I will describe the goals and objectives that faced me in this campaign. The owners (family) bought a catamaran, which had to be transported from Greece through Italy to France. The team also had to undergo training, pass all the tests and get qualified.
We can say that we were lucky with the weather – we didn’t waste our time because of it. However, sometimes it was necessary to shorten the route or leave earlier in order to skip to the headwind. We were often using the engine, as there were time restrictions.
Now for the route itself. We have passed the Aegean, Cretan, Ionian, Terren, and Ligurian seas.
The Greeks did not want to let us out, first demanding PCR tests, and then deciding that we no longer needed tests, since we were about to leave Greece. They only gave us a log in which we had to record the temperature of all crew members every day, and they finally let us go with God.
The first stop was on Idra, where we had to dive in the morning to free our anchor from chains and anchors of neighboring yachts piled on top.
The second night was in the bay of Porto Cayo, where there is no port, except for the pier for dinghies. We spent the night there at anchor. The wind was quite strong with gusts over 20 knots, but the anchor held us well.
Our next target was the city of Pylos. Just in case, we planned a couple more «ports of refuge», as we expected a rather strong headwind. However, we managed to reach our goal, as part of the route we were covered from waves by the fingers of the Peloponnese Peninsula and the islands of Sapienza and Schiza.
The maximum gusts were 28 knots. It was important for us to reach Pylos for two reasons: the first one was the weather. The next day, gusts of up to 35 knots of headwind were in the forecast. The second reason concerned my team that had planned important video conferences for the whole day, so we needed a place with good Internet.
We conducted training on mooring, refueled oil and water, and went on to the Greek islands.
The next night was on the island of Kefalonia. There we had to hide from a strong Westerly wind, from the East side of the island.
I had to puzzle over a further route and the weather forecast. We wanted to pass Lefkada, move to Corfu, then go to Italy on a heel and then go down to Messina. However, along the coast of Italy, we received strong headwinds for as long as the forecast was saying. Therefore, we decided to go straight to Messina.
The Strait of Messina met us with a beautiful sunset and mirrored water. We spent the night in Reggio, a relatively new marina, where we bought food, fuel and water. We also practiced a little there.
Then we went to the Lipari Islands where we spent a night in the marina on Lipari. We spent another night on Stromboli, watching a night eruption of the volcano from the water that was within the field of vision. After that, we went straight to Amalfi.
Next – the anchorage on Capri. There was no strong wind, but the rolling came from the open sea. Therefore, the night turned out to be quite restless. Then we moored for an hour at Ischia, famous for wild thermal baths. We took a swim and rushed towards Corsica.
On the way, we stopped at Ventotene, where we did not wait for the end of lunch break at a local gas station and went on to Ponza. There, we refueled with oil and water. In Ponza, there was a heavy traffic – many large yachts and boats scurrying in the port.
The next stop was on the island of Elba Marina Di Campo. There is a marina there, but in fact, it is a small fishing port. Thanks to a strong wind, the students had a good training on anchoring. The town turned out to be nice, with a lot of tourists, mostly Italian. We felt a tourist season approaching every thing in town.
In Corsica, we spent a night in the bay of Le Il Rousse. A nice place. For the first time, we felt a beautiful life that we all had before COVID-19. Our neighbors in the restaurant celebrated their birthday very emotionally and cheerfully.
Then we rushed straight to Cannes, where new owners of the catamaran lived. It was not so easy to find a place for a catamaran for a long mooring. So, we had to wander around. As a result, we moored in the port of Vaban in Antibes.
The French outings on the streets and parties in restaurants were in full swing. Another important thing was that they no longer demanded masks – it was a real windfall. It seemed like freedom, but, on the other hand, it was quite possible to meet sick people in the crowd.
I was very pleased with the catamaran itself. A typical Lagoon 42, but with such an equipment! It had solar panels, good batteries and an inverter that easily powered a coffee machine. Everything provided comfort at anchorages. Sometimes we caught ourselves thinking that we were not using power sources ashore for five days, and we never started our generator.
Minor problems were fixed on the catamaran. We replaced the anchor light that went out of order during the last two years of the catamaran’s maintenance and operation. It was quite unexpected to find a slogan on it saying «Made in New Zealand». Generally, it is not a light bulb itself to be replaced, but the entire anchor light system that costs 150 euros in this expensive disposable world)).
Our dinghy didn’t want to start. More precisely, it started and stopped after some time and did not start again when heated. We cleaned the carburetor, replaced last year’s gasoline, and everything started working. We made many beautiful splits, as they say, combining business with pleasure: not only for aesthetics, but also for learning.
The training courses continued on the Cote d’Azur in France. Mooring, night crossing, test sailing – everything was as it should have been.
I would like to sincerely congratulate the catamaran owners on a wonderful purchase. I wish them safe cruises! In addition, I also thank them for their desire to learn and get knowledge – they are very cool! For me, as an instructor – this is important. Suffice it to remember how we managed moorings in the dark. And yes – this was my first experience of teaching in English – before that, I only studied myself.
