Our One Year Anniversary!

Wow. Where does the time go? This time last year we were just moving aboard Sabática. We have come a long way – geographically and metaphorically. This past week is case in point. Our job this past week has simply been to move the boat a fair distance as we prepare to leave Italy. We’ve traveled near 500 nautical miles with long passages most days. Two of our days we traveled around 74 nautical miles, which took about eleven hours each time. First we had an 8am start. The next day was a 7am start. Then 6am…

We mostly revisited places we’ve stopped before, though a couple were new. From Agropoli we returned to the Bay of Good Sleep, then Cetraro, Tropea, Scilla, Roccella Ionica, Crotone, Santa Maria di Leuca, and finally Otranto on the east coat of Italy’s heel. Not only were we traveling far and on our own, we were anchoring out most of the way and using our sails more. Our comfort level and confidence has definitely grown since last summer. 

The town of Scilla was a new one for us. It’s a neat little fishing village and beach vacation spot for local Italians.

Even though our confidence has indeed grown, Conor could still freak me out as we prepared to pass through the Strait of Messina again with his talk of potential squalls and whirlpools. As before, he considered the wind, tides and currents (as well as rain storms this time) in order to plan our passage. He insisted we wear life vests to pass through the most challenging part. Now wouldn’t that worry you too? It was all fine. We had a smooth passage, thankfully, and we flew through with 20 knots of wind behind us.

We’re a good team. I’m often on the helm as Conor is hopping around raising, furling or adjusting sails. I call out wind direction, wind speed, and our ground speed when he asks for it and shift course as needed. I still have plenty to learn and we’re both still learning how to best use our new screecher headsail. The other day when we were furling it back in, I may or may not have steered a full 360 degrees in an attempt to get wind back into the sail. Conor feels I need more practice. I still contend that the wind was incredibly squirrelly that day. 😉 

Conor loves the days when we can deploy sails. It keeps him “cognitively busy” as he calls it since he is constantly monitoring, adjusting, and experimenting. We battle upwind and cruise downwind. We definitely sail more and take on more wind and swell than when we have guests onboard. It can be a great ab workout riding the swell. Of course, we still have days with too little wind or the wind right on our nose. We spend the days listening to news, audiobooks, and music; reading emails and playing Wordle/Scrabble to feel connected to family back home; playing guitar; napping; and watching for wildlife. Watching birds flock behind fishing boats is always amusing. The other day I saw a large flock with a very slow bird trailing behind. It looked like he was trying so hard to keep up. I hope he was able to score some of the bounty. We’ve seen a couple of swordfish jump, a pod of dolphins, a couple pods of porpoise, sea turtles that float by, and most exciting – as we were crossing the Gulf of Taranto the other day, we crossed paths with a sperm whale. We didn’t even think there were whales in the Med, but apparently this endangered species finds a home in that gulf. Quite a special site! 

As I sit upon my favorite bow seat, I reflect on how incredibly grateful I am for this crazy adventure and amazing opportunity. We still aren’t sure how long we’ll keep going, but I do know that I will never tire of the sun reflecting on the ocean, seeing nothing but sea in front of me, the sound of our hulls slicing through the water, our occasional mermaid song that the bow plays when the wind hits just right, warm wind on my face, the gentle rocking of a small swell, dramatic coastlines with majestic green mountains, kayaking said coastlines, swimming in crystal clear waters, beautiful sunsets, rainbows, moon and starlit nights, the peace and quiet, and the freedom to essentially go where you want and drop a solid anchor where you can.

I also feel it’s the little things that make up the whole experience. So, I wanted to document some of Sabática’s small details for posterity…

Tomorrow we plan to exit Italy and venture into new countries. I have no doubt we’ll continue learning with new places and new experiences. Stay tuned! 🙂