It has been a funny old day. Woke up and was very anxious to hear the
outcome of the Scottish referendum.
So we tried to turn on our internet machine only to find that it had run
out of credit. What a day to do
that. We also really needed a
weather forecast, so Richard used his UK phone and spent the £2 a day for
internet access abroad.
Having been relieved over the outcome of the
vote, we were also pleasantly surprised by the weather forecast. It is supposed to be a Force 4 wind all
day, on the beam. We could
actually sail!
So we set out. When we leave the marina the wind is blowing at 9 knots and
we decide to put up the sails. We
are not going very far, so we don’t have to maintain a good speed to get there
in time. We sail for maybe half an
hour in winds from 10 to 15 knots when the wind dies altogether. It is down to 2 knots and has moved
around and is on the nose. So with
regret Richard takes in the genoa and we start the engine. Within 10 minutes the wind starts to
build again and is up of 14 knots.
Richard puts up the genoa again and by the time he does it is blowing
24-25 knots! It is just enough off
the nose to make it possible for us to sail, but it is hard work. The sea is coming at us from the side
and we are rolling a lot. We put
on life jackets and harnesses and Richard takes in a reef. All of this has happened within the
first 75 minutes of being at sea!
With the reef in and the sails set we are screaming along at 7-8
knots. Now this is really sailing.
We are expecting the wind to die as quickly as
it came up, but no, it stays blowing a 5 gusting 6 for the next two hours. Even better it has gone around a bit so
we are on a reach, which is nearly ideal.
As the wind goes around the sea also seems better and we are pressing
forward very smoothly.
We get within half an hour of Tropea port when
the wind finally dies. So we have
to motor the last bit, but this really has been our first good sail of this leg
of the journey.
We enter Tropea harbour and call them up. They give us a nice berth with no
trouble. We will stay here a
couple of days because it is supposed to be a very nice town worth
exploring. We also need to get to
a Vodafone shop to top up our internet device. Richard has tried to do it online, but has not received
confirmation that it has been credited.
The weather has turned very hot and sultry. We can barely cope. We spray down the boat to get all the
salt off it after our sail. A
French couple come in and moor beside us.
They have just come from the Straits of Messina (where we will wind up)
and had a terrible time with a force 7 gusting up to 65 knots! I am rather put off by that, but at
least they are here safe and sound to tell the tale.
We are here to go to the ancient town which is
up a very steep cliff. There is a
walking way in which involves 200 steps.
It is too hot to contemplate that this afternoon, so we will leave it
until evening. We look around the marina first and then find the beach, just
outside. We decide we have to have
a swim, so we go to the beach and spend perhaps 30 minutes in the water cooling
down. The water is warm, but still
a relief from the heat of the day.
After that we go directly and have showers. We want to go somewhere to get the marina internet, which is
a bit hit and miss. So after a
cold drink at the local bar we manage some internet access.
Now it is after 6pm and is cooling a
little. So we walk up in to the
town. There is a jazz festival on,
but we cannot work out what time the music starts. In the end we just a have little walk around, have a
cocktail and then a rather pedestrian dinner. But it really is too hot to cook on board.
We are now in the cockpit hoping the boat is
cooling down before we have to go to bed.
At least there is no specific time we need to get up tomorrow!
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