19 October 2023 - Brindisi

It was another day to race the weather.  The wind was going to be light at first, but building to force 6 by mid-day, and then on to force 8 tomorrow. We could not stay and see this out in Otranto, there is not enough protection there, so it was going to be Brindisi, 40+ miles way.

The alarm was set for 03:30 and the anchor was up by 03:55 local time.  At least we had gained an hour while moving from Greece, so our body clocks thought it was 04:30. We crammed on the speed and motored all the way.  Initially the wind was light and the sea flat, so everything was easy.

We saw the sunrise, with rain falling between us and the horizon, but fortunately, other than a few drops, we avoided it.  The wind was coming from behind us and soon we had lines of slate grey waves following us.  For the most part we were moving at almost the same speed as the waves, but at the wind strengthened, they started to go a little faster and we had the experience of Equinox surfing, being accelerated by the wave front and then slowed in the trough behind it.

Precipitation in sight


For the last couple of hours the wind was 18+ knots and building. We were very relieved to arrive at the large port of Brindisi before it got any worse, but even then the challenges didn’t end.  We could see a large tanker coming up the lane to enter the port, but we concluded that we would be there before him.  Then we realised that a warship was leaving the harbour, and fortunately we managed to pass him in the widest part of the outer harbour.  Then there was a tug preparing to meet the incoming tanker for us to skirt, and a couple of random fishermen in small boats who had decided that the middle of a narrow channel was the ideal place to stop.  All successfully bypassed, and we were tied up in a berth in hopefully the most protected part of the harbour by 10:20 local time.

The harbour has several other naval vessels and a large UN depot, which we assume they our using as a base to support the humanitarian efforts for migrants crossing to Italy from North Africa.

It was still windy in the harbour, but presumably much less so than out at sea.  We planned to eat on deck and had set the table, but changed our minds after a large gust blew everything onto the deck.  We didn’t want to risk our meal going this way too.

We have made it to Brindisi, let the weather throw what it likes at us. Tired after an early start, another early night was called for.

Miles today             42  

Miles in 2023      1280

Steve (and Tricia) 

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