10 / 11 June 2023 - Vieste and Bari

We are coming to the end of our time in the Med for this session, and so we are starting the chores for departure and managing the food supplies. With nearly a week to go, we still need fresh fruit and vegetables, so part of Saturday morning was dedicated to resupply. The greengrocer’s has a large array, and some things that we rarely see in the UK, for example seven or more varieties of tomato.

As Saturday evening was to be our last in Vieste, we revisited the restaurant that we had sampled on our first night, this time accompanied by the friends that we had socialised with last night.  Another lovely meal. One of the joys of our transient lifestyle is making new contacts with people with similar lifestyles and comparing notes and experiences.

Our friend Tim was up early and took this picture of dawn behind Equinox (many thanks Tim) 

Promptly on Sunday morning, we were on our way from Vieste to Bari, where Equinox will spend the next couple of months.  We managed to avoid the fishing pots as we left and had good view of the south side of the town.  We could see rain bearing clouds behind us and to one side, and we pressed on as best we could to avoid the rain, especially when we saw lightning in one of the biggest squalls. It did rain on us but not as badly as it might have if we had been a couple of miles to the east.

Vieste, with threatening clouds beyond

We were accompanied by a family of dolphins for a while, but after 10 minutes or so, when our speed dropped, they lost interest in us and disappeared.

As the day progressed, the sky brightened and the wind became more consistent, so that for the first time this year we were able to use the spinnaker.  We were flying it for more than 3 hours, and a splendid sight it made.  Eventually, as we approached the busier waters near Bari, it had to come down.  It requires more time to get it down and away than our other sails, especially when there are just the two of us, so we took no chances. 



We docked in Bari and had a celebratory beer to finish our journey.  We now have a few days to work on the boat and do some local sightseeing.

Miles today           55

Miles in 2023      747

Steve (& Tricia)

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