleaned and provisioned the boat, all while managing to find time to die our hair pink or purple for a bit of fun!
After 6 days of prepping, provisioning and a few last minute projects we were ready to start our adventure, sailing some 2200nm to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
We set sail for Cavtat, on October 16th leaving Trogir at 18:00. We had a lovely dinner of stuffed peppers with feta cooked by Emma. It was our first night sail and the first time we got to see and appreciate the starry night sky.
We arrived in Cavtat at midday to check out of Croatia however, nobody was in the customs office. We ended up stopping for lunch, iced coffees and a cheeky ice cream. Its was a lovely day, we sat around the boat and relaxed until Chloe was able to sort out all the necessary paperwork. We set sail around 4pm excited and keen to get going. It was the most starry starry night, and it wasn’t too cold either. Emma and Cate were on sunrise watch, and saw some dolphins!!! The wind was decent so we got the jib out and had a lovely day sail. The sunset was stunning, good vibes onboard.
We stopped in Rocella Ionica on the south coast of Italy to refuel, on arrival however there was nobody at the fuel dock. As we waited for somebody to come down we had a walk around the marina. Looking at some of the boats they looked abandoned, broken forestays, belongings littered everywhere. We asked the man who came to help with the fuel and he explained in broken English and Google Translate that they were immigrant vessels which had been impounded. He said some of the larger fishing vessels had had up to 150 people on board, some hiding in the engine bay, and the smaller yachts had 16-20 each. This was something we weren’t expecting and really gave us food for thought.
With a lovely warm sunrise the morning after leaving Rocella Ionica and able to only wear a t-shirt we were enjoying the sailing. What a day! We motored through the Messina Strait during the night, a little tricky with lots of boats moving and huge currents and whirlpools, so Chloe stayed up all night and it was rather chilly. An absolutely gorgeous day as we motored out of the Strait towards the Aeolian islands, very warm with only a little wind which later died to none. We sunbathed and relaxed. We tried several times to hoist our gennaker however it had a huge twist that we were unable to sort. In the evening, we asked Chloe if we could swim and she said yes! It was INCREDIBLE. Just off the the north of Sicily, with views of Etna and Stromboli, we jumped into the deep blue sea just before sunset. The water was so clear and blue, after we sat on the bow and watched the sun go down together.
Highlight - Chloe got hit in the head by a flying squid!!!!!! She was on night watch by herself and suddenly shouted for some help on deck “I´ve been hit” as something hit her. With a scramble to get coats and life jackets on, and trying to pass Chloe a head torch Cate was ready on deck in no time, imagining the worst - had something hit the boat? Once on deck we saw a squid lying on our companionway hatch which had bounced off Chloe!! Luckily Emma was ready to pick it up and throw it back. After that daily checks for dried up squid on deck were carried out. It was tricky to sleep in the aft cabins, with the sideways swell but we managed by laying cross ways.
22nd Oct - Land Ahoy!!!!
At 10:00 we docked in Carloforte Sardinia! Time to clean the boat, chill and sleep!
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