Forecasted was initially galewinds from SW turning NW and gusting up to 40kts. Swell was forecasted up to 3mtrs and Santa Maria on Ustica is then not a safe harbour. From an Italian couple and friends from Mercedes circumnavigation,we got the advise to escape to Capo San Vito,the northwest peninsula of Sicily(40Nm).

Upon approaching Capo San Vito winds and waves started building up and when making landfall we had 35kts of downwind into the small and narrow marina.

We contacted Marina Diporto Nautico of Capo San Vito on VHF Ch09 asking for assistance. Coming in to a completely (for us) unknown small and narrow marina in strong downwinds is always a feared scenario. You might not be able to turn around and space is often limited.

In this case the usual Mediterranean mooring would mean 35kts of wind on the beam which can be very difficult to handle allthough assisted by marineros in a ribboat. As usual we didn´t get any explanation on where and how to land Dora Mac (Mediterranean mooring ?Alongside ?Starboard or port side landing?) which means we don´t know how to prepare fenders and mooringlines. Just the usual "follow me" and pointing inwards into a very small and narrow marina drifting fast in 35kts of downwind....

In this case we made a starboard alongside landing assisted by 4 people on the dock which was great. Only problem was the fenders all to high up for a low lying floating dock with strong winds blowing us up on the dock. It all eventually went fine and with the ribboat the marineros managed to pull Dora Mac away from the dock supported by port side mooringlines.

As weather is forecasted at the moment we need to stay in Capo San Vito up to a week before more settled circumstances,but Capo San Vito is a popular resort in high season with beautiful beaches so there are worse places to wait out a gale.