Nimrod Oceanlord

Yesterday evening (Thursday), the mechanics came armed with our new parastrappi, aka flexible coupling plate, and spent the next two and a half hours fitting it. This was two days earlier than we expected. They also decided that the engine wasn’t misaligned so we’re not totally sure what caused the problem.

Liz had a fishing trip booked for this morning so we decided we’d leave at lunchtime. Before then, we needed to pay the boatyard who didn’t take credit cards so we had to pay the local petrol station by card and they reimbursed the yard. We also had to pay for our ten days in Vieste but the marina also doesn’t take cards although luckily we had enough cash on board. It seems that cash is king here and don’t even ask for a receipt! We also needed to refuel so it was one very expensive morning!! So, with a certain amount of trepidation we set off to Isolda Tremiti – some 30nm away. All seemed to be fine but each change in pitch or different sound had us opening the engine compartment and listening intently.

We arrived around 8pm to a crowded main anchorage but managed to find a little cove with only 3 other boats.

The holding isn’t supposed to be great and it’s quite deep so we have 45m of chain out. Although it’s quite benign at the moment so we are probably just sitting on our chain anyway! Jo jumped in to check the anchor but it was too dark and deep to check whether it was safely dug in. We’ll have to wait until morning. She did notice that there was quite a lot of growth on Nimmie’s hull and keel so that’ll be a job for tomorrow.

Tremiti is infamous for the gay internment camp (no pun intended) that Mussolini set up in the 1930s so we are hoping to explore the islands tomorrow by dinghy. The islands are very low lying like the Isles of Scilly so only safe in very settled weather. Tonight, we are having the fruits of Liz’s labours for supper.

The mechanic is now not expected until Sunday, so we decided to hire a car for the day to explore the Gargano Peninsula. Vieste lies on the east coast of the mountainous peninsula and it’s not many years ago that there were no metalled roads connecting through to the bulk of Puglia. But our little red Lancia coped admirably with the switchback roads.
Our first destination was Foresta Umbra in the heart of the Gargano National Park. We purchased a map at the tiny visitors centre and took a 5km hike through beautiful beech forest.

A cool green oasis after the heat of the coast, with sunlight dappling the moss and lichen. At the small lake we watched carp, koi, catfish and turtles. Deeper into the forest we saw evidence of snuffling pigs or boar, and were surrounded by birdsong.

Back in the car we left the forest, descended to a river valley, and then climbed up a steep ridge on top of which perches the ancient pilgrim town of Monte Sant’ Angelo. There are beautiful views south to the Adriatic Golfa di Manfredonia (across which we sailed from Bari), but for reasons best known to itself the town chooses not to site its restaurants and bars to take advantage of these. So we made do with a town centre pub serving panini for a late lunch.

On our way in to visit the ancient Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo we were almost crushed by a stampede of Croatian pilgrims, but it turned out that they were late for mass, so we were unable to take any pictures of the hugely atmospheric cave church to which we descended.

More switchback roads took us down the coastal side of the ridge, bypassing Mattinata through impressive tunnels before winding our way back to Vieste along the coast. We stopped to photograph some of the caves and an impressive cliff arch which are the destination for the trip boats that leave from the marina here throughout the day. We arrived back on board in time to watch the sun set below the harbour wall.

Tomorrow I leave Nimrod to make my way onwards to Venice by train. The Casino Royale arrival by yacht will have to wait, but hopefully not too much longer for Jo & Liz. Huge thanks to them both for their unfailing good humour in the face of frustrating circumstances, and for a most memorable week on board.

After a week in the UK, we flew back to Brindisi this morning. The temperature has risen since we left and at 5pm it’s 32 degrees. With very little wind that makes it quite warm – especially since home was 13 degrees this morning! Whilst we were away, the wind was from the south and east, perfect for making our way up the coast to pick up Michael in Bari and onwards to Venice. Of course, now that we are back, the wind is going round to the NW (where we want to go) and picking up in strength so making any headway can be quite difficult. That is the sailor’s lot. I suspect that we will stay here tomorrow and sort out various bits and bobs on the boat (the list that never finishes!) and leave early on Friday morning.

Off now to catch the bus into town to stock up on food (the cupboards are pretty bare) and then enjoy the sun setting somewhat earlier than the UK.

We have had a lovely few days in Otranto but it was time to move on. Today, we left around 0930 towards Brindisi. What little wind there was was coming from the north so impossible to sail. At 5-7 knots the wind was never enough to sail with anyway. We gently motored north to Brindisi where we need to leave the boat next week. We’ve decided that given that there isn’t much around here up the coast, we will stay here and explore inland by public transport. We are currently on the free town quay by the Appian Way steps and opposite a rudder shaped maritime memorial. We will probably stay here for a couple of nights before moving into one of the marinas as there isn’t electricity or water and you do get a lot of wash from passing boats (no apparent speed limit!). However, it is also very sheltered as there is a huge outer harbour.

We left our lovely anchorage in Le Castella intending to make for Santa Maria di Leuca across the Gulf of Taranto. The wind had slightly more north in it than we wanted but it was supposed to go round to the west during the night so with two reefs in the main, we set sail. For the next 12 hours we had a wonderful, lively sail making great headway and hitting 8.3 knots boat speed. The seas did get quite big at times but Nimmie dealt with them in her usual, nonchalant style. However, it wasn’t great for sleeping as it was quite bouncy.  The seas eventually quietened down around 4am and by then the AIS had packed up so we had to go back to the old fashioned way of determining the course vessels around us were taking. The radio also wasn’t working properly so we suspected that the several ‘lively’ trips we had to date may have loosened the aerial on top of the mast. Not something we were going to sort in the middle of the night, miles from anywhere.

As we approached Marina Di Leuca, we both decided that we might as well go on towards Otranto and save ourselves a day. Otranto is a medieval walled town with interesting alleyways, cathedral and castle so much more interesting to stay in for a few days. The town quay is only €25 a night so that definitely helped sway us.

We arrived around 2pm on Thursday afternoon and amazingly found a space. The quay only has space for around 6 visiting yachts so getting a berth is pretty hard but the parking goddesss was with us. We were both pretty tired after our 22 hour journey so we spent a fairly lazy afternoon sorting ourselves out, getting some provisions and checking the town out. After an early supper, we were both asleep by 9.30pm!

However, this morning we both were much refreshed and decided to sort the aerial out, which meant Liz going up the mast – just for a change! We decided to do it early on as the temperature is reaching 30 degrees in the shade here.

After all this exertion, we decided we needed a beer and a rest so the hammocks came out!

Otranto has a fascinating history with a huge Aragonese castle, a cathedral that houses a Tree of Life mosaic floor dating back to 1080 and a chapel that is dedicated to the 800 martyrs who were beheaded in 1480 for not converting to Islam. The chapel has their skulls in glass cases – a little gruesome.

We found a bar that had good wifi so had to have a cocktail there as seemed only fair. Looking forward to spending a few more days here whilst a strong NW wind blows through as there aren’t any anchorages between here and Brindisi to hide in.