Telltales 81
UPDATED: FRIDAY MORNING 13 Oct 2006, after passing the Strait of
Messina.
Back home to Symi, via
France, Italy, Greece and Turkey. (Part 1)
On Sunday Oct 8th
it is all over. With the end of the St. Tropez race week, the season
for boating
officially closes in this part of the Mediteranean, but not not in
Greece and Turkey. And that is where our home is, so we are in a hurry
to get there as fast as possible. This will be a race with only one
participant; Sylphe. Only 1600 miles to do, almost half an Atlantic
crossing.
Most other classics stay in the area and go back to Cannes, Palma or
somewhere else around the corner. Vistona and Owl are heading back to
Sardinia as well. But it seems they want to trail a little longer in
St. Tropez. And YES, there are classics that actually will go across
the Atlantic.
So, after a glorious last lunch with all the sailors on the Citadelle
of St. Tropez and a thank you to the organisers, we bid many farewells
to
other crews (not to mention my "own" Jean and Boniface), skippers and
owners, and of course Maynard and Barbie. We
cast off from St. Tropez and are on our way. We sail off into open
water and leave the mainland european coast behind us. We want islands
again. The sun goes down and the full
moon appears. A rather moving night (both for boat and crew), with up
to 20 knots of wind (of
course on the bowsprit, so we deviate our course). But the morning
brings calmer weather, smooth seas and crsip sunshine and we regain our
original direction. At 7 in the
afternoon we sail into Bonifacio (180 miles done), where we have the
complete outerdock empty. Remember, for those who were there with me
this summer, there was never a place on this dock neither. We park
Sylphe at the far end and went for fish-soup a la Corse. We were rather
tired and slept at 10.
On tuesday morning we filled up
with groceries (St. Tropez was all
closed!!) and diesel and left Bonifacio again, the weather looked nice
and we should take advantage, as we have learned over the years. So,
off we go for another 320 mile trip this time. We motorsail through the
Straits of Bonifacio, and pass exactly over the spot where the BBQ went
overboard and is now lying in 80 meters of water.
BONIFACIO
CLIFFS IN THE BACKGROUND
And Marit is clearly enjoying being on Sylphe again, as
you can see. The night brings beautifull calm seas and with a reef in
the main we motorsail onward. We both get a good night sleep (Marit as
usual till dawn, and Roland from dawn till midday) We enjoy our
respective lunches on a mirror flat calm tyrenean sea. 180 miles away
from the closest land and not a wrinkle in the water, and thus also no
wind. Glorious and it makes no difference for us, we will cheat in this
race and keep the engine running.
A
smoother Tyrenean sea, almost impossible
Later, on wednesday
afternoon the wind picks up to a gentle 8
knots, just 40 degrees off the bowsprit, so yankee and main are helping
us a bit and we do a leisurely 7,5 knots. We have an early diner and
watch the stars and some more movies on the Sylphe Multi Media
Centre (SMMC). We have not seen another boat in the last two
days,
except for the three ferries that passed in the frist night. The decks
remain dry this night, a clear sign that we are sailing into warmer
waters. Time for sorting out pictures to go with all these Telltales
and write the texts, again on the SMMC. When we pass land we will use
the SMMC to update the website via the mobile telephone, including the
pictures....argghh modern technology, But than again, Manolo, the
autopilot is already doing all the helming for the last 500 miles, have
not touched the helm, nor have I in the races, as Maynard did the great
job there.
By late lunch time on thursday we plan to arrive in the dreamy Aeolian
islands,
where Roland was
so lucky with the Bakker family to be able to cruise all islands this
summer. So he has picked Salina for a stop to once again take diesel
and food supplies, and not to mention a great diner in the restaurant
that Maynard discovered and still remains my best experience in years:
Porto Bello.
From Salina (island on NE tip of Sicily) to Greece
We arrive in Salina on thursday
as planned at a rather
empty harbor: siesta time. The dieseldock was empty and we
put Sylphe on there, waiting and hoping that it would open later that
afternoon. The fact that the complete access to this floating pontoon
was
already removed was not promising though. Had he closed for the winter
already?? We went for a strawl, after all, we had been at sea for 50
hours and stretched our legs a little. I walked back to the boat, only
to find the diesel guy waiting for me. So, I brought the dieselhose
over to the pontoon/Sylphe with the aid of the dinghy and filled up
with 270 liters. Sylphe was thrirsty after 50 hours, but still at our
usual average consumption (you do the math).
