Otranto to Bari

For some reason: maybe the pilotbook references were not good, or it felt too short a days passage ; but I chose not to stop at Brindisi, and to make further progress along the coast to Mola di Bari or Bari itself.

This was a mistake.

Shortly after we passed Brindisi, the sea became thick with "Sargasso"-like swirling regions full of vegetation, branches and complete trees floating. At first we were able to continue to motor around the clusters, but the pollution became more and more dense. After an episode of the propeller smashing through a tree trunk, and the rudder becoming entangled in branches, it was clear that we could motor no longer. Once we had cut ourselves free, and checked that the prop had suffered no apparent damage, we continued, slowly, under sail in light airs. This continued for around four hours, in which we covered no more than 6 miles. Eventually the forest began to clear, and we were able to motor, with careful bow lookout, at a couple of knots.

As we had now lost a lot of time, night was drawing near. The prospect of motoring at night through forest-soup was unattractive, so I targetted one of my alternate planned ports at Villanova di Ostuni.

This was another mistake.

The port was small and full of small craft, with obviously no room for us. There was no response to VHF enquiries. We could not safely moor inside, and we could not safely continue. I chose to anchor in the narrow inlet Cala St Maria Rita directly to the east of the port. The conditions were calm, with calm weather forecast as we settled down for the night. Unfortunately around 01:30 am a heavy swell began to roll into the unprotected inlet. We rolled beam to beam all night to the sound of waves breaking on the rocks a few yards each side of us.

At first light we made our escape.