ADVENTURE SAILING WITH VOLCANOES
Head for the volcano!’ This terse instruction to my partner Richard as I handed him the helm and switched off the autopilot on discovering a failed alternator, both amused and alarmed new sailor Steve, whose learning curve on his first night at sea was nothing if not steep. It was 0100 and we were experiencing one of the most awesome sights of our entire trip from Sardinia to Venice – motoring past the Sciara del Fuoco – the steady eruption and lava stream from Stromboli glowing in the night in the Lipari Islands just north of Sicily.
The arrival of my 65th birthday had prompted us to move my Sigma 362 Such Stuff to pastures new after 10 seasons based in Alghero, Sardinia. When your boat is based in Italy, the destination at the top of any bucket list has to be Venice, traditionally known as La Serenissima. We allowed nine weeks for the 1,300-mile trip, and invited friends and family along for various legs of the voyage, which ended with a family reunion in Venice.
FINAL PREPARATIONS
There was little evidence of wind in the forecast for our 24-hour passage from ’s berth at Portisco, where I
