Adriatic Cruise - Chris's Journey Aboard Common Sense

Terry and Carol have kindly welcomed me into their life on the boat 'Common Sense' and it’s been a truly wonderful experience. I will cherish the fond memories of exploring the streets of Otranto, Brindisi and Monopoli, sharing meals on the boat, shopping for local food, finding hidden treasures just around the corner and so much more. Thank you for allowing me to photograph every food experience before we bought it, prepared it, and ate it, so that I could continue my Italy food blog. Mostly I just enjoyed their lovely relaxed company. Thank you both so much.
This is my experience of life on their boat sailing in the Adriatic Sea.

Sunday 21st September - Sailing from Otranto to Brindisi

 Up at 730, brekkie, pack up, check out with Guardia Costiera who really were not interested.

Set off at 9:00.  It’s a very calm flat day and we had to motor all the way as there was not enough wind for sailing. Common Sense needs about 15 knots to sail by itself. Today we have got minimal sail up just to assist in stabilising the boat. It’s interesting to watch all the different size vessels pass by. Terry and Carol have this amazing chart plotter system that also provides info on position of ships, name, size, what type of vessel, cargo, coordinates, where they are heading to and all contact details, a radar detects all small craft and the automatic pilot steered us all the way to Brindisi complete with ETA.

We had tea and chocolate topped digestive biscuits (Carol's favourite) on the way. After a couple of hours of motoring, still no wind we have a simple lunch of salad, bread and chicken on the deck and afterwards we all snoozed, read and updated our emails etc.  It was calm, warm and an easy, pleasant trip. We arrived at Brindisi marina at about 400pm about 7 hours of motoring.

Settled in at the Brindisi marina, had a real shower and then Terry's famous 'chicken stew' served with croutons spread with truffle paste. On the morning before setting off on a long sail Terry prepares some chicken pieces, lots of carrot, celery and onion, it all goes into the pressure cooker for about 10 minutes and then rests in the sink covered by a towel. It's ready to eat after a long day at sea mmmmm food for the soul.

Monday 22nd - Brindisi Marina

I'm in heaven waking up to the sound of water gently lapping on the side of the boat. It's quiet here apart from the occasional plane flying over, a speed boat passing by. It's a hot steamy morning looking out over the glassy water and there’s not a breath of wind.  The silence is broken with the sounds of Jimmy Buffet playing in the background while we chat and have brekkie on the deck.

Trip to the shops in Brindisi

Terry is busy hooking up the dinghy to winch it from the deck and down into the water. The heavy outboard motor is carefully manoeuvred down and Carol secures it to the dingy ready for our trip into Brindisi. It's the equivalent to getting into the car to go the shops, same but very different. Everything is harder and takes much longer on a boat. We putter out of the marina past the castle on the point, two large Grimaldi liners are docked amongst the cargo ships and we go past a UN distribution depot. The wake of passing boats gently rocks us. We pull up on a small jetty near three large tugs which become a familiar sight constantly going in and out of port several times a day.  We set off looking for a sign to the Centro. An old lady waves us in the direction 'dritto, dritto' straight ahead.

 The smell of bread baking draws us into a little bakery where we purchase some pane, panini and some little baked olive snacks. Across the road Carol is getting some peaches, an avocado, tomatoes, and she is carrying a large bunch of pale asparagus mmmmm I am thinking ahead maybe some pine nuts to go with that. The streets are narrow, dirty and run down we avoid walking under some of the shutters and balconies, they look like they could fall down at any minute. We look up at some beautiful old stone carvings set high up on a corner of an old building. The ornate rusted balconies look stunning against the old stone, there are the occasional bits of greenery, these are much sparser than the abundance of greenery in the north of Italy in Spoleto.

We go into a little 'enoteca' and Terry buys some salami and prosciutto while Carol and I practise our Italian and ask for some fresh pasta.  Packets of orecchiette and other pasta are brought out to us, pale, mixed sizes and shapes, wholemeal, organic, flecked. Terry in the background 'not that wholemeal s.....' . Some fresh ricotta and other cheeses of different consistencies, goat or cow’s milk, we decide to try the goat ricotta . The lovely friendly shopkeepers help us and another customer joins in with the Italian/English interaction and after a few photos we leave. The Italians are encouraging and helpful in our attempts to converse with them in their own language; equally some like to practise their English. There are still many that don't speak English and my limited Italian has been useful. I will continue my classes back home.

