Heading south - Otrano

After visiting Venice, there was only 1 direction for us to go and that was south back down the Adriatic Sea but this time along the east coast of Italy where favourable ports are rare. So we did a 3-day nonstop to Otranto, almost at the bottom of the heel of Italy.

It was motoring in almost no winds for almost all the way, then 20 nautical miles from Otranto, the winds kicked up smacking us right on the nose. But we persisted and were rewarded with a nice little harbour in the lee of the winds.

Little was mentioned about this town in our guidebook, but we found it a surprisingly cool little place. It still has some old fort walls and structures but there was no mention of the Old Town within those walls.

Old Town hidden behind doorway circled below

Exploring Old Town, we discovered a large cathedral that had Roman mosaics covering the floor with The Tree of Life as its theme.

The Tree of Life

Close-up

In the lower level were dozens of marble support columns where lighting accentuated the 4-sided vaulted ceilings between...

The other discovery was dark chocolate ice cream, a much richer taste than simply chocolate!

The popularity of Otranto was not only for the character of the Old Town but also for swimming in the tepid waters and sunbathing on the little swaths of beach sand around the bay which were packed while we were there. Swimmers paid little attention to the coming and going of small boats.

Watch out for boats!

The first night was calm and peaceful, however, on the second night the predicted northeast wind came in early at about 03:00, sending waves right into the anchorage and giving us a restless last few hours of fitful sleep.

Calm before the winds

I made the boat ready for another passage while Jordan with jerry jugs shuttled fuel to the bucking boat. Then it was time to haul anchor. Jordan was concerned as he knew the anchor was on a rocky bottom. So he dove to see where the anchor and chain lay before we started to pull them up.

Back on board, he attended to the windlass on the bucking bows and I was on the helm taking directions from him as we tried to avoid snagging the chain or anchor.

We almost made it, but just at the last while the chain was almost straight down and taut, the bow heaved up and the anchor snagged, sending a sickening shutter through the hull. But then on the second heave, it came free.

When Jordan got the anchor up and secured, he noticed the thick neck of the CQR had been bent from the brutal force. However, now there is no question as to the strength of the rest of the tackle and anchoring equipment.

Two bent anchors to fix

So off to Sicily...

Passage from Venice to Otranto Aug 22 to 25
N40°08.933' E018°29.493' Aug 25 Otrano (Italy)