Across the Gulf of Taranto

Tanker

 

We set off early as planned, knowing that we would have a windless day of motoring.  In the Med folks say there is either "too much wind or not enough wind".  We have certainly found that to be true.  Not just in the Med but also the Aegean, Adriatic and Ionian seas.  Its just a fact, that some days sailboats will be motor boats.  So... on this day we were a motor boat.  The day was nice and sunny so we did not mind too much.

 

Tanker

As we were motoring along we found this huge tanker in our path.  Now ordinarily we do not get within a mile of these ships but our AIS (automated information system) showed he was not moving.  Hmm... finally we called him on the VHF and asked if we could pass in front of him.  Another thing we would ordinarily never do - pass in front of a tanker or cargo ship.  The Captain replied that he was just drifting so we could continue on our path.  We did - but its still just a bit unnerving seeing that big ship so close.  Just for perspective that ship was 820 feet long and 150 feet wide!  That is nearly 20 times the size of our little sailboat😟. 

Sunrise at Sea

Surprising things happen when you are out at sea.  We have had birds hitchhike before but on this day we had a baby owl hitch a ride.  Of course, owls are not sea birds and we were at least 20 miles or more from land when we noticed him.  He was clearly tired because even though he kept a keen eye on us anytime we moved, he did not fly away.  

Baby owl hitchhiker

It was actually not until we had almost reached the port that he flew away.  All told he rode right in that spot by the mast for about four hours.  We could not imagine how he got that far from land but were glad to have helped him make it back to the shore.

Kroton Yachting Club

Crotone is a fishing village, not a touristy town.  After getting settled in we took a little walk through town and discovered several pesciaria's.  They were all doing a brisk business.  We located a little grocery, made some dinner and called it a night.  Our plan was to sleep in the next day and leave about noon for another overnight.  So long as we made it to Catania by 1400 the next day we would avoid sailing into a headwind.  We figured we could make the trip in 26 hours or less.  

Crotone

In the end, we left before noon but still felt rested.  We had to wait for the "fuel man" to come and let us fill our fuel tanks before we could leave.  He was a funny guy - he had a ten dollar bill from 1955 and wanted to know if it was still good.  Michael told him if it were from 1930 it would still spend!  Not that he can spend USD in Italy but I suppose its always good to know if the money is good.  After fuel we were off - next stop is Sicily.