By this time shops had opened and we do our groceries, and Roland
checked the weather. Basically still forecasting rather nasty 30 knot
winds
in the Ionian as of Sunday morning. Not to mention the rain that would
accompany it. We have another 300 miles to
go (non-stop) from Salina to
Cephalonia and
that would bring us there by saturday evening, just before the nasty
weather starts, IF we would leave immediately again. We are taking the
gamble and hope to make it to
Cephalonia before the weather will keep us in Italy for another week.
But it means leaving
immediately (and not the next morning as planned) and sailing through
the Straits of Messina at night. No
sweat, we will take the south going current (of up to 4 knots) as a
bonus. We sail out of port
again................. as
simple as that. Bye, bye Salina.
And as we sail out, Marit remarks; "This is the island I have looked at
the longest (visible for 8 hours before we arrived), but stayed the
shortest (2 hours)!!!".
And that was also the story of Marits
promised diner in Porto
Bello. Instead, I cook a great meal onboard -No, I have never been
known for being humble-, while sailing from Salina to Messina, Well
compensated.
Thursday midnight, Strait of
Messina. Unfortunately I had timed it a
little bit too correct and we arrive at dead tide, so no free miles.
Still better than a 4 knot current against one. The half moon lights
the sky and the sea around us. The shore is lit up on both sides like a
carnival. The ferries blasting from one side to the other, make it an
excercise to stay awake with, but this is no problem. In the entrance
on the north side a huge cruise ship steams by, we can see the people
on deck and wave.
After this the shipping calms down and a new sea slowly opens up to us;
the Ionian Sea.
Roland came out of here at the end of May and spend 4,5 months sailing
in the Tyrenean and Corsican Seas. We leave one sea and enter
another one. So far so good. We left France 4 days ago and have pointed
the bow of Sylphe now directly towards Greece, without having set foot
on Sardinia, Sicily or mainland Italy. Does this say
enough!!!!!!!!!??????? Ohhhh, and my absolute favorite port passes on
port: Reggio di Calabria, glad to miss that one.
And ahead, 220 miles of open water remain, calmly lit by the moon. No
land around, serenity at its best. Especially at night. Sleep well,
folks. A gentle 8 knots of south easterly wind keeps a little bit of
pressure in the sail and the engine hums monotone.
We hope to see some more dolphins tomorrow, as we only had a few around
the boat so far.
Friday morning 7 O'Clock, we just
left Capo Spartivento behind us,
basically the most Southern point of Italy mainland and the horizon is
turning morning-greyish. A sign that light is about to strike. The sun
is gonna come out again. Another night has passed. The 4th night
sailing in
5 days.
What
is sooo special/bizar about these moments: the
realisation
that the world is bigger than just your boat. At night you are confined
to the cockpit and vision is nil. Your SENSES determine what it is like
OUT there. Waves are not seen, but felt. The strenght of the wind is
not judged by white caps on the waves, but felt in your hair or on your
skin. The boat heeling over a sign that things have changed and a look
at wind- or speed-instruments have to confirm this, either the angle
(and thus sail adjusting) or the strength will have caused this. But
there are no signs to observe, only felt. You reach blindfoldedly
for a rope, untill you feel it in your hands. At night every thing is
FEEL firtst. Nothing else matters.
When the skies turn morning-greyish (first on the east horizon) you
realise that you have some more to rely on. Looking back into western
direction the horizon and the sea are still equally black. One turns
his head east again to check that dawn is really coming. Only natural,
your mind wants to be confirmed. And
no matter how nice it is to see another day breaking, there is this
solemn moment of sadness: You and
your boat are no longer alone. Your
safe cocoon has opened up and is letting you go. Just too bad. Night
sailing is about TRUST; trust in your material, your boat, nature and
your senses. You only react when you feel something. When daylight is
there you try to anticipate and
react before you feel anything. You brace yourself when you
see a bigger wave approaching, you take the decision to reef sail based
upon the whitecaps on the waves ahead, etc. Mankind prefers this. Being
able to take a decision upon the things we see, rather than feel.
Mankind
wants to be in control with his intelligence and reason. As if he ever
is/was?? Too bad,
again.
Trust your senses, trust your feelings, that is how we should
live......!
And, above all. how we should relate to other people.
I guess I like night sailing a lot.........................
Good morning, anyway............
STILL
TO COME:
Arrival in Greece.
Greece: from Cephalonia to Symi, via
Corinth
Channel (450 miles)
To go from Cephalonia (most western point of Greece)
to Symi (almost most eastern point), involves cruising through
very familiar waters and too many friends to go non stop. So we will go
through the Corinth Channel for the second time this year and pass via
Aegina and than onward through the Cyclades islands. And when we hit
the
Turkish Coast, we also know that we just missed Symi...........turn
around.
AHOY
Roland and Marit
www.sail-in-style.com