Brindisi – our port of entry into Italy

We landed in Brindisi after our first successful overnight crossing from Montenegro. We all felt like we had jet lag after a long international flight and planned to stay there for a couple of days and nights to recoup. The day we arrived we had to go into town so Conor could get us checked into Italy and so we could get local Italian SIM cards. Note: If you ever berth at Porto Touristico Marina di Brindisi (and especially if it is your port of entry), know they have an amazing concierge service. Greta went above and beyond and helped Conor learn everything he needed to know and do. 

The day turned into a day of frustration and/or patience, depending upon how you look at it… waiting for buses to get into town; Conor needing over an hour to journey through multiple buildings, offices and people to get us checked in; it taking an hour and a half and two stores later to secure local SIM cards; and over an hour to find a taxi to take us back to the marina that ended up being late at night. Note: turns out taxis are barely a thing in this city as everyone seems to have their own cars or uses the bus. I popped in to the Grande Albergo Internazional hotel to ask where we could find one, and the woman working the reception could not have been kinder. She called a taxi for us, gave us bus route info, and more. Highly recommend this beautiful hotel right on the water with great staff!

I’ve neglected to mention before that this is Cuala’s very first time visiting Italy! We needed to make sure she got time to explore the places in which we landed. We explored the city of Brindisi, found Cuala her first Italian gelato, and enjoyed an aperitif at a nice spot near the wharf as well as dinner also near the wharf. Brindisi is a key city as it has one of the two main airports in the region and a strategic natural port on the Adriatic. Otherwise, we found it to be a typical modern town. 

After a couple of days rest, Conor felt we had a good weather window to make our next passage down to Otranto. Now that we were into September, reaching October, we were in the “shoulder season” for cruising. This means that the weather can be wilder and you might have to wait out weather windows for longer. We were grabbing them whenever we could since we had a long way to go to reach our winter berth in Sicily. 

After this trek, I learned that Conor mainly considers the wind conditions when deciding our weather windows. I also like to know about rain / storms. 🙂 We left Brindisi at 10:45am for what started out as a decent day. Things progressed, though, and we experienced winds up to 33 knots, driving rain, and large white capped waves and swell (likely 2 meters high). These were the biggest waves we’ve experienced yet – hitting us on our nose and giving us that bull riding, core workout. However, this time it lasted for at least six hours. A not uncommon refrain was “Are we there yet?”

* photos thanks to Olivier!

Sabática definitely took a beating this day, which included things like the ceiling in one of the forward cabins falling down. However, she definitely proved her seaworthiness. She was also singing what I call her mermaid / siren song like crazy. I forgot to mention this before, but over the summer we would often hear Sabática make beautiful music when the wind hit her bow just right. Olivier is also amazing to watch when we’re underway. The way he looks at the sails, feels the tension in the sails, etc. Sailing seems to come as natural to Olivier as breathing. We’re learning a lot and have been converted to raising our main sail even if the wind is at our nose. Don’t think we realized before what a stabilizing effect the main sail can have in any condition. 

We reached Otranto only to learn that the marina was full (after we’d been told we’d likely have a spot). Our back up plan was to anchor right next to it as Conor knew it was a good anchorage. It turned out to be perfect. By the time we arrived, the rains had stopped and the cove was well protected. We had to re-inflate the dinghy in order to go ashore, so we decided to do that the next morning and just cook aboard and enjoy the quiet evening in the cove. We had a much needed, relaxing evening that included a sing-song when Conor pulled out his guitar. 🙂