Italy – Compass heading 180°

Apulia – Trulli Baroque

June 3, 2023 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

Our sailing blog has been greatly neglected this past winter and spring. Life got in the way – more precisely, land life in a very cold land. It was hard to find inspiration for writing about adventures along the sunny Mediterranean while wading about in deep snow. Now that the new sailing season has already begun, perhaps it’s time to draw a quick summary of the places we visited from our winter base – in no particular order. Next time, I might tell you more about which way the winds are blowing this summer. Continue reading

Brindisi – Ancient Port of the Adriatic

January 15, 2023 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

Night time scenery of the Brindisi old town, photographed from the opposite shore. Behind the seafront buildings the Roman column and large staircase, in front is a large sailing ship moored at the town quay.

From Otranto, we headed north along the Apulian coast towards Brindisi. It was a pleasant, sunny day, with just a hint of cool autumn. The passage of 40 nautical miles was uneventful. The wind was good all day, but it was already dark by the time we reached the shelter of the breakwater of Brindisi harbour. Continue reading

Leisurely sailing year 2022

December 31, 2022 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

June 2022 marked the beginning of the fifth year of our sailing adventure. The past year will go in the books as a somewhat lazy year, sailing-wise. Our boat Aina spent her fourth winter afloat in Crete, in the marina of Agios Nikolaos. One of our crew kept her company during the stormy Cretan winter, while the other worked in cold and snowy Finland. News of war, disease and inflation depressed everyone’s mood. For balance, we enjoyed the summer in the warm Ionian, detached and stress-free. As long-term travellers, we sometimes get tired or even bored of travelling – as funny or downright criminal as that may sound. But cruising is a lifestyle just like any other. It’s life, and it comprises different phases. Continue reading

Merry Christmas 2022!

December 24, 2022 Compass Heading 180° Comments 2 Comments

Watercolour painting of a sailboat made of snow, and two snowmen sailing it

Another Christmas is here. This year, we will acquaint ourselves with Italian Christmas traditions onboard s/y Aina. From the culinary point of view, they seem particularly agreeable. The weather has so far been quite settled, dry and pleasant. Continue reading

New Sea, New Land – Sailing to Otranto, Italy

December 20, 2022 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

Small harbour in front of Otranto with wooden fishing boats. Walled town in the backyard with castle towers and church bell tower rising above.

Slowly the Greek coast disappeared behind us. Finally, it was time to sail to a new land – Italy! We had hopped along the Sicilian coast in 2019 on our way east along the Mediterranean, but so far, we had never made landfall in mainland Italy. Continue reading

Sailing from Sicily to Greece – with Raging Zeus and Poseidon!

October 15, 2019 Compass Heading 180° Comments 2 Comments

After a month of coastal sailing in Sicily, we felt ready to cross the Ionian Sea to Greece. Ionian is the most popular cruising area in Greece, and full of charter sailors and flotillas during the summer months. September would be a much better time – less tourists, and still very warm. Continue reading

Straits of Messina to Antiquities of Taormina

September 29, 2019 Compass Heading 180° Comments 2 Comments

The Straits of Messina was, according to our calculations, the fourth place along our journey, where we had to carefully time our passage with the tides. The others were Alderney Race and Chenal du Four in France, and the Straits of Gibraltar. Messina is the only place in the Mediterranean that has significant tidal currents. The height difference is less than a foot, and it’s really surprising how it can cause such strong currents. In Brittany the tidal range was as much as 12 metres in places, so the currents were understandable. But perhaps the Mediterranean has a logic of its own, when it comes to tides, much as it seems to have its own logic with the winds and weather. Continue reading

Daysailing in Sicily – Palermo, Cefalù and Milazzo

September 8, 2019 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

August in the Mediterranean is hot. It makes you understand immediately, why a thing called siesta was invented here. On the northern coast of Sicily there was no wind in August, which made the days even hotter, while we motored from one anchorage to another. But the good thing about no wind was, that we slept our nights in peace – the anchorages in Sicily are not protected. There was always some swell even on a calm night, but at least we didn’t have to worry about our anchor not holding in strong winds. The water is clean and clear, even in front of big cities, so you can always go for a swim to cool down. Continue reading

Looking for Venus in Sicily

August 16, 2019 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

As we approached the Sicilian coast on August the 10th, we chose – quite at random, as the sun would go down soon – to stop at the Trapani harbour. We knew nothing about the place, except that there was a free anchorage within the port. But the next morning’s googling revealed an ancient town by the name of Erice on top of a hill close by, and that definitely got us interested! The easiest way to get there would be by a cableway. Continue reading

Mediterranean Hop, Skip and Jump – to Sicily via Mallorca and Sardinia

August 11, 2019 Compass Heading 180° Comments 0 Comment

We sat under the scorching sun in the Almerimar Marina, waiting for the strong winds to calm down, so we could continue our journey east. In Almerimar there was no sign of any winds, so it felt funny to think there could be 30 knot winds blowing on the other side of the cape. When the forecast showed only 15 knots, gusting to 25, we left. Continue reading

on Kythira – a Bend in the RoadGlad you enjoyed it, thank you!
on Kythira – a Bend in the RoadThank you for this. Love it!
on Merry Christmas 2022!Thank you! Have a lovely winter!
on Merry Christmas 2022!Merry Christmas to you both from the crew of Temptress. Enjoy your winter adventures
on Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: SandingThanks for quick reply, my thoughts are same, start using the chemical paint removal till we reach a surface that we can paint over.
on Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: SandingHi Cornel, we're really not experts on this, but you'll probably find the original gelcoat under the layers of antifouling if you remove everything. On our boat the gelcoat had been peeled off completely, probably because of blisters. You might be fine painting new antifouling on top of old if you can find out what's been used before. Or keep removing layers until you find one that sticks, and paint over that. If you need to remove all paint, I think using chemical paint removal might be the best way.
on Sailboat bottom renovation | Part 1: SandingHi there, We bought a boat this summer, and it looks like we need to strip all antifouling layers next season. Here and there, some patches of antifouling are falling off in places reveling some darker paint/surface underneath. The main question is how do we know if the boat has been epoxied before? I am thinking that at some point someone used a different antifouling and now it's just falling off. Cheers, Cornel / Finland
on Winter in Messolonghi – Boat Projects and BBQHi Mario, we're thinking of staying in the Aegean side next winter. But Messolonghi is a very nice town and there's a small but friendly liveaboard community in the marina, definitely recommend because of that. Not sure how the marina business is nowadays, though, but they've been pretty quick to answer emails in the past. It was very affordable when we were there, and the facilities were fine. https://www.messolonghimarina.com/
on Winter in Messolonghi – Boat Projects and BBQHi, We are thinking to winter in Messolonghi, some months on the water some on yardh Do you recomend? Do you go to pass this winter to? Thanks.
on Jump to the Peloponnese: Pylos, Methoni and KalamataAmazing !!!
on Nidri, Lefkas – and more waiting!Not heading home this year. Probably overwinter in Messolonghi .

Compass heading 180°

Sailing Adventure Towards Warmer Waters

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Tag: Italy