We stop in at the Farmacia to buy some fish oil and we get some directions to the Vodafone  shop. Finally we find it at 1.10pm and it has just closed for siesta time, in Italy everything bar a few cafés close between 1:00pm and 4:30pm for siesta. It can be quite frustrating when you are trying to sort something out.

We are getting hungry and decide to head back to the boat to have some of the yummy food we have bought for lunch. Not before one more stop at the Conad supermercato to pick up some radicchio, Parmigiana and I found some All Bran!

We wind our way back to the waterfront through the narrow little streets. Then into the trusty dinghy and we chug past the ships, some large tugs follow us on their way out to pick up a ship. Lunch on the deck with Dreher lemon beer, my new favourite drink. It's the perfect refreshing low alcohol drink, it would go down well in Australia.

Lunch:

Radicchio salad with avocado, capsicum and ripe Roma tomatoes.

Goats cheese ricotta.
Prosciutto and salami
Crusty bread drizzled with local peppery EVOO.

Sounds of Afternoon siesta.

It's quiet here. The water gently laps on the side of the boat. I love the clinking sounds of boats, masts swaying and creaking, mooring ropes squeaking and straining against the jetty, I lie here listening to the sounds of a marina full of boats and settle into the soothing and gentle rocking of the boat. Turkish towels pegged above us to stop the afternoon sun sneaking into the siesta space on the deck.  Occasionally I hear a voice reminding me that I'm in Italy, a young girl calling out 'bella', a man in the distance calling out sailing instructions in Italian, his pupils in their small yachts trail behind him linked to each other in a line. It's bliss!

Carol’s washing is turning into an all day affair with both the washing machine and dryer taking hours! I see Carol's ever calm demeanour where nothing is a problem.

After drinks in the marina bar we head back to the boat. A few drops of rain and more expected tonight. I cooked for the first time on the boat in the very compact but well equipped kitchen. Everything has its place there are little cupboards in every possible space, a fridge space, several pantry nooks brimming with supplies, a pot cupboard, cutlery, crockery even a garage with every possible tool, nuts and bolts you name it they are prepared for anything. The emergency life raft and supplies sits under the table. There are gas detectors....everything clips shut so there are no loose bits and pieces floating. Another new cooking experience that requires some efficient use of space and utensils

Dinner

 Fresh pasta with truffle paste (from truffle hunt near Citta di Castella) and parmigiana  

Asparagus  drizzled with truffle infused balsamic  sprinkled with toasted pine nuts and shaved parmigiana.  

Tuesday 23rd

5:00 am. Woke early this morning to the sounds of a wind change, wind had picked up through the night and there was some banging and unfamiliar noises. Terry and Carol were up in a flash and realised that their boat had been pushed back from the front mooring line (lazy line) and was now drifting back into the jetty. They worked hard to secure the boat, a marina person helped and another experienced yachtie came on board to help. After lots of winching and tying down of ropes in 40 knot ++ winds with gusts of 46-50 knots they finally managed to secure the boat. Lots of other boats around us were also having problems. These winds were not forecast and caught people unawares. This weather will pass around 11:00am to 1:00pm today, the rest of the week is forecast for light winds.
This really is something else sitting in and feeling the brunt of every wind gust, it certainly heightens your awareness! Banging, clanging, straining ropes and the wind whistles as it pushes boats and masts around. This is new experience that I haven't been aware of when comfortably surrounded by four walls in a secure home.
We spend the day reading and sleeping until the wind passes.

This evening we bus it into the town centre with a couple of recommendations of where to eat. In typical Italian fashion the city and shops come to life at 4:30. Passagiatta is in full swing, Brindisi is a lovely city, lots of interesting old buildings, a palm lined town harbour where yachts can moor placing them right in the centre of the city. Lots of interesting little alleys and enotecas and great shops too.

We find the lovely little Italian fish trattoria Siamo Fritto in the piazza Mercato, looks great, we decide to eat there. And what a treat it is, so much to choose from. We order some beer, half a litre of rose and with it comes the complimentary bread and olive taralli biscuits.
We have some delicious marinated anchovies drizzled with lovely green EVOO and a touch of pesto, the dressing begs to be mopped up with some crusty bread. Then some crispy fried calamari followed by a seafood risotto which has my undivided attention as I wade through the tasty sticky rice clinging to the mussels and prawns. Terry has pasta with tuna and tomato. We all finish with a cleansing limone sorbet and I can't resist a glass of limoncello. All up this cost us approximately 21 euros each (about $30).

