We arrived in Maddelena town after a day of sailing that encompassed everything from motoring over a glass smooth sea surface, to bashing into 20 knots, with waves crashing over the bows. We came flying around the corner through the Strait of Bonifacio and into a series of channels separating a collection of granite islands rising out of the sea. Kate had called the marina, as they only take same day reservations. They were closing at two, but “better you are here by one” according to the guy on the phone. We rounded the final directional marker, and pulled up outside the harbor entrance. Two guys came out in a rigid inflatable boat and directed us to a spot between two monohulls. We were backed up to the main town square. After tying up and adjusting our lines, Kate tried to go pay at the office. The marinero said not to worry about it. Maybe tomorrow, he said, right now people were more excited to go home than deal with troublesome paperwork.

Matt and I got out the buckets and brushes while Kate went off in search of the Coast Guard, and our Constituto that we needed to cruise in Italian waters. Washing the boat was very satisfying, as we had just purchased a new deck brush. It felt good to get the weeks of grime and salt off the boat. While at anchor we spot scrub, and try to keep it pretty clean, but the unlimited fresh water of the marina means we can do a comprehensive job. Kate returned from the Coast Guard with the needed paperwork that she had extracted from a reluctant officer. He wanted to go home too. With the basics secured and the boat clean, we settled in. We were here, in a marina, in order to check into Italy, but there were also some strong winds forecast, and the orientation of the marina and town meant that we were exceptionally well sheltered. We decided to stay for three nights which then extended to four, since the Mardi Gras festival came to town. Our position in the marina was excellent. We were right on the main square, and there were several good coffee shops adjacent. We spent a few days wandering the town and enjoying our unlimited electricity and (hot) water. Around day two I was tired of town, and the morning of day four I was more than ready to be motoring out of the harbor.

There was no wind, and it was very early in the morning as we backtracked around the north side of Sardinia for around five miles. We anchored on the west side of a large peninsula that separated the two bays of Porto Pollo, a well known wind sports destination. During the season this bay is packed with kiters, windsurfers, wingfoilers and others enjoying the sun, wind and warmth. During early March, when we were there, only one of these things was present, and we spent the next three days enjoying practicing our foiling all around the boat. Since we have the dingy it makes it a lot easier to learn. One person jumps on the board with the wing, and flails for a while, until the wind drags them downwind, away from the boat. Then the person in the dingy runs down for pickup duty. Using the engine to get back upwind it is easy to get lots of practice for minimal effort. During our time in the west side of Porto Pollo we all gained some experience and skill with winging.

The nice thing about the spot where we were anchored is that we had excellent holding, the ability to swing 360 degrees, and lots of wind during the day. In the evening the wind died, and the ocean went flat, perfect for watching tv and hanging out. The mornings were cloudy, but it usually burned off enough later in the day for us to have a full charge on our batteries going into evening.

The third morning we woke up to a persistent and uncomfortable swell coming in from the direction of Bonifacio. We decided to move around the corner and see if that was any better. Since it was a cloudy and drizzly day it would also give us the opportunity to charge off the motors as we made our way around the little point, as the distance was too short to bother sailing. We made it through some choppy seas and slowly felt our way into a bay that was enclosed on all sides. There were sandy banks, but they were very shallow and close to shore. We wanted a spot where we could swing all the way around the anchor, since we were not sure what the wind would do over the next several nights. We dropped the anchor in around eleven meters of water without being able to see the bottom, and then hung out. We continued foiling every day, and Matt and I rode into town, him on his bike and me on my Onewheel. That was fun, and we were able to buy enough groceries to last another week or so.

After three more nights we were ready to get moving again. The forecast looked favorable for an early departure to an intermediate anchorage before setting out across the Tyrennian sea for the island of Ponza. We had the (muddy) anchor up before dawn and were motoring out of our bay in the dark. As soon as we could we had the full main and code 0 up and were ghosting along between the town of Palau and Maddelena. Maneuvering between the islands, ferries and rocks, we had a good time practicing tacking the big code 0. The wind was very light and variable and we hand steered the fifteen miles over to Cala Pevero.

Cala Pevero was huge, shallow, and sandy. The weather was quiet and Matt and I took the dinghy across the bay and walked a couple miles up the highway to find fuel. Later Kate and I went for a run and summited a small peak that had a commanding view over the northeastern coast of Sardinia. Despite the intense and debilitating pain in my IT bands I still had a good time checking stuff out. Lots still to explore here.

In the morning we were up again, raising sails and heading down the coast. The forecast showed weak offshore winds shifting to a gradually building south as the day went on. The idea was to work south under the offshore winds, and then make our way across to Ponza on a beam reach with the southerly. With the exception of a slow start and a half hour of motoring our plan worked well. We made the 155 mile passage in around 22 hours and had an average speed of over 7.5 knots. This was pretty nice, and the wind never got too scary. I lucked into only having one night watch, and we arrived into a small bay in Ponza right as I was due to start my shift at 6am.

Ponza was a pleasant surprise. After anchoring in a rather open bay, and getting beat up for a few hours, we moved over to the more protected harbor in front of the main town. Matt and I got off the boat and walked around, grabbing some delicious pizza from a hole in the wall spot for dinner. We spent two nights in the main harbor, hiding from some forecasted high winds. On the second morning, the winds were shifting around to come from the south, so we needed to do an end run around the island and anchor on the north side. This was an exciting sail, double reefed with the stay sail, flying off the tops of waves, before navigating between two small rocks and around into the relative shelter of the lee side of the island. During this sail we heard a loud bang, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Later we discovered the second reef had bent its retaining pin in the end of the boom and shattered its sheave.

