Matt left us on Friday to return to Malta. We had a day sightseeing with John and Cathy (Locorotondo with its ivory stone paving and white buildings) and Alberobello to see the amazing Trulli houses) before they left on Saturday morning and we had a morning for laundry, shopping and cleaning before Andy, Doug and David arrived at lunchtime for leg 2 to Zadar. Only time for a quick tour around Bari (capital of Puglia) particularly the (slightly edgy) medieval labyrinth with numerous churches including the Basilica di San Nicola housing (apparently) the relics of Father Christmas. Time also for a great lunch opposite Castello Svevo, a wonderful combination of Roman, Norman and medieval construction. We could not leave on Saturday night as I was certain Helen would want to watch the Champions League final. We found a bar with the game on tv (not too difficult as probably every bar in town was showing the game) and serving pizza (although I think the chef was also watching the game as the pizzas took a couple of hours to arrive - we had to make do with beer, wine and nibbles). The atmosphere was extraordinary - every kid in the town was either a Juve supporter or if not, prepared to support anyone but Juve and they were all in the bar having pizza and drinking red bull or equivalent it seemed to keep their energy levels (and noise) up. A goal resulted in deafening celebrations, tops off (all football strips of course) and either standing on the chairs/tables or running around the bar area and into the street. Wild.

Great start to the summer. best wishes Iain (Mingus) and Helen

the start of the via appia

Santa Maria di Leuca is a useful overnight stop but sadly the cost cutting in Italy seems to be resulting in deterioration in parks, monuments etc. John and Cathy climbed Mussolini’s steps but sadly weeds and shrubs are now appearing and much litter. We had another good day’s sailing on Wednesday heading up the east coast and the day’s sightings included a turtle, a sunfish and shearwaters (not sure on details!). But not a successful day fishing - Matt lost two lures! Despite having a very neat bungee system to absorb the shock load. (we should have a good rod and reel - will add to the “buy” list). Stopped Wed night in Brindisi on the town quay and walked up the steps leading to the Via Appia and the famous Roman column (only one remains as apparently they gave one away to a neighbouring town in return for its help in a plague). Interesting to think of the many great figures in Rome’s history who travelled through Brindisi. Wonderful restaurant recommended by the marinero (we felt we deserved a treat having made such good progress). The wind deserted us on the last day of this leg and we motored most of the way to Bari. Only a few dolphins sighted and we caught no more fish. However as it was a quiet day, we did repair the aft toilet (a top priority). We thought we’d solved another of John’s puzzles but our solution didn’t pass the scrutiny of the judge.

Also seemed to be a good area for fishing - Matt lost a lure with 11kg breaking load! - and we saw more dolphins. Arrived Crotone 1810 Monday and met up with crew of Escapade who we’d seen in Siracusa (Will and Kate are friends of Barry and Kath, skiing/sailing friends of ours, who have just crossed from Bermuda to the Azores). The sailing world is well connected! From Crotone we set off Tuesday 0600 planning to day sail around heel of Italy as after two overnight sails we were ahead of schedule. Breeze arrived mid morning and we had a great sail and a successful day’s fishing. Matt caught ALMA’s first ever tuna - fresh sashimi and tuna steaks for lunch. More dolphins and our first ever sighting of a whale! Even solved one of John’s brain teasers (keeps us all occupied on a long sail!). Great day.

the one that did not get away

We arrived off Siracusa early Sunday morning and as Siracusa is such a very special place we made a small diversion to let John and Cathy have a couple of hours ashore to see the old centre of Ortigia and especially the Duomo and the Church of Santa Lucia with Caravaggio’s wonderful painting of her burial. Continuing on our way we made the crossing to the foot of Italy - a very busy shipping area with boats heading into and coming from the Messina Straits as well as travelling along the coast to/from the Adriatic. Quite a few course alterations required to keep us clear (our Rules of the Road are to try and stay well out of everyone else’s way!). As well as the normal cargo ships, ferries, fishing boats and passenger liners, we had a submarine and a warship for company in this area - probably there because of the G7 summit at Taormina.

ALMA TRAVELS 2017 Destination Croatia. We planned to leave a little later this year for our summer cruise - partly to allow more time to get both the boat and ourselves ready but also to ensure the weather had settled for the summer. Last year our first week had been wet, cold and windy! So on Saturday 27th May, John and Cathy arrived late morning from the UK and after a few hours sightseeing, with Matt also on board, we set off late afternoon for Bari. We had a good overnight crossing of the Malta channel (much of it motoring but some sailing in a light breeze) and the only event of note was a pod of dolphins suddenly “torpedoing” the boat and surprising John! Quite a surprise when sailing quietly along to suddenly have a lot of splashing around the boat!