5 October 2025 - Manfredonia

The alarm woke us at 3.30am and because we had moved to the fuel dock yesterday, we had an easy departure. We were on our way out of Bari harbour by 3.50am. There were no ship movements going on, so no hold up.

 After 20 miles, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise.

 

It’s about 53 miles from Bari to Manfredonia. The wind was up and mostly down. The early departure was to move in a small window of time before the next big storm comes in. The locals in Bari say that this degree of wild weather, at this time of the year, is unusual. We see that Venice is flooded, so we are relieved that we are not further north. There have hurricane force winds in the northern Adriatic.

During the mid morning, rain came in, but, thankfully we were making good progress in relatively flat water. We spotted a yacht ahead, clearly heading in the same direction as us. That was great to see and reassuring that we weren’t the only ones making a move this morning.

 

By the time we entered the marina at Manfredonia, the other yacht was parked and it was a joy to see the marinaros speed towards us in their rib and give us berthing instructions. There are finger pontoons here, which we are used to, because they are everywhere in Britain, but unusual in the Mediterranean.

The crew from the other yacht were checking in ahead of too and we had a lovely chat, comparing notes. They had been caught out and endured being at sea during the first storm. Unsurprisingly, as Italians do, their first priority was to enjoy a delicious lunch. Ours was too.

The wind was howling by late afternoon, but we and Equinox are tucked in safe.

Distance today -          54 miles

Distance this year - 1615 miles 

Tricia (and Steve) 


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