Running Bear, Swan 58 Castellammare del Golfo, Sicilty – Caliari, Sardinia, Ausust ’24
Just as we’re about to sail into the Slijkgat returning from Ramsgate to Numansdorp, I got a message from Peter: “Hey, any chance you’re free this week to help me sail my boat from Sicily to Sardinia?”
Friday, August 23rd; Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily
Yesterday, I arrived in Palermo. A few years ago, I was supposed to deliver his previous boat from Almería, Spain, to Hamble, UK, but that trip got cut short in A Coruña when the gearbox gave out. The first part of that journey—up to Gibraltar—we had sailed together.
Originally, Peter planned to do this crossing with some friends, but they bailed. I felt honored (and a little proud) that he thought of asking me instead.
This morning, we set off at 7:30. This boat is something else—super special and quite different from what I’m used to. That’s why I preferred to leave in daylight rather than head out last night in the dark. We made good use of that extra time with a safety briefing.
The departure went smoothly. Everything is fairly intuitive, but the deck layout is a bit unique—there are 12 winches on deck, including a coffee grinder for the genoa sheet. Not your average setup!
For now, there’s not much wind, so we’re motorsailing, waiting for a better angle to start sailing. The weather’s gorgeous, and this part of Sicily is absolutely stunning.
Saturday, August 24 – Position 38:33.403N 10:23.228E
Around 9 AM yesterday, the wind finally picked up, and we had an amazing day of sailing. With all sails up and 10-12 knots of wind on a broad reach, we cruised along at an average of 7 knots. The weather was perfect—not too hot, as long as you stayed in the shade.
The night was just as incredible. In the late afternoon, the sun dipped behind the genoa, so we folded away the bimini. That gave us a stunning view of the stars and, later, the moon.
The forecast said the wind would die completely in the evening, and sure enough, it did. So, we had to start the engine—not a bad thing, since the batteries needed charging anyway.
I took some photos and was surprised to see way more stars in the pictures than I could with the naked eye. The sea was like glass, which made it easy to hold my phone steady.
If the forecast holds, the wind should pick up again in a few hours, and we’ll be sailing once more. With just under 100 nautical miles to go, we should arrive around 10 PM tonight at San Pietro, a little island southwest of Sardinia. On the east side is Carloforte, where Peter found a marina to keep the boat for now.
The sea temperature is now over 2 degrees warmer than the air. Normally, you’d keep an eye on the barometer—if it drops fast, bad weather is coming. But here, you also need to watch the air temperature. If it suddenly drops compared to the water temp, it’s a sign that a medicane is brewing.
Sunday, August 25 – Marina di Carloforte, Isola di San Pietro, Sardinia
So yeah… 10 PM didn’t happen. We had great sailing conditions all day, just enough wind to keep the asymmetric spinnaker up, but the wind direction wasn’t ideal. In the end, we arrived Sunday morning, just as the sun was rising.
Still, it was an awesome sail, and since my flight wasn’t until 3:25 PM, there was no rush.
Packing up the boat and my stuff took no time at all. I only had a small bag for the trip, so within an hour, we were all set.
At 10:00 AM, the ferry to mainland Sardinia left, so I hopped on. Sleeping for another hour first felt kind of pointless anyway. On the other side, a shuttle bus to the airport was waiting. I managed to get on, and by noon, I was at Cagliari Airport.
Now, just a flight to Prague, then Frankfurt, and finally Amsterdam. No big deal—I’m more than used to flying by now.
