Fwd: An introduction to the sailing world !
Knotty Girl
Tanya/Roberto
Mon 29 May 2023 19:37
| 37:49.6N 15:16.3E I forgot to say that during their first gentle sailing day, from Brindisi to San Foca di Melendugno, our friends Rebecca & Francois were lucky enough to see dolphins ! We had not seen any since we started sailing on May 1st !! On our way - motoring - to Santa Maria di Leuca we stopped to visit the charming town of Otranto were we entered its amazing Cathedral, built by the Normans in the 11th century, and that incorporates Romanesque, Byzantine and early Christian styles with their own. Covering the entire floor is its "pièce de résistance", a vast 12th-century mosaic of a stupendous tree of life balanced on the back of two elephants. We wandered in the old town and Rebecca and I managed to do some shopping :) In Santa Maria di Leuca we then initiated them to the world of exploring caves in the rocks with our dinghy called “mini” - they took tons of pictures and I believe they enjoyed the experience ! The next day we had a 75 miles crossing to do to reach Crotone from Santa Maria di Leuca and it was a very “sporty" crossing - and for first timer to that type of sailing - not the easiest. Poor Rebecca, she was brave and stoic while suffering a lot from seasickness, yet not complaining about it but suddenly very silent… yet happy to be arriving in Crotone! François proved to be a very skilful helmsman under watch from our amazing Captain Roberto. In Crotone, Rebecca and Francois invited us to the “Porto Vecchio” restaurant close to the harbour (chosen by Roberto) were we ate good yet veeeery little fish and not very well prepared fish. They had a musician to entertain the people waiting with an aperitif, a good musician yet a bit too loud a musician... Given we all agreed that to do another crossing the next day might be pushing it a bit too far for Rebecca, they both took a train to join us to Marina di Roccella Ionica. The crossing was long and “sporty" again, but the waves smaller than during the previous crossing. As we went out of the harbour we saw a helicopter land on a pad on one of the gas platform even with 22 knots of wind ! During this crossing we encountered relatively big waves and wind at the beginning, then no wind at all, then a 180 degree wind change - no time to get bored even if it was an 8 hours crossing. On average we went at 8 knots + which was good given that we were in a hurry as the marina of Roccella Ionica told us that they could not guarantee us a spot in the marina if we arrived after 6 pm - so we did arrive at 6pm sharp like Swiss people do ! Rebecca and Francois welcomed us there with a bottle of Prosecco and delicious pre-cooked pasta and salad - what a treat! The next day, we had a very good gentle sailing day where Francois proved again to a very good, very focused helmsman and Rebecca felt good that day - thanks partly to the coca-cola I offered her :) - and was therefore able to be her full self : funny, witty, joyful and amazing! She would show her state level but putting her two (x2) thumbs up :) which made us laugh ! In order to not do too many miles we had to stop along the coast - yet unfortunately, this coast is very straight and therefore does not have “real” bays and hence there was still a little “swell” from the previous windy days, which meant that as a result of this Knotty Girl was moving a bit. To diminish that movement, Roberto suggested to put our second anchor - which Roberto, with the help of Francois - who appeared to be a very quick learner - and myself did and it did help, yet since we were not far from a route quite frequented by ferries and big boats, we often were moved by the waves they made, including during the night and hence none of us - but in particular Rebecca and Francois - got much sleep that night so we decided to leave quickly when we (Roberto and I) got up (François and Rebecca were up much earlier than us and were waiting for us on the deck). The crossing from this anchorage to Taormina was all motoring as the average wind speed was about 3 knots BUT it allowed us to be able to very well scrutinise the sea and we were so lucky to see : A good number of dolphins, then a small stingray and a small whale !!! It was fabulous !!! We anchored in Naxos - very close to Taormina were our friends decided to spend 2 days (as we mentioned to them that Taormina was a charming place) before having to go back home. It was their first sailing experience and it was amazing to see how eager Francois was to learn from Roberto the sailing world and how Rebecca enjoyed the experience despite her sea sickness - when she was well she could even sometimes crochet which she did with an impressive speed, an interest of her we discovered during our trip ! Roberto and I very much enjoyed their company and introducing them to the sailing world !      |