The pilot books warned of a sparse cruising-ground when sailing the east coast of Italy, and it wasn’t wrong. It could’ve been that we were already of the mindset to cover some miles so that we could enjoy Venice and Croatia without the feeling of being rushed.

To Otranto

Our first leg up from Siracusa to Otranto proved to be a bit of a shock to the system. As the sun was going down on the first night out the kids had a bit of a meltdown just as the wind pick up off the beam. With full main and genoa, we were over canvased so the boat heeled over too much for our comfort. We also had some lumpy wave action, bigger than the wind speed, probably coming out of the Messina Straight. So it proved to be a couple of hours of adjusting to the conditions.

On top of it all I’d discovered the source of water under the forward head sink. One of the thru-hulls was leaking! Usually sitting just above the waterline it had gone unnoticed all during the winter, but with the bow crashing against the waves, it caused quite a lot of water to come through. Not what you want on a boat. Juggle that with kids past it and all of a sudden it’s all go. The port hole windows in the kids v-berth were also pitching from above and below water. Sometimes looking out of them you could only see them filled with water – like being in an aquarium. Good job we’d secured them properly! Note to self; include double-checking that on future pre-departure inspections.

After night fell and the kids were soundly asleep, the night time watch saw the weather settle and ‘normality’ returned. The next day I plugged up the leaking through hull with some Stop Leak, a gungy paste specially designed for the purpose. It managed to stop any more water coming in and will do as a temporary fix. I will fix it more permanently later, as I’m satisfied its just the connection rather than the skin-fitting.

Otranto seemed to be a quite town, built on fishing and bits of tourism, mostly Italians by the look of it. We stayed a couple of nights and had a look around the town built around an old castle and its town wall. The maximum depth by the fuel dock was 2m, so we weren’t able to fuel up there.

To Brindisi

Our next stop was Brindisi and we refueled there without a hitch. We’d heard we could stay for free on the town quay, but someone at the fuel dock said that wasn’t allowed due to construction. He offered us a place on his quay for 40 Euros a night! Suspecting a con, we politely declined and went off to anchor just outside the marina. We’d heard people had been moved on from here but we had no issues and left early the next morning want to get out of the big smoke.

To Monopoli

At Monopoli we entered the harbour with the intention of docking. As the harbour was full of fishing boats and other sailboats, there wasn’t any space for us to tie up to. The Harbour Master must have been at lunch when we came in, as our repeated calls on the VHF went unanswered. Later when we were about 10M out, we heard him answer another sailboat (after the siesta period of 1-4 pm). So despite being tired we decided to push on north for the Tremini Islands.

To Tremini Islands

The next night was pretty full on with higher winds than forecast. With the mainsail double reefed, she handled the constant 25 knots really well. We kept motor sailing as the winds kept from the beam to the nose and gusted up to 35, pitching the whole bow under the waves occasionally; sleeping was difficult, and made more difficult because the kids had all climbed into our bed. We usually alternate our watches 3 on 3 off. It works for us, except I stayed on longer tonight whilst he wind peaked. Though Bianca later said, it was easier in the cockpit than in the berth.

When we reached the Tremini Islands, we were enchanted with the beauty of the place. It’s pretty remote, so much so, back in the day prisoners from Napels were sent here. The story goes that they were pretty aggressive and it was thought that a lack of women was the cause. The solution was to ’round up’ all of Napels’ prostitutes and send them here too.

Unfortunately the pilot books description of the anchorages was spot on and we didn’t feel comfortable dropping hook here. The north side had an uncomfortable swell and other spots looked too small and rocky.

So once again we pushed on to Ancona – another nights passage.

To Ancona

Just before nightfall a RIB full of officials pulled up next to us, asking where we were off to. The kids wandered naked on deck and they quickly realised that we weren’t what they were looking for. They dropped off and sat motionless in a 15ft RIB 20M off the coast. I guess it’s something they do.

Dropping anchor in Ancona was a relief after all the unexpected night passages. On the plus side we’d covered a lot of miles and had only another single over nightery to get to Venice. Ancona is a big industrial harbour and we anchored about half a mile outside of the marina. It didn’t really appeal to us, and there was no access to shops or anything else. We managed a meal in the marina but then went back to the refuge of the boat.

The Coast Guard visited us on our second night. They politely checked all our papers. Once again the kids provided a quick ice breaker.

By now, we were really done with the east coast of Italy, so once we headed north, this time for our final destination in Italy, Venice. A place that needs no introduction. Excitement reigns!

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