Once we got anchored, in a much more picturesque spot than the main town, we took the dinghy down and explored some of the sea caves and enclosed bays. We walked up into town and grabbed a beer. Then, on our way back to the boat we were intercepted by customs, again. These guys were much more serious than the ones we encountered in Maddalena, and spent a good 90 minutes going through all our paperwork. They left, and we were just talking about how eventful our day had been when a water tanker rolled up and kicked us out of our anchorage. They needed the spot to tie up and offload their load of water for the island.

We moved around the corner, to an equally nice spot, and spent a calm night. Departing later in the morning, we motored around the west corner of the island, completing our first circumnavigation of a landmass. Getting out of the wind shadow, we raised the gennaker, and set our course for Ischia, an island close to mainland. We planned to spend the night there, and sail for the Aeolian islands the next day. A quick 60 miles and we dropped anchor behind a huge castle. The wind was still honking at 20+ knots, but thanks to the castle there were no waves. Matt and I repaired the second reef, re-running all the lines, cutting and splicing out the damage to the reefing line, and retying everything back together. It felt good to have all reefs operational again, but it was dark, cold and howling wind when we finished. As soon as we went inside the wind completely died.

The following day saw some of the most sustained and exciting sailing we have done with Matt on board. We had an average speed of over eight and a half knots, and the last part was quite upwind in close to 25. Waves were breaking over the bows and splashing over the coachroof. There was a constant stream of spray coming back off the leeward bow. We screamed past Stromboli and its active volcano at around ten in the evening, but there was no lava to be seen. We set course for Panarea, and what I thought would be a protected spot. There turned out to be another boat in the spot I wanted, and the wind was spinning the boat in all directions, making anchoring challenging. After a couple attempts, we managed to drop in an exposed spot off the main town. I jammed the windlass, and damaged the rope rode. After untangling everything, resetting the windlass, and getting things back to ship shape we settled in for a bumpy night. It was one in the morning.

In the morning, the boat that blocked us the night before left, and we promptly took their spot. Much better. Perfectly protected little bay surrounded by very fancy looking small houses. Flat water. Sunny and windless day. We were much happier and started making water, doing laundry and generating power. After noon, and giving the boat a good wash, Matt and I hiked up to the highest spot on the island. It was spectacular. A volcano, the island has a pleasing conical shape with basalt cliffs falling away to the ocean. There were olive trees all along the trails, and we had sweeping views of all of the Aeolian Islands, with snowy Mount Etna rearing up in the background. We descended back into town from our high point, and were surprised with the cleanliness and quaintness of the village. Probably one of the cooler spots we had been to so far. We had some lunch and a beer and hiked back to the boat through little lanes and past very tasteful little houses.

The rest of our Aeolian adventure was very enjoyable. We got the first taste of spring, with some calm, sunny and warm days in incredibly scenic anchorages. We spent one night in a super tight little cove, in way too much water, with terrible holding. We watched rocks rain down into the water from the unstable cliffs. We found a perfect spot on sand with cliffs and sea stacks all around. I did some baking, and we took the foil out for a rip. I climbed a small sea stack and jumped off. It was starting to feel like summer. The forecast was calling for wind, so we retreated to one of the only protected anchorages around, and hunkered down. The wind really only lasted an hour or two, but we still were happy of the security.

Matt’s time with us was drawing to a close, so we sailed the few miles over to the town of Lipari and took a berth in the marina for the night. We went out and stuffed our faces on pizza and gelato (the first we had found). We went out in the evening and enjoyed a snack and a drink. Matt packed. We left him on the dock the next morning wishing him a good trip back home (it wasn’t). Having Matt on board was great. Not only the third set of hands for the endless tasks on board, but also someone to hang out with and cruise around. We got along well, and hope he will join us on our Atlantic crossing in the fall, or at least for some clubbing in Ibiza.

Kate and I cruised out of the marina and raised sail for the Messina Strait. We got to a semi protected sandbank just after dark and dropped anchor for a few hours. As it got light, we set off through the strait, with 4 knots of current in our favor. Strange waves and boils marked our passage, before we picked up some favorable wind and began charging down the coast. The weather was wet and dark all day, and we pulled into Taormina in mid afternoon. We anchored very close to a breakwater in not enough water, and spent another night just waiting for the right wind. In the morning we left and screamed down to Catania.

One night in Catania was enjoyable. I had a chance to wash the Africa dust that comes with the rain off the boat. Matt had been kind enough to leave his bicycle, and I was excited to go for some rides. I needed gear though, and found a nice bike store near the marina that had shoes and other stuff I needed. We did a resupply shop and ate dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. Catania seemed interesting, and I would have been happy to spend a few more days exploring, but the weather window was open, and it was time to leave Italy.

Once again we were out early in the morning, and had sails out. Snowy Mount Etna revealed herself as a dramatic backdrop to our departure. The first day was a bit infuriating, as we chased tongues of winds around the ocean. It would go from 20+ to two in less than three minutes, and would spin the boat in a complete circle. Our fishing line got wrapped in the prop. We did many course and sail changes. Huge thunderstorms loomed over Mount Etna and southern Italy. Finally, in the early hours of the second day we caught some good wind, and began making miles. When this boat has its needs met, it makes miles. The weather was sunny, we made plenty of power, and everything was going well.