1 & 2 October 2025 - Bari

Having done watches of two hours on, two hours off, during the night of crossing from Montenegro and arriving at 2.00pm, it was no surprise to have slept late into the morning today.

The border police had been yesterday afternoon, to check us into Italy and stamp our passports, so we are free to move around. We could get ashore to buy food.

We hadn’t got as far as looking ahead at the weather, any further than getting to Bari, but Antonio, who manages the pontoon, let us know that ‘big wind’ is coming on Friday.

Wednesday was a day of taking it easy and allowing ourselves to recover further. By Thursday morning the wind had started to get up. Fortunately our pontoon berth is with the boat almost bum into the wind, and we are nicely between two other large boats. We put out extra fenders and stern lines to make tying to the pontoon more secure and took the bimini down. These are all precautions against any possible damage from gale force winds. By mid afternoon the wind had got up sufficiently to need to take the passerelle, our bridge to the land, in otherwise that was in danger of getting damaged.


It’s been a long time since we played canasta, but we had several fun rounds, reacquainting ourselves with the game and enjoyed a delicious dinner of some of the superb quality local produce here. As we went to bed the gale was in full force, with white water inside the harbour.

Distance today -            0 miles

Distance this year - 1561 miles 

Tricia (and Steve) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

29 & 30 September 2025 - Bar and Bari

Image
The alarm was switched off this morning, we were trying to get as much rest as possible before leaving. When we did stir, the preparations began in earnest, with some shopping and a rather disappointing trip to the marina office.  We were hoping that they would let us stay on our berth until the evening, when we planed to leave, but they were adamant that the rules said that if we stayed after 2:00, we had to pay for another night.  Of course we did not want to do this, and had hoped that there would be some flexibility or the ability to turn a blind eye, as the marina was not full. Alas no. So we went to the Harbour Master to check the boat out of Montenegro, then out for lunch, before pulling off the dock at about 1:45. Initially we went and anchored in the bay, but there was no protection from the swell and it was uncomfortable and not conducive to sleeping. After trying to rest, we concluded that we might as well get on with it, and sail through the whole of the hours of d...
Read more

22 October 2025 - Vieste - (updated)

Image
Another day of motoring, taking us to Vieste on the tip of the "spur" of Italy. First, however we had to negotiate the fishing boats.  This corner must be a prime spot for fishing as up to 15 fishing boats were visible in site. They move in unpredictable fashion, starting and stopping, presumably to deploy and recover their nets.  We kept our distance as there is nothing good that comes from getting entangled in their nets. We noticed that one of the fishing boats was called Kevin.  It's a perfectly normal name, but it seemed rather odd for an Italian fishing boat. Another sign of the abundance of fish in this area was our first sighting of dolphins since we arrived in the Med in August.  This was a pod of at least 10, and we were treated to seeing 2 spectacular leaps completely clear of the water. The scenery of this region is very beautiful and there are towns hidden in the folds of the land. The town of Perschici, from the sea.  Too shallow for us to stop the...
Read more

25 & 26 September 2025 - Bar and Podgarica

Image
After some days of being constantly on the move, we feel the need for a break, and the chance to restock the food supplies. We also need to prepare for our crossing to Italy, and be ready to leave when the boatyard are ready to receive us.  In case you need directions, this sign post points to various locations around the world, and gives their distance. Bar is offering good access to shops and markets, and we spent Thursday morning walking to a large farmers market, with a wonderful choice of locally produced fruit and vegetables. On Friday we decided to visit the capital of Montenegro, Porgarica. This entailed a one hour train ride in each direction, through the mountains and on a long bridge which spans Lake Shkodra. A fter  World War II , Podgorica was first designated as the capital of Montenegro in 1946. At that time, it was renamed Titograd in honour of  Josip Broz Tito , the leader of  Yugoslavia . It served as the capital of the  Socialist Republic of M...
Read more