Crossing the Ionian Sea

We had visited all the archaeological sites and museums that we wanted to whilst we were at Pílos and so our thoughts turned to our next passage which would be across the Ionian Sea to Sicily. We were very lucky because from Tuesday 25 April the forecast showed a steady 10-15 knot wind from the southeast; perfect for our passage. So, on Monday 24 April we visited the Police to tell them that we were leaving Greece the following day. Amazingly for a country which seems to love stamping forms, they required no paperwork, nor did they stamp our crew list; “because you go to another EU country”. We accepted that and then went for a last meal out in Greece.

Leaving Pílos   

It was a slow start on Tuesday 25^th as the wind wasn’t forecast to pick up from the right direction until about 0900. However, when we slipped our lines at 0935 and motored out of the marina and past the town there was barely a breath of wind. We just hoped that it would fill in quickly.

Ahead, the cliffs at the entrance to Navarino Bay were bright and golden in the morning light.

Goodbye Greece   

Once we were outside of the bay there was still no wind and so we set the throttle and started our 320-mile passage with 3 hours of motoring. We both felt rather sad to be leaving Greece; it’s a fabulous place to sail and we certainly hope to come back.  However, before that there is definitely more of the world that we need to explore.

Intercepting RiB   

Fortunately, after a couple of hours the wind built and so we set up BV with full sails and Georgina, the Hydrovane, steering her. Almost as soon as she was settled down on course we noticed a fast boat approaching us from the direction of Pílos. By this stage, we were over 20 miles west and so outside Greek waters but it was clear that the boat was coming directly for us. It turned out to be a Finnish RIB, her mother ship following about 15 miles behind. The troops in the RIB hailed us and asked permission to board, not that they really needed permission with the number of firearms they had on board!  The RIB came alongside and 2 of the troops came on board. They explained that they were part of a NATO taskforce in the Mediterranean and needed to search our vessel to check that we were not people-trafficking. All vessels in the area are apparently searched by this taskforce. The search confirmed that there were just the 2 of us on board and so, after they had made a few notes of our details, the troops leapt back onto their RIB and sped off in a cloud of spray.

Meanwhile, we continued on towards Sicily and settled into a watch routine.  By day we work quite a loose routine but we each get a couple of hours’ kip in the afternoon.  On this passage by night (2000 to about 0900) we worked on each of us having 2x 3hrs in the bunk, with the changeover taking 20-30mins. Dinner was at 1900 and breakfast was made by the person going off-watch just after dawn. It works quite nicely as a routine because each person gets a good amount of sleep in each off-watch period but if the weather is bad or the temperature low, we will need to reduce the on/off watch time.

Fresh albacore with wasabi    

Wednesday morning’s highlight was catching a large albacore tuna fish. With BV racing along at 7 knots it was a bit of a scruggle to reel in but, finally, after about 15 minutes it was on board and dispatched with a slug of vodka into its gills. We had fresh raw albacore with wasabi paste at 1100 and started to plot how we were going to cook the rest of the fish. It looked like it was going to be tuna for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 3 days! Not too much of a hardship because, with its fine, pale flesh, albacore is regarded as one of the best of the tuna fish family for eating.

Our rather tatty Italian courtesy ensign    

The wind varied a little, and was generally a little less than forecast, but we kept bowling along. We cracked 152 nautical miles in the first 24hrs and 144 nautical miles in the second, which we were very pleased with [Ed: though the first 24hr mileage was somewhat helped by having to motor for the first 3 hours]. Gradually, however, the wind eased. With shipping converging on us we switched on the engine hoping that the wind would come again during daylight. It was not to be and so the last 40 miles of the passage were under power.

With land visible ahead, we hoisted our Italian courtesy ensign and discovered that it really was rather tatty; a good excuse to go shopping when we arrived.

Entering Siracusa harbour   

Siracusa sits on a peninsula guarding a large bay. When we were last here (in 2014) one could just turn up and anchor more-or-less where one wanted. However, early last year the Guarda Costiera (Coastguard) started fining yachts €360 if the crew had not radioed ahead for permission to enter the harbour, or if they anchored away from an individually allocated spot. So, we took care to make contact with them in good time and were given permission to enter and a Lat and Long where we were to anchor.

The allocated anchoring spot – over half a nautical mile from the town quay   

We duly anchored at our allocated spot and radioed to tell the Coastguard that we had arrived. We started to get the dinghy ready to go ashore but, as the easterly wind picked up [Ed: !!] it confirmed to us that our anchorage was far too exposed for comfort, indeed it was far more of a big ship anchorage than a yacht anchorage, and was also quite a long way from the town (0.6nm to be exact, which is long way in a small dinghy!). Nicky telephoned the Coastguard and they allocated us a space on the quay, which was pretty empty, so we moved there.

Our mooring on the quay   

It had taken us 54 hours to sail from Pílos to Siracusa, which our log recorded as a 328-mile passage. We plan to relax here until early next week and look at a couple of sites we missed when we visited in 2014. I might even manage to get the blog up to date!

Siracusa, Sicily, Italy