Velsheda

Our departure timing for the crossing to Sicily was inspired as once we had cleared the islands, we enjoyed a fabulous reach in over 15 knots of wind with full main and jib, cracking along at over 7 knots for 24 hours apart from a lull for a couple of hours in the night which required the engine. At one stage our speed was such that our arrival time in Marzamemi was predicted as the day before our lunch time planned arrival. It did however present some challenges, bowling along on our ear, when it came to preparing the evening Chilli but it turned out okay (nicely hot Bob) with most of it in the bowls.

Dave taking a nap off watch. Good speed under sail !

While off watch at about midnight, Dave called me up with some concerns about a vessel whose lights were visible but had only just ā€˜popped upā€™ on AIS and it was looking like a close encounter. As I emerged and started to take stock of the situation, an American voice came over the radio calling us and asking our intentions. We were motoring by this stage and had no preferential rights. It was the superyacht ā€˜Lady Eā€™. She was 230ft long motoring along at 13 knots and towing a tender. I agreed to change course and pointed out that his AIS data stated that he was anchored. He thanked me and steamed on correcting his status immediately. This punctuation prompted a review of the wind and we were soon sailing again.

Lady-EĀ  (pictureĀ  taken from the internet) She was on passage to Cephalonia and only just turned on their AIS as theyĀ  closed on us. The data still showed them at anchor!

In the early hours, the nearest land was over 75 miles away and the horizon was completely free of any light pollution. The clear sky was an absolute carpet of millions of faint stars; a sight denied us in our urban environment and an awe inspiring treat.

All night there had only been one sailing vessel visible on AIS. It was converging from the south clearly heading for the Strait of Messina and she was the legendary 131 foot long Velsheda, bound for Palma de Mallorca. She must be the most famous yacht sailing today. She is the elegant ā€˜Jā€™ class Americas Cup yacht from the 1930ā€™s, still active in the classic regattas. Unfortunately, she had passed in front of us, out of sight by the time dawn arrived and we were denied a memorable sight of a ā€˜Jā€™ class under sail.

Velsheda (picture taken from the internet)

How can you lose a pair of glasses on a small yacht? Well I have. They are the rather ugly black rimmed prescription reactive pair that are quite old (and out of date in more ways than one) but they do a job and I feel lost without them. I have a habit of pushing them onto the top of my head when doing something close up and I wonder if I left them there and despite the retaining cord at the back of my neck, they blew off and overboard in the wind without me realising as I moved around the yacht. Hopefully, they will turn up.

As expected, on our second day at sea, the wind died away at midday and the engine had to help our progress, we gave up on the sails at 1700 when they began to ā€˜slatā€™. We had enjoyed 24 hours of great sailing and made excellent speed ahead of our schedule. We can now potter through the night arriving at Marzamemi as the marina staff start their day. We have booked a berth which is reassuring although the marina in Valletta would not take a booking and we are advised to contact them the day before our arrival in Malta. Given our Greek and Croatian experiences, it may be prudent to time our arrival for after the Charter fleets have dispersed.

We expect the water supply in Sicily to be of a better quality and greater abundance than in the Greek islands but we continued to put the water maker through its paces and, not having filled since Dubrovnik with Bob, we approach with 1 Ā¾ full tanks of water. I may replace this old unit before the next trans-At as at 5 litres an hour it is painfully slow and I believe that more modern units can be a lot more productive ā€“ and probably more reliable.

The conical Etna volcano was visible from a distance of 60 miles which just shows how massive it is and how good visibility was.

4 thoughts on “Velsheda

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  1. Hi Nick, sounds like you are having a great summer cruise! Just for info, we have been very happy with our Dessalator water maker, ours is the 100L/Hr unit ( three tubes ) but can be had as a 30, 60, or 100 L/Hr. We run it when motoring or have the generator on. It is a modular unit so it is easier to find space for the gubbins! When are you going transat again? We will cross from the canaries in November/December then transit Panama in February 2020

    1. Thanks for your message and info Rob. Crikey, your watermaker produces at 20 times the rate of mine! I have been in touch with Jim at Mactra who helped me with my former issues and I will meet up with him at the Soton show in September to discuss. I am looking to go across again in 20/21 then go north to take in Bahamas, Florida and some of the Intra Coastal and east coast. I was wondering where you were as I thought you had intended going across in company with the Shards on ‘Distant Shores’ at the end of last year. I imagine the late delivery of Kered must have set you back.

  2. Sounds as though you are having a great time Nick.
    Hope the sailing continues with no issues!!!!!
    The Dutch are coming on Monday I am really lo oking forward to seeing them
    Love Pat xx

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