Italy Interrupted

We awoke to a beautiful, sunny morning. The air was cool and the waters were still, a perfect morning to set off. After a quick stop at the fuel dock we started heading north up the west coast of Corfu and still weren’t quite sure where we were ultimately headed. Since the seas and winds were calm, and the weather forecasts showed favorable conditions today and tomorrow, we were planning to head to Crotone (about 150 miles, 25 hours) with Santa Maria di Leuca being a bail out point. And if our timing was good and the weather was still with us, maybe we would push all the way to Siracusa, Sicily (another 24 hours or so). Around the north side of Corfu the winds were around 8-10 knots and we even had a chance to raise all of our sails, the genoa, main and mizzen. It was good to know that the mail sail went up with ease but only for the winds to quickly die down. We just couldn’t bare only going 2-3 knots with so many miles ahead of us, so we dropped sails and turned the engine on again. Everything was going well and I was actually quite excited about doing a night crossing. Especially enjoying a night crossing without being sea sick like I was when we sailed from Cyprus to Turkey. But around 3pm the winds started to pick up, more than we saw forecasted. As we were passing the islands north of Corfu (our last bail out point before Italy) the winds and seas just continued to grow stronger and bigger. We decided to keep going with hopes that it would grow calmer but it only got worse. Once we were past the island of Othoni and out of the lee, the winds were blowing 25 to 30 knots with gusts up to 35. And the seas had rollers about 10+ feet high that were coming at our starboard bow and broadside which were knocking us around quite a bit. After I went down below to use the head and was just happy I to make it out of there without being injured, I realized that I wasn’t having fun anymore. Mike was also not having any fun, especially with the thought of having to deal with these conditions throughout the night with no where to go to for safe harbour. So we decided to turn the boat around and head back to Othoni where it sounded like there was a reasonable anchorage. And this was good timing because the Meclizine I take for sea sickness wasn’t quite up to battle with the rolly seas and it was all I could do to read the pilot book and help Mike navigate getting into the anchorage. And wouldn’t you know that there was a unmarked shoal directly in front of the entrance that was absolutely impossible to see with the chop and white caps. But we made it in safely, got a good hold and were really happy to be there. Only a little disappointed since we had imagined ourselves greeting Italy in the morning.

Leaving the marina in Corfu

Albania!