Southern Tyrrhenian Sea - Wednesday / Thursday 22/23 September 2021

The final pieces of the jigsaw were to prepare the boat, pay the marina,  buy bread and collect the engine spare that we had ordered on Monday. Tricia and Teresa headed off to be at the chandlers to collect the spares at 9:00, but unsurprisingly it was not there. They assured us it would be by 11:00, which was all right, but we did not want to be too late leaving. We want to arrive in Sicily in daylight.

At 10:30 we got a call to say the parts were there, and so Tricia and Teresa set off again to collect them. When they returned we were ready to go, called the marina for clearance to leave and we were off.

We steamed out past a huge and impressive motor yacht (small to medium sized ship actually) and the Italian America’s Cup team’s base. Once we rounded the harbour wall we only had two waypoints en route, one after 5 miles to keep us clear of the south eastern tip of Sardinia, and another at our chosen anchorage, 153 miles further on. Across Cagliari bay we were motoring into the wind and an unpleasantly choppy sea, but then we cleared the land,the sea settled, and the wind angle became usable. The sails went up, the first use of our brand new, two year old jib. We were soon flying long very nicely. It felt so good to be sailing properly with no particular concerns about the boat, after all this time.

The sailing was glorious. Enough wind to go fast, but not to much, and all while it was warm enough to be wearing just t shirts and shorts. We split into watches, two people driving the boat and two resting for the duration. We saw a great sunset and the stars appeared. There was not much in the way of other traffic, but we were able to track other vessels on the AIS system, while also keeping a lookout on any lights indicating other boats. I was very perplexed at one point when I saw a light appear, but there was no information on AIS about it. Teresa saw me looking puzzled and then moved across to see what I was looking at. By this time the moon had risen enough to be obvious what it was. I had obviously seen the first peep of white light as it came over the horizon, and was trying to interpret it as a ship. We concluded that we were very unlikely to hit the moon, and were then inspired to sing songs relating to the moon and stars. Probably not very tuneful, but there was almost no one who could hear.

The night passed uneventfully, the watches seemed to pass quickly and when the sun came up we could see the outline of the land we were heading for, albeit about forty miles away.



As we approached, we started to see a few more boats, but nothing that was too close. We made our way to a bay that was supposedly sheltered from the direction the wind would be coming from. It was, but there was a very unpleasant swell from the previous wind direction. We picked up a buoy, glad that we would be able to rest, but it did not turn out to be relaxing. We endured one of the most uncomfortable nights I can remember on a boat. The wind and waves were not in the same direction, and the boat kept getting swung at 90 to the waves, meaning that she rolled badly. Cooking diner was an achievement in itself and only limited quantities were eaten. Everyone was tired and wanted to get their heads down early. Lying in the dark was the best way to endure the rolling.

 Steve (and Tricia)

Distance today            160 miles

Total distance 2021:   304 miles

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