What do you do when covid tries to thwart your plans? You change your plans or maybe not, you continue irrespectively. Easier said than done but definitely simpler when your house can move. And move it does.
So Croatia. It originally started with an idea to leave Cape Town to live in this wonderful country but wasn’t doable from a visa perspective so access to Europe from Spain was the next plan. It’s really great that I fell in love with Spain and the Spanish people but that does not help the seasonal migration between the two countries and the enormity of managing this during covid lockdown. Not to mention crossing the Mediterranean twice in a calendar year. But there is a plan and the plan is 6 June and it’s a much anticipated arrival in Dubrovnik and yes, whoop whoop- I have 9 Frenchmen waiting to be entertained on GypsyDjango sailing southern Split Dalmatia.
Whaaaat ?? Yes - sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it.
So that brings me back to this migration from Spain to Croatia. And this story is one of many nautical miles, hopefully under wind … not engine, and one of many discoveries of places never seen before and only ever read about.
Leaving Barcelona was quite daunting- not only the part of leaving really good friends behind but relinquishing our hold on land to begin living in the ocean instead. After 5 months in Arenys de Mar, life felt quite normal and the boat felt like a house in the burbs, albeit with a seafront address. But all good things come to an end, especially when better things are on the horizon. So packing up the house we released those shore lines to venture off from safety to into the big blue. Now I sound like a cliche but I have found that I can well and truly set down roots and leaving, no matter how excited I am, I leave a part of myself behind and I sob like a baby. Yes it is exciting but it’s hard this nomad life.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I became distracted and spent too much time playing on wonderful Mallorca and now this has put me under a little pressure to cover the vast distance across the Med in time for the Frenchies. Which means I can’t let a little thing like land lockdown of countries on the route get in my way.
I have discovered since embracing this salty life that the weather comprising of the unpredictable wind and unpleasant sea conditions in Europe simply do not impress me. The goal is to make it safely across without running into a 300m cargo ship or ferry. And apparently that’s not always possible and at night and it becomes a cat and mouse game and let’s be honest, we are not going to win this battle. Trying to avoid a collision within half a nautical mile just does not feel comfortable. All of this open water around us and you can’t deviate for me?
Let’s not even start on the swell which is determined to knock GypsyDjango sideways along the journey. A crossing between countries is not complete without me knocking my head or my hip as I am thrown to and fro into an obstacle when we come cresting down another wave. I guess bruises are a part of the story;-). Losing the Code 0 overboard was not a joke but fortunately it never got caught in the props. The rescue mission was a lot of fun and I did not follow it overboard. These things happen when weather elements change in a instance and things go awry. You have got to love Mother Nature. But it’s how you respond at a time like this that counts. And I find I become quite analytical, calm and focused as opposed to shrieking - ok I might have said once I think we are going to die but it was during the hurricane in Greece.
And then I have grappled with the concept of am I in Spain or in Italy and shouldn’t someone be stamping my passport? You know the saying leave no footprints well it’s a little like that. I am not in your country- I am just passing through. Oh and ignore me if I explain to you in Spanish I only speak English. “Siento no hablar Italiano, solo hablo inglés”. That definitely confuses them and me even more, I am on that level of confused. It’s doesn’t help that all Europeans look the same.
Ok that was a joke sorry to my friends reading this 😊
So the rules are stated you may pass by these covid lockdown countries as long as it’s only for a duration of 36 hours. Which is quite impossible give the fact I am sailing and not traveling by jet power. I am proudly able to announce I have yet to have had a pcr test and plan to keep it that way until I absolutely have to. It helps when you can self isolate and hide from the guardia in secluded bays - until you can’t and then they find you. I know I shouldn’t, but I get very excited when the guardia board our boat with fierce faces and their gun holstered ready on their hip and by the time they leave they are smiling for selfies with me. It truly makes my day. But the selfie does help when I show them, look it was only 5 days ago when we were investigated last. It does not help we are flying an American flag. But it does assist that we are a South African with a British passport with Spanish residency living on a craft with American papers. How do you even police that? And when they ask what was your last port of call or your home address and I say “una cala” which loosely translates to a bay.
The planned route unfortunately necessitates a stop in Albania to reset our vat clock before reaching Dubrovnik and so that might be the first time for un unpleasant and dreaded test. In the interim the countdown continues of covering around 217 further hours of sailing, not including the already covered 147 hours to get to the tip of Sardegna from Barcelona. There have been many night crossings with four hour shifts and my favourite time slot is from midnight to 4am, under the moon and stars with a cup of coffee - scanning the horizon for tankers. Our last 46 hour sail we achived new top speeds on a beam reach (sailing speak) and it’s quite exhilarating surfing the waves at night with that power in your sails. We passed through the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardegna and I was reminded of the time we crossed the same strait in a ferry escaping Barcelona on our way to Croatia to take possession of GypsyDjango and how much faster and easier that ride was :-). That was almost a year ago and the beginning of our new life as liveaboards. That was daunting and what still lies ahead is but I am very excited that along the way I get to discover the captivating Amalfi coast, Capri and other exquisite islands boasting fishermen villages and beautiful coloured houses and not to forget Italian cuisine. Mamma Mia. The route also has a brief respite on the volcanic Island, Stromboli, before we navigate the treacherous currents and avoid the sword fishermen in the Messina Strait. But what has been even better than collecting the nautical miles is the friendships we have gained along the way. These sailor people are way more fun than our goal driven athletic friends :-).
Small miracles along the way - being privy to a show on our bow from a pod of four dolphins joining our journey for almost two hours, being able to witness from our boat a magnificent double rainbow which could not be seen from land and visiting the beautiful archipelago of La Maddelena and the famous pink beach, Spiaggia Rosa as the only visitors- an upside we are experiencing every day as we are one of a handful of yachts sailing the waters during covid. So while keeping our eye trained searching for cargo ships, we dance and laugh while we tick off the NM’s. Oh and rescuing sails… On our crossing from Spain to Italy - aside from Penn Kalet following us - our French friends Hugo and Cami that we were fortunate enough to befriend on Mallorca (who were with us also on Menorca and joined us in our bay on Sardegna) - we were the only boats out there on from Mao to Sardegna.
So while I am feeling displaced and daunted at the task ahead, I am so very grateful to have this opportunity in my life to set a course such as this and be able to follow my dream. I realise that this step we have taken with its risks and its sacrifice, is something most people won’t do in their lifetime and these hours spent, memories created and experiences is what I will cherish until I get old. I am also grateful for our loved ones and their support of this hair-brained idea. I have been so surprised and more than delighted in the beauty that we have greedily been able to capture and share with you of these beautiful places.
But mostly mostly what I am looking forward to is not the 9 Frenchmen (but I am) but in fact beautiful Croatia with its warm, calm perfect waters, predictable winds, over a thousand islands, amazing culture and history. And funny how things like easy and uncomplicated anchoring in perfect bays appeals to me. I know it will be filled with many more nautical miles and a multitude of adventures and stories and new friends which I hope will make you want to come visit be it on Mallorca, Italy or Croatia.
If you want more up to date progress on our journey please follow our footprints on https://findpenguins.com/gypsydjango
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