We Encounter a Couple of Greek Monsters and an Erupting Volcano

Roundabout crew in front of an erupting volcano!

We left Greece around noon and set our course for the Messina Strait. We had a nice sail over except for about 2 hours south of the Strait. The swell picked up and we needed a rest after the constant rolling about. I felt like we were riding a galloping horse!

We decided to anchor off the Italian coast, near Spropolo around 2am. As we approached the anchorage, we heard engine noise (we were sailing, so ours were off). Nothing came up on our radar (we had our guard zone alarm on) and we could not see any other boats around. All of a sudden, we get spotlighted. They started on our starboard side and went around the stern and to port. After a minute the light flicked off and the boat zoomed away. It was painted black and we assume it was the coast guard searching for illegal boats.

We hauled anchor around 6am and set off for the Messina Strait. It was flat calm until the entrance, when all turned choppy and the wind picked up (it funnels through that area). We set out for the port of Reggio di Calabria to check into the country. Upon entering the strait, we hailed VTS to inform them of our intentions. As we were a small craft, they said we were fine and to stick to the coastal transit zone, out of the way of the larger traffic.

We hailed the marina and received our slip assignment. Jared went up the mast to check on our navigation lights, as we noticed the steaming light wasn't working too well on our last night passage. Sand paper and some anti-corrosion spray set us back in business. While he worked on that, Cadence and set off to the customs office to check in to the country and get our 'constituto di arrivo' document. Being a Sunday, turns out everything was closed. We informed the marina attendant that we were departing and asked what we owed for the hour we had stayed there. He told us nothing, and so we tipped him for helping us with our lines earlier.

We exited the port and began making our way up through the strait, dodging ferries, tankers, and the occasional whirlpool. We planned the transit based on the tides and it paid off. We sped up to 11.8 knots with the supporting currents. About halfway through the strait is an actual roundabout for traffic to change directions. We kept hearing 'roundabout' on the vhf and wondered if it was the traffic change or us they were talking about.

Eruptions occur on the western side of Stromboli. This is a view from the eastern side.

We can totally see how sailors of old came up with the ancient myths and legends about this mysterious area. Upon entering the strait, the weather changed from sunny and a calm and sunny day, to bubbling water, strange currents that sweep you in various directions, whirlpools, and there's also a feel of 'something' present.  The legends of Scylla and Charybdis are well known and the superstitious or even just the cautious sailors still give them a wide berth. These two sea monsters are situated on opposite sides of the strait. Scylla, the multi-headed monster who feeds upon sailors as she plucks them off their vessels exists to the north (Italian side) on a cliff and Charybdis, a massive whirlpool with razor-sharp teeth to the south (Sicily side). Both are at opposite ends of the western end of the strait, although one can feel their effects well before arriving there. According to Homer, Odysseus was forced to choose which monster to face, as it is impossible to get out of reach of one, unless you transit close to the other. Odysseus opted to face Scylla and risk losing a few sailors, rather than lose his entire vessel to Charybdis.

Beach time on Stromboli.

We exited the strait with some excitement from all the strange phenomenons and then set our course for Stromboli. We arrived around midnight and decided to go check out the erupting volcano while it was nice and clear. We sailed around to the western side of the volcano where you can see the eruptions. What a sight! The night was clear and crisp with bright stars and bioluminescence in the sea. The neon reddish glow from the lava was brilliant against the black of night. We cu the engines and slowly drifted along watching mother nature's show; listening to the snap, crackle, popping noise of the lava as it flowed down the slope, only to be met in protest with a violent hissing noise as it met the sea. A few hours later, we anchored off the eastern side of the island in black sand and fell asleep.

It looks silver in the sunlight, but it was a deep, inky black underneath.

Later on, we spent the daylight hours doing school, chores, and swimming around the boat. We explored shore a bit and then resumed swimming and enjoying the sunshine. Jared spotted a sea snake taking refuge in the shade of the hulls. We enjoyed a pizza at a local restaurant that evening, and the kids played hide-n-go-seek around the beach and boats stored ashore. Jared and I scored some coffee beans from the only coffee shop on island and after collecting our kids, we motored back around to the western side for another spectacular show of the erupting volcano. The kids took their pillows and blankets out to the trampoline and spent the next couple of hours there watching the eruptions, shooting stars, and glowing ocean. After sending the kids to bed, we engaged the engines and set our course towards Pompeii.

Jared got better photos off the Cannon (still need to download those). 

