5 June 2023 - Rodi Garganico

It is remarkable how just 60 miles of separation by the sea can make such a difference. We are adjusting to a different language, a different culture and most importantly today, to a different set of coastal features.  Croatia has mountains inland and islands that are set in deep water. We have felt many times that we could just about reach out to touch the land, but found that we were in 50 – 60 metres depth of water.  The Italian coast is the opposite.  For the most part long sandy beaches with shallow water beyond.  We had done some investigation of Vieste last year, discovering that were some places in the harbour which were deep enough for us, but only a few.  Subsequently, we had shelved ideas of coming then, because Vieste is not a “Port of Entry”. This year, with a changed Schengen situation, we have been able to come, and had booked one of the few berths deep enough for us. The outer harbour is actually shallower than the inner harbour, and as we headed out we saw that our depth reader showed 0.0 metres.  We have about 10 cm tolerance on this, but we knew that it was pretty marginal.

We headed north to a town called Rodi Garganico.  The area inland of the spur of Italy is a national park, and home to several unique forests, which we were keen to see if we could. The journey was uneventful once we had negotiated the sets of fishing pot buoys close to Vieste.  The wind was from behind and we went with just the jib up as it was a relatively short distance.

Our research had indicated that the marina as Rodi Garganico was deeper than Vieste, although the sea outside shallowed as we approached.  As we entered within the breakwater however, it became apparent that we had stopped moving. We must have grounded very gently.  We backed up and tried again with the same result, and then during a third failed attempt, we then stopped as we backed up as well. At this point a Guardia Costiera rib came by, and asked us if we were ok, and then pointed to where we should go to extricate ourselves, which we managed.  Shortly after, they reappeared with a guy on board who was clearly not in their uniform.  As they approached he said that he was a yachtsman based there, whose boat was nearly as deep as ours. He offered to come on board and show us the path through the sandbanks that he had taken when he entered earlier.  We gladly accepted.  With his guidance, and only touching the bottom once more, we made it in to the deeper water inside the port, and the marinaros guided us to our berth. We thanked the guy who heled us profusely. During this process, we saw that our depth gauge had read -0.2 metres, we had been ploughing through the sandy bottom. Later we visited the office and explained what had happened, and indicated how upset we were that they had accepted our booking in the full knowledge of our draft, but not warned us of these potential difficulties.  They tried to be as accommodating as possible, and said that they would not charge us for the visit.

Later, a visit up the many steps to the town proper, and then a walk along the deserted beach area after dinner. 


A day of challenges. 


Miles today           15

Miles in 2023     667

Steve (& Tricia)

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