We had a very disturbed night. Although there was no breeze or swell to worry us, the sounds coming from the anchor chain, and the occasional jolts were enough to make sleep difficult for each of us. We were up and out on deck looking to see if there was anything that could be seen at around midnight and then again at about 1:00. As I lay in bed trying to sleep, my mind was speculating at all the things that might be happening, and what we might have to do to resolve them. I must have slept for a couple of hours, during which the noises were less, but even so we were both up by six. Once it was light we were able to look down into the water, which was crystal clear so we could see the bottom easily. We had a good view of our anchor chain on the seabed, and we able to confirm that the anchor was set in sand. However, as we had swung in the light breeze overnight, the last few metres of the chain was running over some exposed rock. The scraping noise that we had heard was the chain against the rock being transmitted up into the boat. At pretty well the exact place where the chain started to rise to the boat, there was a small rock outcrop, and the chain must have been catching under this, causing the jolts. If we had put out 2 metres less chain we would have had no problem at all, but our tendency is to be generous with the amount, believing that this will hold us better. When we were leaving, we were able to swing the boat in the right direction so that the chain was freed to be raised easily. A great relief all round.
We have started out journey up the Adriatic, but had to motor all the way. By the time the wind started, we were too close to our destination for it to be worthwhile getting the sails out. We rounded Capo d'Otranto, the most easterly point in Italy, with a rather magnificent lighthouse.
In the final couple of miles before we arrived in Otranto we had some sea fog reducing the visibility to just a couple of hundred metres, we haven't seen anything like that for ages. It was suddenly cool and damp. We came across a guy sitting in a very small boat, fishing in the middle of the fog bank. I'm glad we saw him and were able to divert around him.
We were happy to arrive early in Otranto and find a good spot in the outer harbour to anchor. There were already a few boats here and more arrived during the afternoon. The town is reputedly a gem, but we were happy to enjoy the peace and catch up on some sleep, rather than getting the tender out to go and explore.
Miles Today - 23
Miles 2022 - 643
Steve (and Tricia)
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