Greece to Sicily
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Tue 21 May 2013 11:52
We left Kephalonia on Saturday after a great reunion with Ian and Carole in Sami.
Without a working autopilot we knew we would be hand steering for 300 miles but the gribs showed 10 - 15 knots of wind from the SE - ideal for Gavin the hydrovane 's deployment.
The wind did not perform so hand steering was necessary, with flurries of wind necessitating the sails going up and down like yoyos. During the first night the wind returned for a while so Gavin did some work, giving the engine a rest.
On Sunday afternoon a big swelly sea, up to 2m from all directions, developed with an oily feel to it, usually a sign of lots of wind. Approaching the toe of Italy the wind built very quickly until we had 25 knots with gusts of 30 knots true wind just as darkness fell. With a three reefed main and small jenny we beat into the increasingly confused sea thankful for the protection of the new dodger and bimini. It blew itself out after about three hours and gradually the wind and sea abated, but we had to hand steer through it all.
By Monday morning we were approaching the "tidal gate" of the Messina Straits, as described in the Odyssey. Although there is supposedly no tide in the Med, pinch points have their problems. The Italian Pilot book said there was north going current 1 3/4 hours before HW Gibraltar so we planned to be at the bottom of the Strait by 10 am. We arrived on time, the sea was calm and the current weak as it was neaps. As we progressed up the Strait the current was 2-3 knots against us, and only went in our favour at the pinch point and North, perhaps the pilot should have been more specific.
At the top of the Strait we saw the swordfish boats with their tall platforms in order to see the fish as they swim through the narrow straits, then they harpoon them. We turned left and for once the winds were ideal to sail along the North coast.....but the skipper was asleep and Helen, who was helming, did not have the heart to wake him in order to raise the rest of the sails yet again. Milazzo is a pretty town where we had hoped to meet Doug and Gail Pattison who were joining us for a week, however they cancelled as we were coming through the Strait due to Doug having a bad knee requiring an MRI scan. The part for the autopilot is therefore arriving by DHL on Thursday.