Page 18 - SOA 108
P. 18

Lost the Plot


         before  I  did  draw  the  line  at  attacking  the  hull  with  some  form  of
         industrial grinding tool.
         At last we were ready and set off from Brighton Marina on 18 May 2019.
         A more detailed version of the preparations and trip can be found  here.
         but I pick a few highlights of our trip to whet your appetite for the sailing
         to come this year……hopefully

         “After an incident with the engine mounts we took refuge on the River
         Seille, a tributary                              of  River  Saône,  to
         develop        a  It was a magical experience    strategy  for  repair.
         Once  we  had  sailing past the Island in the    turned   off   the
         Saône        we  middle of the night, watching   entered  the  river
         proper,  through     the volcano erupt with      the  only  manual
         lock  we  came                                   across on our entire
                           molten lava flowing down its
         journey.  Whilst             sides.”             moored  up  on  the
         riverside we took                                some  time  to  relax,
         walking  in  the                                 countryside,  cycling
         into the nearby villages, using the Stand-up Paddle boards on the river,
         and taking the tender downstream to buy ice cream.”

         Engine mounts repaired we carried on through the  canals and reached
         the Med on 9th July. 2 stops at the Gulf of St Tropez and Nice gave us
         some fun family time before heading towards Italy. Wildlife encounters
         with dolphins and “bucket” turtles, unexpected stops in beautiful marinas
         and  some  astronomically  expensive  ones  led  eventually  to  landfall  in
         Greece.  Not  before  a  flashing  red  beacon  manifests  itself  as  Stromboli
         erupting!
         A malfunctioning buoy perhaps? As we get closer, there in the distance
         we  can  just  make  out  the  silhouette  of  the  volcano  and  it  becomes
         evident  that  the  strange  flashing  light  sequence  is  determined  by  the
         volcano  itself.  Each  time  the  volcano  spits  out  molten  lava  it  would
         produce a red flash.  It was a magical experience sailing past the Island in
         the  middle  of  the  night,  watching  the  volcano  erupt  with  molten  lava
         flowing down its sides.”



                                       Page 18
   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23