I sure hope these memories last a lifetime for our kiddos. I know Jared and I surely wont forget this experience. After all, how often can you fall asleep watching a volcano erupt?!

Farewell Stromboli! 

Losing a Propeller and Keel Damage

Nothing like watching the sunset while out at sea.

We stopped back by Montenegro for the duty-free fuel, at the Porto Montenegro/Tivat office. As we had just been there about a month earlier, we planned on a quick stop. Check-in with customs went quickly but when it came time to get the boat stamped in, the lady denied us? What?!? We showed her the Montenegro cruising permit, stickers, and entry/exit sheets as we had just been in her country. She said it was no good and that we needed a 'plastic card' to show our competence as captains. She would not accept any of our documentation, licenses, and did not care we had already been there. As she turned to chastise some other sailors who had just entered her office without shoes (she made them go buy shoes before she would talk to them), the customs guy came over to us. He said, 'I'm sorry for this, but just go to Bar (a port south) and you'll get checked in. This lady is crazy'.
We then asked him to stamp us back out as we would just leave their country. The lady then came back over and said 'oh, you can stay and spend the night if you wish'. 'No,' we replied. We would just get a little fuel at the regular price and leave. She then tried to get us to stay. By this time, we had had enough of her craziness and after a little fuel, we set sail for Greece around 5pm. So, if you go to Montenegro, go check in at Bar, the first southern port. Checking out at Porto Montenegro is fine, but checking in (if that lady is on duty) is going to be a bit more challenging.

We pulled into Lefkada, Greece after a 3 night sail from Montenegro. Greeting us at the dock were our friends from a few other cruising boats. After settling the boat, we had a wonderful reunion at a local restaurant and later that evening gathered on our boat for wine, loukoumades (Greek donuts with various toppings--sooo good) and catching up.

We spent the next few days getting boat jobs completed and sailed down to Argostoli for a couple of days to check out the sea turtle sanctuary. We had a discussion on the negative impacts of the fishermen feeding the turtles, as the jelly population is constantly increasing, due to the lack of predation from the turtles. If the fishermen stopped feeding the turtles, what would happen? It was a fantastic discussion about how eventually the turtles would return to their natural hunting instincts. There is a turtle research group based there and each day you will see them in their aqua colored shirts taking data and informing the public about their cause. If you have the time, they would love volunteers.

Observing the sea turtles in the harbor.

Going up the mast in their rock climbing harnesses to spot the sea turtles in the harbor.

We met up with some fellow American cruisers for drinks and to watch a local futbol (soccer) game.

As a big blow was coming, we sailed back north to meet another kid boat and explore some waterfalls. The following week found us back in Lefkada, as we awaited a package delivery. We enjoyed exploring the town a bit more and made some new friends along the way, which we find is one of the best things about this cruising life.

The fished every single day and fed their friend's boat kitty. They also ate some of their catch.

Waterfalls near Nidri.

The morning of our departure, as we were pulling away from the town quay, all hell broke loose. Jared was up front dealing with the trip-line on our anchor (Lefkada quay is known for all sorts of crap left at the bottom and we feared fouling our anchor on that stuff), when I lost steering ability on the starboard side. I felt a sort of shudder and that was it. We maneuvered as best we could, avoiding all the other boats moored around us, while finishing hauling up the anchor. The water was super dirty, so we figured we would motor out beyond the bridge to a beach area with clear water. Navigating on one engine was challenging with all the other boats in the vicinity, who also wished to transit beyond the bridge and traffic was heavy in both directions. We managed and dropped the hook off a nearby beach. Jared jumped in and came up a few seconds later with 'its gone'. 'What's gone, the stuff around the prop'? I replied? 'No, the prop, it's gone", was Jared's answer. I immediately felt sick to my stomach. Now what were we going to do and how long would this delay us?

Underwater pic of the starboard prop shaft and broken off stud.

We decided to go into the marina in Lefkada, as the boat would be secure with the impending bad weather and since our anchor windlass was dying (it actually had quit on us a few times before), it was just safer. Some friends came to the rescue with a recommendation of a local repair guy and after sending him some underwater photos, we had a haul-out date for the following week (we tried but could not get in sooner). One family who was still in the area came to our rescue and over drinks we hashed out a plan: they would help us maneuver over to the dock using their dinghy and then take our kids for the day.

They are expert cruisers and suggested we go ahead and test the starboard shaft to see if it rotated. Might as well determine if we needed to order extra parts ahead of time if it didn't rotate.

