Leaving Pescara and Italy

Oli on Helbiz Scooter
Helbiz Rider

June 2022. Two years after I bought Fortuna Princess in Pescara. The seller has become a friend and Pescara a city I feel comfortable in. So it is with a tiny bit of sadness that I leave Pescara on June 14th, 2022.

One thing I do like in Pescara are Helbiz scooters: get the app, register a payment method, find a scooter with the app and ride instead of walking – great!

The trip to Termoli requires 5 hrs of engine and this time I’m being directed to the first quay on the left when entering the marina – in a very narrow spot, helped by two young guys. 59€ for the night – the second would receive a discount of 20%. The dinner at Ristorante Sottovento is pleasant and delicious again.

On the next morning I walk into town to get some supplies from Tigre. To find on my way back that on the marina parking lot there are electric scooters with shopping baskets for rent – maybe even better than the Pescara scooters – but too late for me.

With Italian Adriatic marinas having become even more expensive than last year, I look for alternatives. So it’s Tremiti again – at anchor for two nights – just behind the harbor.. Lots of tourist boats but beautiful setting. There’s always something to fix so I spend one day fixing and waiting for wind. On June 17th I leave for the Arco San Felice, South of Vieste. The only other reasonable anchorage for overnight stays which I know between Pescara and Otranto.

It was supposed to be a calm trip, little wind on parts,, but up to 18 kts in gusts in the afternoon. So much for weather forecast. I had checked all gust forecasts available in PredictWind. But none of them had warned me that after peacefully cooking, eating risotto and passing Vieste to the South the gusts would reach 27 knots/force 7. Well I was almost there, slowly rolled in the genoa, then got down the vvvvvmain and anchored alone near the Arco San Felice.

Day 5 – June 18th 2022. The weather forecasts predict mostly force 4-5 from the North for the next 24 hrs all along the Adriatic coast way down to Otranto. This time the forecasts are almost correct. Winds from the NW, at sunset I pass Brindisi, winds gusting to 6 bft at night. And – Raymarine helps me to stay awake at night just when it is the hardest. At 3:30 all kinds of alarms go off. Heading lost. Autopilot lost. AIS lost. Well – a full reset of the system might help, but that would either mean stopping or leaving the helm with 6 bft blowing from behind to go down to the switch panel… I decide to steer manually. Course: when the moon is to the right of the genoa I’m on track! After about half an hour some systems come back then fail again.

After almost exactly 24 hrs at daybreak I reach Otranto and anchor in the harbor which is wide open the the swell. But after being awake for 24hrs I can sleep regardless, then lunch and shopping – very nice bread at the bakery casAmelia with very friendly service. The dinghy ride to a docking site behind the swimmers is very short, but you have to be very careful with kids playing there. That was day 6.

Day 7 – June 20th 2022: Slow start with 2 bft from SE, in the afternoon 3-4 bft. Brilliant. Frozen seafood and Rummo spaghetti for lunch. After 10 hrs I reach Erikoussa. 1 nm before the anchorage the wind dies down to make everything easier. Thank you, Poseidon! The anchorage is rather full but so huge that finding a spot is probably always easy – if you don’t mind being near the power generator of the island. So it took 7 days and 326 nm to get from Pescara to Erikoussa.

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