We do not get up as early as we had hoped and
only get away at about 8:45.
Richard has looked up the weather and says there will be no wind and it
will be sunny. I am unsure about
this as the sky is very overcast.
When we get out of the marina we find that there is a bit of wind, about
10 knots and it built to about 15knots.
So we put the sails up straight away and hoped for a good sailing
day. We probably sailed for just
under an hour when the wind disappeared completely. Richard blames it on his going below to put on sun
cream! I think that is
unlikely. But the end result is
that we are motoring again. But we
have to keep up speed because of the long journey. According to the pilot book there is no harbour between here
and Tropea, our next destination.
There is one exception, but the pilot book says that the harbour is very
small, filled with local boats and is not likely to have a place to stay.
So we motor on and for a time it seems like we
should be able to make it to Tropea in daylight hours. But then just after lunch the wind gets
up. That would be fine, but it is
on the nose, as ever. The wind
builds and is up to 15 knots and the sea is getting lumpy. Motoring in to this is no fun and it is
slowing us down, so even if we can bear to go on like this, we will probably
arrive after dark; not good.
So Richard decides to turn around and try the
only other harbour at Amantea. He
has rung them on the phone twice and had no reply. He as also tried to get them on the radio, but again without
luck. We turn towards the marina
and would you believe it, the wind goes around so it is still on the nose! We’ve had enough of this, so we alter
course to just be able to sail upwind.
The wind gets up to 17 knots and we have a good sail for about an hour,
but we are too far north for the port, so for the last hour we have to motor
again into the wind. This is all a
bit of a gamble. We have no idea
if we will be able to get a berth.
The only alternative will be to anchor off and hope we can get some
shelter. I am expecting a very
uncomfortable night.
But we have a delightful surprise. As we enter the harbour (which is much
as described in the pilot) a man directs us to an alongside berth. He doesn’t speak English, but he does
speak French so we are able to communicate and find that it is fine for us to
remain for the night. The
electricity and water are a long way away from the berth, but he gets us
connected with their own very long line and long hose! It is all very friendly and we shall
have a safe and comfortable night.
The office doesn’t open until 6:00pm (which may be why we could get no
reply). The man there also speaks
French, so we can register without difficulty. There are no facilities really, but it is very cheap and we
are quite content.
Drinks and dinner on board after we have given the
boat a good clean. Now we only
have about a 20 mile trip to either Tropea, or perhaps Vibo Valentia, where
there is a rosette restaurant.
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