On September 13, 2018, I say goodbye to the fortress that protects the entrance to the bay of Herceg Novi, while shortening the mainsail to another abbreviation. The sun has already set, the wind is blowing harder than before sunset, which is a good sign – the wind will be enough, this also raises the waves, which of course come from all sides, but bouncing does not bother me too much, because I know that as much as possible I am moving away from the coast, the waves will only be on one side and it will be somewhere in the middle of the Adriatic.
I feel very happy and I wrote a comic note in my diary: dear Walterček, now is the end of great food and drink, the end of bureks, the end of čevapčiči and the end of brandy. On the other side of the Adriatic, it all ends. I will miss all this, especially the burek, which is already looking out of my ears, but I will still miss it, so I prepared a special dinner just before I left the marina. I take a baked burek from the bag today, baked by Ana from the office in the marina – especially for me! I sit in the cockpit and enjoy my last bites. In the meantime, I remember that I did not register at the captaincy and I did not buy a Montenegrin vignette, and of course I did not check out. Of course, how would I have applied at all if I had not checked out in Croatia and why would I have at all if no patrol boat in Montenegro was operating that year. If necessary, the captain borrowed a boat from the marina from Neš, who was practically their first neighbor, and it all usually looked like they came to borrow a boat from a neighbor, much like when you go to ask if you can borrow an extension for electricity.
A pleasant mistral was announced, but it turned into a bora. Around midnight, the wind intensifies and I lower the sail to the last shortening, turn the genoa in half, put all the ropes I don’t need in the cockpit and tuck them under the spry course, because every now and then a wave hits the back of the boat and half of it consequently also falls into the cockpit, so the sea and wind on this boat make sure you are never dry. I measure how many Nm I need to get to the “road” for large ships, which leads through the middle of the Adriatic all the way to Split, Rijeka, Koper, Trieste and many other Italian cities. At a speed of 6.4 as I sail at the moment, I will be there around 4am and then I will have to be at least a little careful. At 4.30 I’m right in the middle of the road and to my left is a larger ship sailing north, so I turn the boat around and set the direction for its stern, not even wanting to bother crossing its path in front of it and constantly pondering whether or not it will. So I set the direction for it and in any case I know I will succeed without any problems, although due to the change of direction I am getting waves in the side again. All in all it doesn’t take long, a few minutes, then I turn the boat around again and set the voyage back on the old course towards Otranto. I sit in the cabin and change into dry clothes. I don’t know what to do, so I start rolling my cigarettes in advance because if I look at the phone, it shows me September 14th and today is my birthday and I’m exactly where I wanted to be. For the third year in a row, I am alone on the boat for my birthday and it seems that I am mostly bored now. Every now and then I poke my head out of the storm window to make sure there are no lights around me. The time is 5.30 and I get a little sleep, I check the situation through the window again and throw myself on the bed. I fall asleep for an hour with three alarm clocks in between, just long enough to check the situation outside the boat. At 6.30 I get out of bed, look where I am on the GPS, because otherwise I am 100% sure that I am on Lady Ivana, because everything is tilting, swaying and creaking.
The GPS shows 30 nm in front of the small town of San Foca, so I turn the boat more towards the coast and enjoy it until 11am until the wind turns and starts bringing huge clouds coming from the mainland and looking full of water. Of course – it will be a gift for my birthday and as usual 15 minutes before I sailed into port, the rain stopped and I traveled with the clouds forward to say hello to someone else. In fact, the shower was nice in the rain as I was completely salty from the sea and from the wind. The rain also washed the boat instead of me, so there is no salt on the deck, so I won’t have to wash it with fresh water, which I’ve never done before. You really have to have a soul and a heart for this, because as I know, it won’t take long for the boat to be salty again soon. We chat quickly with the mariner, we agree to visit the office the next morning, as it is now about to close and so he just handed me the key to the toilet and shower, and I gave him my float book and the problem is solved. I also ask him by name: Fabri, the standard name for an Italian.
I take a shower just out of curiosity. I soon regretted it all, because while I was taking a shower, all the lights in the room went out and countless unpleasant thoughts flew through my head: here I am alone on the other side of the Adriatic in a country full of …… and I am afraid to step out of the shower cab, because you never know what awaits you on the other side of the door, but on top of that there is complete darkness and whatever would follow me, I certainly would not even see … I step out of the cabin, the lights are still out of nowhere (damnmotion sensors), I move around the bathroom blindly in complete darkness until the sensor recognizes my movement and the lights come on, and I find myself standing in the hallway just in front of the entrance to the women’s showers. Um, of course, yes, I know this, why it’s something known in advance.
I head to town where I join the younger company at the bar and play darts together, until the clock is already so late that everything is closed except my boat, so I head to my bed. I lie in bed and laugh at myself and all of today’s events. While I was in this village and in the company of strangers, I was also offered a prostitute (stronger figure), saying yes – because I have a birthday, he offers me a discount. Of course, I turned down her offer to the rich lady with a wide smile.
The next morning I head to the office and pay the marina. As a gift, I get a bottle of wine and a discount bill and a receptionist’s comment: “There aren’t many people who sail alone, and I think you’re the youngest in my career, so I give you this bottle of local wine and offer you another night at the marina for free. “I didn’t have to think twice and I thanked him kindly, took a bottle of wine and put it in the farthest cupboard in the boat, because today I don’t even want to see the bottle.
The next day, early in the morning, I pull the ropes off the pier and say goodbye to Fabria: Ciao!
