Getting there

We were both really anxious, nervous and excited to be launching out on our first big passage of the 2022 sailing season. Covid had brought our sailing to an abrupt pause there for a couple of years so it felt like we were starting all over again and learning anew. Consequently, setting out on a 524 nautical mile passage straight up felt daunting. The captain calculated that it would take us three to four days continuous sailing. Watching the weather window closing, we decided that we needed to head off nonetheless from Sicily down the south coast with a view to stopping at anchor on the east coast to allow the worst of the weather to pass and then assist us on our northeast passage through the Ionian Sea. Originally we had a great weather window but at this time of the year and with the changing climate here in the Med, if we missed this one, we would have been in Sicily for another few weeks and that we couldn't do due to EU + Schengen reasons.

So after doing every pre-departure check, and recheck and then check again, we decided it was now or never. Up sticks at 530am and casting off at 630am we finally said goodbye to the wonderful Licata and Marina di Cala del Sole. It was a perfect morning, so perfect in fact that the sea was like glass and we had to turn on the engine for the first couple of hours. One of the things we have learnt sailing is that curve balls come out of the blue at you and being at sea, it does test your ability to respond calmly and rationally to the challenges. That we did when our engine starting losing power. Problem sorted and then we got wind which meant we could go sails up and enjoy the reason for buying a sailing boat! Great sail for most of the afternoon and we made good time down the south coast to our chosen anchorage to sit out the winds.....which were big and caused us a few problems with our furling Code 0 sail. We had planned on only one night at anchor but the wind and sea state, it meant that the following day we were beating into a 25kn wind and big waves so we detoured, unplanned, into Syracuse to anchor and again sit out the yucky stuff. That worked out well as we were having battery charging problems so that short stop gave us the time to work through the problem and resolve that one.

Early the next morning we were able to lift anchor and this time make the most of the winds and sail north east through the Ionian Sea to Montenegro. A few unusual encounters in the dark of night, generally from unmarked and unlit vessels, but otherwise an uneventful trip. We had a bit of everything - too much wind, not enough wind. That passage took us three nights at sea before finally arriving into Bar Montenegro at 830am in the morning. A perfect arrival and a great opportunity for me to practice my docking and manoeuvring skills.

All up, we were pretty happy with our first big passage of the season and are now really excited about the next project ahead here in Montenegro....we become fully self sufficient with the installation of solar panels! So we will be hanging around Montenegro for a fews weeks before heading to Croatia. Come along for the journey!