Fortunately, the shaft worked in both forwards and reverse! Whew, the shaft looked to be in working order and not as damaged as we'd thought. We ordered folding props with expedited delivery timed with our haul-out date. Jared also changed all the brushes in our anchor windlass and it seemed to work a little better. Zach turned 11 during this time, so we invited our friends back over to help us celebrate. It was a great way to help pass the time and take our minds off the stress.

Taking apart the windlass to clean and change out the brushes for the motor.

Excited birthday boy!

Haul out day went badly. Getting over to the haul-out dock was fine. We had the assistance of our
friends in their dinghy as well as the repair guy's dinghy, both helping to steer Roundabout into place.

First, we had to insist several times about the proper placement of the slings! Jared removed our transducer shortly before lifting, and I am so glad he did!

Hauling out in Lefkada.

Not only did our new folding props not show up, the travel-lift crew set our boat down without the proper sized blocks.We were standing there showing them the manual and telling them what Roundabout needed and they did not listen. Upon setting her down, both keels cracked! Of course, I called attention to his and they agreed they would send a repairman over as soon as possible. I consulted with a surveyor just to double check that nothing else was damaged. We also requested Roundabout be lifted back up in the slings for the remainder of the haul-out. About 10 minutes later, a guy showed up and he said that we were the 34th boat this season he had to repair due to this incompetent crew! Wth?! As you can imagine, we were quite upset about this. The guy did a great job though and we are grateful for his expertise. Later on, after hearing about our day, another cruising boat told us they had a similar experience a few months prior. Seriously, this marina crew needs training. Although it keeps the fiberglass repair guy happy due to all the extra business...

Keel repairs in progress (we have a TON of photos of each step, but that would take up more room in this blog post.

On a side note, Lefkada marina would not refund our 'propping up' fee despite their staff causing the damage. Their response to us was, and we quote, 'well, your boat is in the slings and that costs more, so what would you rather pay'?. No apologies, just plain rudeness. We also witnessed rudeness to nearly every customer that came into their office. The staff at Lefkada Marina need desperate training in customer service. One customer had a death in the family and was asking if he could pay for a certain amount of time, but if he returned early could he get a refund for the over payment. They said NO and would not work with him at all. I felt so bad for the poor guy, who had just suffered the loss of a parent, with no compassion displayed for him at all. They would not refund anything back on the power and water account either, so if you placed a little extra on that to be cautious, you'd not get it back. What a crooked operation. We do NOT recommend this marina to anyone, and as there are several other marinas nearby (Preveza area) that are less expensive and have much better reviews from sailors, we would definitely point you to go that direction!

Before and after broken stud removal. 

Our propeller guy was able to determine, along with all of Jared's research, that the stud holding the propeller had failed due to metal fatigue. Apparently, this is a common problem! The guy was able to cleanly remove the broken stud and we decided to just put on a new standard propeller to get us by until our folding props arrived. We figured we might as well change the oil in both sail drives, while we were at it.

Repairs completed, we were relaunched early that evening and went back to anchor near the town quay (decided not to tie up there, as we wanted to avoid the fouling area).

Finally, after stalking UPS for a few more days, we received both our folding props and were soon on our way to Italy. Cadence turned 9 while on this passage and we caught a tuna for dinner on her birthday! We would install our folding props in the next calm and clear bay we came across. That is all in our next post, so stay tuned!

Leaving Lefkada via the rotating bridge.

We caught a tuna halfway across on passage!

Stopped by the Croatian Coast Guard

Exploring marine life at a northern Croatian anchorage
(we keep them under water and don't handle them much--Z just wanted to show me for identification).

Enjoying a few lovely anchorages as we sail south through the islands. Caves are a favorite spot to snorkel!

After a quick run south through Croatia, we arrived in Cavtat to check out. According to the pilot book, you must check out before noon on Saturday, otherwise, wait until it reopens on Monday. As our weather window meant we had to leave on a Sunday, we followed the instructions and checked out just before noon on Saturday.

As the guide book says...

A storm blew through that night and we stayed up for most of it, as many of the boats around us were dragging anchor. Around 6am with just enough daylight, we left the anchorage and began our sail south. We were heading to Montenegro to take advantage of the duty-free fuel again. About 7 nautical miles from the border, we encountered a Croatian police boat. They did not hail us on the radio, but rather motioned we should follow them. We came a bit closer to hear their instructions just to be sure, and they repeated we had to follow them into the bay nearby.