I sail along the coast with a beautiful mistral straight to the stern, so I put the tangoon on the genoa and unscrew the sail halfway so that it doesn’t turn left and right. The voyage is quiet and peaceful, without bouncing, as the wave behind me is almost nothing. I sail past Otranto, past the cliffs, past the last lighthouse that separates the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. This lighthouse is also a milestone for Slovenian insurance companies – from here on, along the line drawn to the island of Corfu in Greece, no coverage is valid anymore. My boat is not insured, as no insurance company wanted to insure it, saying that I was too young and that I had too little experience. I asked them, “If I were 40 years old and had no experience, would you insure me?” The answer was: yes! I have never paid more attention to anything in my life than to my boat and others around. So here I am playing all in cards now.
I sail in beautiful weather, everything is a bit kitschy and when I’m behind Cape Otranto, I think about where I’m going to drop anchor and sleep or just sail on. I look at the map: in front of me is the slightly larger city of Santa Maria de Leuca, and if I hurry, I’ll be there before sunset. The wind is the same, only I changed course, so I get the wind slightly from the side and the mainsail is already raised to the top of the mast. The boat accelerates to 7 sometimes I even touch 7.5. All the sails are taut like in a fairy tale, the wind blows in them, the pentacles are taut, I release the last suffix, I get a flat surface of the genoa and mainsail. I feel fantastic, I stand in the cockpit and the wind feels almost nothing, because I go with the wind and while I shake my chocolate in a plastic cup, the wind does not hinder me almost nothing …. Fantastic, another turn around the rear lighthouse and before the beautiful city of Santa Maria de Leuca appears to me like lightning from the clear. I look around the anchorage where the place would be for me, I contact the marina, there is also a place in the marina. Hmmm. While I am tidying up my sails, I decide to sail into the harbor and try to tie up with the fishermen because the marina doesn’t pay me. I want to see the city, but I have no special desire to inflate the dinghy for the end of the evening. I tie myself to the pier, which is free, and unload my bike. This pier is called the Barque Cemetery, as many of them end their journey here. The boats are broken, tied to each other on the pier, people pick up from them, what else can be picked up: batteries, windows, electrical wiring, etc. A few barks lying in the parking lot like a piece of plastic, the masts are in a pile in the corner of the parking lot, and the rudders are again on the other side of the parking lot. I head to a place where I indulge in a traditional pizza and eat it with tears in my eyes, thinking of the delicious čevapčiče and the country I left a few days ago. When I pay for pizza, tears soak all the way to my socks …
Early in the morning I untie myself from the pier and sail out of the marina. I sail towards the town of Crotone with all the sails until 12 o’clock until the wind runs out, so I light my Volvo (lighter) and sail on. I argue with myself all day whether to raise the sail or not. In the end, I give it all up and lie down on the bow of the boat, where the loud engine sounds almost nothing. I’m reading a book on the Burnt Brain diet, the more books I read, the more food goes off my menu, so I stop reading because if it goes on like this, my menu will be full of peas and spinach, no carbs, and so on.
At sunset, I sail into the port on the west side of town, where the Yacht Club is, and moor to the last marina, which is the cheapest, and where I get a discount again, so that I pay only 11 euros per night. I throw a rope to the pier next to Greater Bavaria, where a New Zealand couple with five children are sailing, so the happenings on the pier are quite varied. The kids are arguing over the skateboard, ker they only have one, so I lend them mine for two days. In gratitude, I get three smaller beers from Greece. I was in this city last year. I visit the city and review the weather forecast. There won’t be wind for a while, so I’ll probably wait here for a few more days
The weather does not want to improve, there is no wind and it will not be for some time, so we decide to sail away with the New Zealanders. So early on the morning of September 24, I leave the marina in front of them.
I sail past an oil rig where I get the control of the Coast Police, who surround me twice without lights. What will I get control of again because of migrants like last year? They just drive by my side and ask me which direction I’m going. I answer them that in Messina, I say the name of the boat and then they drive on into the darkness. I probably sailed out of the marina a little too early, so I was suspicious of them and they decided to check the boat quickly. Hhm good! I continue my journey without wind. The sun has risen and I am already past the Capo de Rizzuto lighthouse. The wind was still out of nowhere, though it had been forecast. I am overtaken by New Zealanders with Bavaria, as they have twice as many cylinders in the engine as I do, but I don’t bother. I sail all day, sit in the cabin and watch it rain outside and it looks like it will stay that way. The sun has set and I am 40 nm in front of the Messina Channel. It thunders and rains all night, and the wind is out of nowhere. I spent the night looking out the stormy window in all directions and my neck was already really hurting from all this turning of my head. I’m seriously thinking about mounting a periscope … Towards morning the clouds were blown away by the wind. It was supposed to be from SW so it would help me navigate through the canal, but it was blowing just the opposite so it was just stopping me. Luckily there isn’t too much of it and even the sea current carries me towards Messina. So much garbage in the sea as in this canal, I have never seen: chairs, tables, plastic, whole trees … Avoiding all this is impossible, it takes a lot of luck that accompanied me that Lady Ivana did not hit a single trash , at least without knowing. I set the autopilot on course towards Messina. There are no other ships on my route, and large ships are swinging up and down on my left. I prepare a hot meal while the engine rumbles, in the cabin I have a delicious canned breakfast for breakfast. I look around and fall asleep every now and then. I wake up and all of a sudden I am at the end of Messina, across all three stairs, where the sea swirls strangely due to sea currents and a huge change in depth and waves in the middle of nowhere. A rainy and thundering night makes for a beautiful day. The wind is just right, so I pick up and open the genaker. The boat slides towards the town of Milazzo, where I will drop anchor. I sail in great weather and perfectly flat sea with almost no waves. Meanwhile, a gust of wind laid my boat twice so that inside the boat everything was thrown out of the lockers, and the books also flew here and there. I’m finally in front of the city, now it’s my turn to anchor and immediately after that sleep as I have my face completely swollen from a sleepless night. I drop the anchor next to the Swiss boat Artemist, which I regretted immensely the following month.