There is something surreal about sailing at night with only the stars and your navigation aids to guide you. Even more special to do it two nights in a row. Out alone on your shift, breathing in the fresh sea air to keep awake and feeling the boat gliding through the water while all you can see all around you is the inky black ocean.
As we need to return to Spain before bad weather makes the journey across the Mediterranean undesirable and we have to be back by winter to comply with our residency requirements, we excited Croatia and sailed to Montenegro. After a few days, our next trip was from Montenegro to Corfu in Greece. This originally had a planned stop in Albania, necessitated by the length of the journey. However, since they are on the EU yellow list for Covid countries this necessitated that our journey became a 160 NM / 296 km continuous sail that we were praying would be mostly by sail and not by engine. The tricky part was planning our arrival in Corfu to be at sunrise at the earliest as the Greeks wake up late and we didn’t want to negotiate entry into a foreign port in the dark - rather difficult when our best case was 36 hours and worst case 46.
Knowing that we would not have cellular signal once we entered Albanian waters added to the sense of adventure. The important part was the pre-preparation which included drawing up the shift schedule, the meals and snacks, drawing up land designating safe zones along the way should the conditions require sheltering. We established no-go zones on the boat at night and had our whistles and most importantly, flares available. Life jackets were a must and the safety harnesses ready based on the conditions.
Of course coffee at the helm was an essential!
We placed trusty Russell and Tony on watch, with my always supportive and alert sister Vanessa, on time and reporting duty. While this might sound excessive, it’s important to have at least one knowledgeable person alert to your expected arrival within a realistic time frame. Especially when there are only two of you sailing nonstop for two days with no cellular signal and conditions that can change so very quickly.
Enough said; aside from experiencing two high speed ferries crossing our bow less than 300 m in front - with no idea if they are paying attention and aware of our tiny 12 m fiberglass sailboat with its dinky little navigation lights - the water was pretty much deserted. Of course there was the 89 m cargo ship slowly gaining on us which eventually caught and passed us, as luck would have it, in the narrow Corfu channel in the pitch black.
There was no ways I even came close to falling asleep!! We were accompanied by 2 m waves chasing our boat which I could fortunately no longer see once the sun had set - allowing me to merely enjoy the boat being pushed forward at a speed we could not have predicted. Our cautious 46 hour journey became 37 hours, driven by the swell and long periods of sustained wind between 15 and 20 knots.
Reefing twice to attempt to control the situation helped and finally we arrived in Corfu at 4 am, still in the dark. An hour waiting outside the harbor for some light and then we began the entry process and let me tell you I would rather have gone to SA home affairs to reapply for my ID. The police moved us to three different places to tie up before sending us out of the harbor to moor up against an unfinished wall. Walking the 2 km back to the harbor we did wonder why we were bothering. A US registered boat with one UK citizen and one SA, with Spanish residency, most recently departed from Montenegro did throw them a bit. Yet honestly I think it was the heaps of paper filled out in triplicate, and then photocopied, that made the process take four hours. Of course the frequent cramps in the poor woman’s hand from all the writing didn’t help. To be fair, she did use the computer once during the process, but I think that was just to add up the total fee due. Oh and it’s cash only because their machine only accepts Greek issued credit cards when only foreigners go through this process!
My stars, exhausted and sleep deprived after 2 days and in the building heat, this was worse than Africa.
I am not going to lie to you, we are tired. I share the stats on countries and islands visited, distances sailed and days passed since leaving South Africa but there are times I wish I could be back home with my biggest challenges being the 10 km's need to drive to the office and what to make for supper. We have to be constantly alert on the changing conditions, safety always top of mind. It’s never a case of drop the anchor and now I can sleep peacefully through the night. Every country has its own procedures, rules and laws that we need to be aware of. And just once I would like to buy my groceries at the closest store instead of walking in the 35 degree heat to the cheaper stores on the outskirts - but hey we need to stretch every cent to make this dream possible. I had a good laugh the other day when a close friend said “while you are out there having fun we are back here battling life” 😉. I would like a little of my previous life once in a while. I am not complaining though, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat and while Sailors get a bad rap for looking unhealthy it’s not only the alcohol it’s also the elements. And no, sailing is not that easy or simple but it’s great!
Leaving Croatia was hard but I was ready to begin the long trip to Spain. Montenegro was a delight and a good brief stop on our way to Greece.
In Kotor we were excited to be able up to the famous castle on the cliff for the sunset views of the fjord and then secondly - after spying a zig-zag trail up the mountain behind - we climbed the ladder of Kotor the next morning. Turns out we were heading up the famous “black mountain” from where the name Montenegro derives and the old trail was previously used by the Venetian traders to carry their goods inland. What lovely views from this 13km, 728m out and back trail.
So now we are in the Greek Ionian islands and still a little shattered from the trip. And no this is not all holiday - Kevin still works his strange hours supporting clients from Singapore to LA. I play my supporting role with concentrated planning and navigation for each leg, being sure to find a safe anchorage for the night. I have come to love this nomad life and the freedom and choice. I look forward to rest when we get to Spain and I will have deserved it.
The plan now is to continue exploring the exquisite Ionian islands for two weeks and I am looking forward to a night dancing in a taverna. Some engine servicing, damn why is there double everything on a catamaran, before we start our 20 plus day crossing to Barcelona around the 24th of September.
Please do keep reaching out to us on our journey- the contact and support with friends and family means so much to us and is so very appreciated and does make it easier. Know that we miss you all and we are not out of sight out of mind.
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