Otranto was a great place to stop to rest and we had a very peaceful night anchored in the bay with the other seven or eight boats. Our body clocks seem now set to waking us early, so we slipped lines at 7.45am. It’s the best of the day here, in my opinion: it’s cool, calm and the light from the low sun rising shows the surroundings at their best.
The wind filled in after a couple of hours and we have an
absolutely superb sail up the coast. We had a great angle on the wind, a broad
reach, in flat water. As the wind built up, so did our speed and, around the
middle of the day, we were averaging a very comfortable seven knots. The land
is flat and featureless here, interspersed with holiday resorts by the beaches.
As we approached Brindisi, we passed four large ships at
anchor outside, just like Bembridge, where ships anchor to await going into
Southampton. Then a cargo ship was coming in down the TSS, so we stopped and
drifted for a while to let it pass. It surprised us that the pilot boat that
came charging out to meet it, was not on AIS. You see it go along side the ship
to let the pilot board and then the boat leads them in. It would have been
touch and go to get into the harbour before them, so better to just hang around
and let them pass, then follow them in. You know there won’t be another huge
vessel coming in or out at the same time, so its perfect for having a relaxed
entry.
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| A castle guards the entrance to the port. It has much in common with Portsmouth (except the weather) |
After several attempts to call the marina on the VHF, as advised to do, Steve phoned the office and the marinaro came promptly to the dock to see us in. It’s a fairly new modern marina, with good facilities.
We were tired after our fun day out on the water, so we
went to the marina restaurant for dinner. We were there ready to eat as soon as
they opened, but later, a lot of the locals arrived and filled the outside
dining area. It was shame that, where they had the large TV, with the Champions
League match about to start, there wasn’t a place to watch it because of
the way the tables were laid out for large groups. Back at the boat, we
couldn’t access being able to watch so we had to make do with the radio
commentary. First world problems!
Miles Today - 42
Miles 2022 - 665
Tricia (and Steve)
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