Back in the game (Preveza Greece - Siracusa Italy)

 

We’re heading towards Italy from Greece aboard the jolly sailing vessel ‘Salty Ginger’.

Not currently all that jolly though..

A combination of headache, seasickness and very likely PTSD from our trials by storm last year, have sent Chez into a glum downward spiral. She won’t thank me for the description, but she is currently misery incarnate.

Since our arrival in Greece, Graham and Julie have been wonderful hosts. Before flying off to play with his helicopters, Graham had been cooking up a storm in the galley. (Thai green curry, pork steaks and Greek salad, and beef tacos) - all cooked to perfection and delicious!

Before our departure from Preveza, Julie had been showing appropriate levels of angst over the upcoming journey - intently checking the weather models, the tides, and currents to see us safely Westward, possibly going through the Strait of Messina.. but we’ll see.

Me.. well, I’ve helped Graham to successfully fix a leaky tender and a stalling outboard.

Somewhat less enjoyably: a split vacuum pump, which had sprayed faeces left right and centre in the bilge - thankfully he had the part required to fix it on board, and after just a couple of hours of distasteful nasal discomfort, that particular issue was resolved. Hopefully only to be re-visited as an anecdote when Graham and Julie entertain guests at sundowner sessions in the future!

We’re 45 nautical miles out from Greece, the seas flat, there’s a gentle breeze on the nose that negates any hope of a decent sail for now..

The ladies are both below - resting or asleep; we’ve instigated a 3hr watch system, that has me currently staring out at the barely populated expanse of blue before us.

Life is.. well perhaps not 100% good just yet.. it definitely seems to be heading in that direction.

Ooh.. and Julie asked me earlier if I’d like chicken stew for dinner.. Man! Can this trip get any better

Can confirm: the stew was great.

As the sun set in front of us bathing the sky in gold, we had our first little play with the sails - that went well. Jib, Main and Stay sail all coming out without any major issue. We’ll need to finesse a little, but as a first attempt, all agreed it was a success.

Also very happy to report that Chez’s spirits seem to have well and truly lifted by evening: must be the sea air!

After a few attempts at napping, I’m back on shift at midnight. Full moon above, calm seas and enough wind (for now) to keep the genoa filled for the majority of the time. Although the sea is calm, there’s a little bit of side-on roll.

Over the last two nights I’ve watched the first of the films I downloaded for the trip: A strange Micheal Caine offering from the 80s: ‘A shock to the system’. I’m giving it a 6/10: not great, but still quite quirky and entertaining.

We’re making good time, and there’s really not much else to report.

At 1am however.. a high pitched alarm had me tapping the captain’s foot to wake her up - it’s the bilge alarm; the boats wet bilge had risen to its ‘alarming’ level. I manually pumped it out, and we agreed that a ‘let’s monitor’ approach would be more appropriate than manning the life boats for now. The side-on swell has been quite severe at times, so hoping it’s just a case of some water being disturbed from elsewhere in the boat… time will tell.

At 2am I’m joined by a less than happy Chez, who comes up on deck and immediately informs me: “I’m done. I’m getting off in Italy - this is worse than it ever was”.

I snap back “Stop - I don’t want to hear it” or words to that effect. We then sit there in an uncomfortable prolonged silence. Not much more to be said by either of us at this stage. The roll is making her nauseous - she’s not in a good way at all.

We make it through the night - Chez eventually managing to get some rest on the sofa in the saloon. Julie and I opting to have slightly extended watches to cover Chez’s absence, but both also managing to get snatches of sleep here and there. I’m writing this just pre-dawn - a time that Julie assures me has a name for it: the morning equivalent of evening’s twilight - a little later she tells me the word is ‘dawn’.

For now, the engine is off, the head sail (genoa? Jib?) is full, and other than the roll, it’s a pretty good sail - making over 6knts.

‘Other than the roll’ however is constant and pretty hellish, throwing the boat through a constant 45degree corkscrew. There’s no getting away from it for some time yet.

From 10am, I was able to be thrown around the bed, if not asleep, at least somewhat unconscious until about 2pm, when I came back up and took over from Julie. Chez remains laid out on the sofa - still not a happy or healthy bunny. Engine back on at 3:45pm in fading wind that had the sail whip cracking.