Our bus driver is obviously in a big hurry to get home, he races through the streets and doesn't have time to take our fares, just waves us off the bus.

Wednesday 24th - Brindisi

We dinghy into Brindisi, this time we moored right on the central town dock placing us close to everything.
Shopping - we sample and buy some local fresh cheese, baked bread and a few supplies. Terry's shopping list is 'lollies, chips and hot salami', I suggest 'fruit and veges'. This stirring of the dietitian continues. I suggest a chickpea and tuna salad for dinner, Terry says sausages or pork chops. 

Sitting in Piazza Cairoli waiting to meet Terry and Carol I have an unbelievably creamy and delicious amarello gelato, another heavenly food experience. 

We visited a few historical sites including the Palazzo Granafei where we stumbled across an amazing photographic exhibition by Salvatore Valente. His stunning photographs were of scenery, portraits and of people from all over the world.  Keryn's motto of 'take 3 more steps' paid off once again with this unexpected discovery.

It is siesta time and the city closes down. We find a little bar to have a snack.
Mini tomato and mozzarella pizza and a lemon beer.
Two old Italian men sit at the table next to us, chatting, smoking, sipping an espresso and they eat some kind of cream filled pastry. I watch them thinking I must try one of these.
After asking 'che cosa il dolce gli uomini mangiare'  (what are these men eating) I am served a  brioche like cornetto filled with creamy custard dotted with dark liqueur soaked raisins that oozed out with every heavenly bite I took. OMG how am I going to survive when I have to curb my eating heaven.

It's now 4:30 and the city is coming to life again. We stop in at a little jewellery shop that keeps drawing us in. They have these lovely necklaces with little Puglia dolls typical of the area. Carol and I can't resist making a purchase. We then head back to the boat on our dinghy.

Back on the boat Carol and I snack on the local cheese and taralli biscuits that we bought along with a glass of Greek rose left over from Terry and Carol's time in Greece.  It has that typical retsina flavour which is a bit of a shock after the Italian rose however a few sips later I am not even noticing it. I prepare one of my versions of chick pea salad for dinner.

Tuna in oil, chick peas, olives, cherry tomatoes, blanched green beans, rucola, quartered eggs and dressed with EVOO and lemon juice.

Thursday 25th - leaving Brindisi for Monopoly

Up at seven for an early start. Over brekkie and checking the weather report we see storm warnings forecast for later today and strong winds settling in for the next couple of days.
The plan was to get to Bari in two legs with a stop in Monopoli. Each leg is about a 6-7 hour day sail.
I need to be in Bari in 3 days to catch my train to Milan and Terry and Carol are picking up another friend in Bari the day after I leave.
Terry is reluctant to sail today with the storm warning so it looks like we're stuck in Brindisi for a few days with the back up plan for me to train it to Bari if needed.
Terry checks in with the marina staff and another local experienced sailor who suggests that today is our window of opportunity to make a move before the strong winds set in.
A decision is made - we pack up and set off for Monopoli and hopefully we beat the storm.

It's calm, cool but not cold, and overcast as we sail out of the marina and through the ever busy port of Brindisi. A large Grimaldi ship is coming in followed by a rescue ship, military aircraft fly overhead, tiny fishing boats dot the harbour and we plot our way to Monopoli. Onto auto pilot, after a while there is enough wind to partly put up the genoa and main to help us along, though not enough wind to sail independently. The boat needs about 14 knots of wind to get it moving and are currently getting about 5-6 knots. We are travelling at about 6.7 knots with a combination of wind and motor. It's calm and flat and no sign of any storm.

All along the coast there are settlements, pockets of Greek style white buildings, probably beachside holiday towns.  Plumes of smoke dot the landscape all the way from Brindisi. It is the season for burning off and cleaning up of the olive groves. I also saw this from the train as I was travelling down to Brindisi from Lecce.

Sailing/motoring like this is very relaxing, I write my blog, do Facebook, Carol reads and draws, we have morning tea and then lunch (left over tuna and chickpea salad) and there's time to chat and snooze. We arrive in Monopoli at 3:00pm. 

The end of my holiday is getting closer and I will be sad to leave this idyllic lifestyle, however I have two precious friends and some wonderful memories to look back on. 

Thank you