After entering the  bay, they pulled up alongside and prepared to raft up. The kids and I put out all our fenders, as I did not want any damage from their bigger boat. Once secured, an officer stated that we were in violation of their law of not departing the country immediately upon clearing out. The fine ranged from 1000 kuna to 5000 kuna, but if we paid now it would only be 600 kuna.

I explained the procedure we had followed and showed them the pilot book. After a 'call to the boss', they took a photo copy of the book, checked our  boat documents, and sent us on our way. However, they also made sure to have us explain to others that this pilot book is incorrect and they will not accept this 'excuse' any longer. We have written to the Imray publisher to inform them of this, in hopes to save other sailors any issues.

While our frustration of the experience is displayed in the video, we do understand they are just doing their job. The officials were polite and professional, and we also remained the same throughout the experience.  We even had a nice chat about why we are living on a boat and shared some of our favorite travels. We enjoyed most of our time sailing around Croatia. There are over 1,000 islands and so much to see. That said, this experience left us with a bitter ending to our experience in this country. We share this in hopes of helping other sailors avoid a similar issue.

Sailing Venice, Italy

Glass flowers climb the wall of a glass factory in Murano, Italy.

What sailor doesn't dream of sailing their vessel to Venice? It surely is a magical place and there are so many places to explore!

Sunset at sea.

The passage from Pula, Croatia to Venice was about 11 hours from start to finish. We tied up at the marina on Certosa island and set off to check in. There are only two marinas in Venice that are able to take catamarans, and Certosa appealed to us as it is like a nature preserve with all the wildlife and tranquility.

Nature trail at Certosa marina.

We caught the vaporetto (water bus) to the Pl. Roma stop and walked across the bridge to the red building on the right, the State Polizia station. We filled out a one page form, handed over our passports, and five minutes later were on our way. They did not give a Constituto di Arrivo, as we had read about. I guess it is different in each port, but it made for a quick to check out later on.

Checking in with the authorities for passport stamps and boat permit.

We spent the next two weeks exploring Venice and the surrounding islands. Quite a wondrous place, with so much history and architecture. Definitely take advantage of the family museum pass, where you can visit many of the museums for one low price. The easiest and cheapest way to get around is by purchasing the city unlimited ride pass for 7 days. It paid for itself by the 2nd day, as we were constantly going to different stops around the islands to explore different things. Taking a regular water taxi would have cost 80 euro one way for our family, and the vaporetto was only a few dollars, if you worked out the math.

Lido is a long island, nicknamed the Golden Island, due to the sandy beaches. It has a lot of shops and a large Conad grocery store near the vaporetto station. One main chandlery is about a 45 minute walk, so take your dinghy through their main canal if you want to visit that shop.

Murano is nicknamed the Glass Island, due to all the glass being made there. According to legend, all of the glass makers were forced to move there due to risk of fires in Venice. It is home to many glass factories and you can tour them and see for yourself how the glass is made. They do close down in August, but we were fortunate to catch one of the factories offering tours. There are quite a few art installations of beautiful glass-work all over the island. Popping out from hedges was some green glass flowers, a large blue glass globe was in the town square, and many small details appear along the way as you walk along. The artists have done a brilliant job integrating their glass art with nature.

Burano is the Lace Island, and you can find all sorts of beautiful handmade lace items. It is about a 45 minute ride away from main Venice though, so plan accordingly.

Venice is made up of many islands close together. It sort of resembles a fish, if you use your imagination a bit.

We visited Doge's Palace in San Marco's square, next to the Basilica. This place is huge and you need at least a full day to explore everything.

Long ago, it was a castle with towers and moats. After several fires (700 years ago) it was rebuilt into a magnificent palace, like lace out of stone. Every inch is decorated with either delicate stonework or painted scenes and statutes.

The government was housed here as well and there are many chambers leading through to others. It houses the famous Bridge of Sighs, where prisoners had their last glimpse at the outside world before facing their judgements.

Bridge of Sighs outer view and from the inside.

The time went by so quickly, as we thoroughly enjoyed getting lost around Venice and seeing new sights each day. The kids took an art class with pottery, we got to know a few of the locals, and overall just had a fantastic time. We even met up with a few other sailing families! Such fun!

After eating way too much delicious food and gelato, we found ourselves sailing back into Croatia for navigating south through the islands. We took a week to do this, as we needed to make tracks south to Greece for a quick visit with friends, before heading west to Italy and beyond.

Next up: we sail back through Croatia and encounter the Croatian coast guard while trying to exit their waters.