Chez perked up, corresponding to a slight improvement in the sea conditions. With the three of us together in the cockpit, we were able to address the elephant in the room: Chez can’t and won’t continue beyond Italy. This came as no surprise to Julie, who had in fact already advised Graham the same.. what they didn’t know was whether I’d also be pulling the plug on the adventure. I justified my decision to remain by stating that I wouldn’t want to see that amount of meat in the fridge and freezer going to waste!

It’s like a weight has been lifted all round; Chez is feeling better, both about the decision and how well it was received. Julie and I will get the boat over to Gibraltar on our own. Yes, it would have been considerably easier with three, but it’s doable, and we’ve both (albeit separately) crossed oceans two handed.

I head down for a nap, leaving the ladies happily chatting together in the cockpit.

I wake to a still fullish moon rising, and the coastline lights of the heel of Italy dotting the horizon to my right. (Having further checked the map.. it’s actually the ball of the foot of Italy, not the heel as previously advised). Can’t help thinking that if the sea had been as calm as this throughout, Chez may have been staying on board. Oh well, suspect it’s best in the long run, and she’ll have her own adventure along the way!

Morning saw a wonderful sunrise, Mount Etna billowing, and calm seas. Spirits are high.

Down with the Greek flag and dropped anchor in the wide expanse of the bay at Siracusa - nice to be back amongst the pastel coloured stately facades of the surrounding town. Covid was still raging last time we dropped here.

Our arrival into Siracusa this time coincided with a quite spectacular water spout (tornado thingy) shooting up into the heavy clouds above.

Went ashore to try and get Chez off the crew list, but came up against the usual confusion of bureaucracy. Julie headed back to the boat, while Chez and I retraced our steps from 5 years ago, and had a lovely stroll around the majestic city - dined on Pizza for lunch (at the same restaurant we frequented last time), then back to meet Julie for a confusing and somewhat frustrating trip to the port police who (for reasons known to them alone) checked us out of Schengen. Regardless - we’ve tried to do the right thing, it’s not our fault the pen pushing immigration departments of Europe still don’t seem to have their act together.

Revisited the same port police office the next day, and checked back in to Schengen (the weather not being quite right for an immediate departure). The three of us had another lovely lunch at the pizza place - paid for by Julie, and once again marvelled at the spectacle of the city. Back to the boat for a lazy afternoon nap - aided by the beer and pizza in my belly. Woke refreshed and ready for a swim in the Med! Water was lovely and warm - will hopefully be able to make a habit of this in the next few weeks as the boat heads West.

The next morning after killing some time fixing another toilet related issue, it soon rolled round time for Chez to depart. A bit teary, and not the greatest of goodbyes, we left Julie on the dock and went to check Chez in to a hotel for the night (Me Julie and Salty Ginger are off early in the morning, and Chez is getting a bus from here to the airport for her flight to Madrid).

Hotel was clean and decent - perfect for the one night stay & close to the bus terminal.

Lunched at a sandwich shop - extremely friendly staff - Chez got a nice veggie sandwich and I asked them to surprise me: thinly sliced pork, Swiss cheese and sun dried tomatoes - they got a bit giggly when I told them it was a great surprise!

Said our goodbyes for now - both a bit teary and bottom lip wobbly. It’s strange how this has worked out. Back to the boat - back on the tools: this time diagnosing a noisy bearing on a pulley on the water maker. There followed some nice wide ranging chat with Julie that covered friends,

family, mental health and drugs and addiction.. not sure what we’re going to talk about for the rest of the trip! Off to bed after watching Julie’s favorite YouTube roofers. Up at 5:15am and underway at sunrise.

Breakfasted on bacon and eggs. Julie spotted another dark cloud showing a ‘water spout/tornado/twister’ type thingy some way off - not concerning from that distance.

I would probably be happier if the clouds could stay where they’re supposed to be.

Despite the ominous red sky dawn and the ickle baby cyclone, the weather turned out to be rather lovely. We motored and had a short period of just sail on our way up to Taormina (the picturesque setting of the second series of White Lotus) - this confirmed by the full tour boat that has just gone past with ‘White Lotus Tours’ emblazoned in large letters on the side by the enterprising captain.

The anchorage here is supposedly a renowned rolly affair.. we’ll see..