23rd October 2023 - Bari

It’s 60 miles from Brindisi to Bari and we had in mind to split the journey and travel 40 miles today, the rest tomorrow. 

Huge ferries arrive in Brindisi from Igoymenitsa daily. The pilot boards the ship to guide them in, and as they dock, they turn around, presumably to make departure easier. We saw one of these on AIS as we were about to leave, so delayed a few minutes rather than have to wait mid harbour and not get in the way. One of the local yachts was then leaving at the same time as us, which was just great. They probably know the schedule and when is a good time to go between the arrivals and departures of all the various ferries, cargo ships and military vessels that go in and out. Just like crossing the road in this part of the world, go with the local.

Once outside the harbour the area was busy with fishing boats. They were all from Monopoli, 40 miles up the coast and just south of our earmarked anchorage.

We could get into Monopoli, but it’s only 3 metres deep in the harbour. As we approached the town, at around 5.00pm, it became very obvious that it was going home time for the fishermen, as loads of boats appeared from all directions, heading in. We were quite relieved we weren’t going to be trying to go in at the same time. Like ferries, they don’t give any quarter to a visiting yacht at all.

There aren’t many bays suitable to anchor along this part of the coast and those few are prone to getting swell, which can be quite uncomfortable, as the boat rocks from side to side, not even in a regular motion, making sleeping difficult. There was swell out at sea, so we made a decision to carry on straight to Bari. It was going to mean arriving in the dark, as sunset is now around 18.00, but we are familiar with Bari harbour and the marina.


The lights from the shore, especially those of a big city like Bari make spotting other craft a little easier, but the challenge set through the last 5 miles of our approach was seeing tiny fishing boats, with just a small white light or a torch to indicate their presence. Several also had a green light on the end of their fishing rod, but it didn’t take long to work out than a green light wafting about above water level is not a navigation light. The big ships at anchor are easy because they leave all their deck lights on, and they are on AIS.


Fortunately for us a high speed ferry was clear outside the harbour before we made our way through the entrance.

Steve had messaged Tommaso earlier and he had told us to moor at the fuel berth (a nice easy "alongside" parking manoeuvre), that there was no wind and someone would come to take our lines, whuch they did. We were sitting down to eat our supper at 9.00pm, half an hour after arriving.

It was just great to have done more night sailing. It is a very special experience, even with the challenges it brings.

Miles today             69  

Miles in 2023      1349

Tricia (and Steve) 

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