Week 3 - Here we go again?

Red is NOT good!

0425hrs, Dublin airport, Terminal 1 on Tuesday 24th January, it is surprisingly and thankfully quiet. A late call on the weather in southern Italy has meant I am taking a “punt” and just getting back out there. As my Dad always used tom say, “better looking at it than looking for it”, so here I am.

It has been 10 days since I flew home back to Ireland, full of the “coulda, shoulda, woulda’s”, some disappointment, but comfortable with the decision making process, which as it turned out was 100% correct.

50knots of wind ripped through southern Italy and a few 30-40knot pokes in the last 10days. As I am constantly being told and I consistently relay to others, the Mediterranean in the winter is no pussycat! We have to try and make small gains. The likelihood of finishing this trip in one shot was, well it was highly unlikely!

It actually turned out to be a very productive and useful 10 days at home.

One of the triggers (along with the weather forecast) for heading home, was receiving the sad news about the death of someone very dear to my wife Dee. Upon reaching home, it was a quick wash and change and a drive down to her family home in Wexford for the funeraL.

Dennis pretending he is a rug needing packed too for Italy!

It also gave me the opportunity to retrieve a 35kg parcel that I sent to Croatia in early December. The idea being that it would be placed on board for my arrival in January. For reasons as yet unknown, the box arrived back in the Wexford home on 12th January!!

So I now have 2 x 20kg hold-alls getting loaded onto my Ryanair flight to Milan. No transfers with Ryanair of course, so it will be another check in with them at Milan (during the 4 hour layover) for the flight to Brindisi - oh the glamour of it all!

Carving and Marking for MacMac

Once back home up north, I finally received the carving and marking note to complete from LA Marine, who were organising the yachts registration, change of home port and name for me. The Carving & Marking Note confirms the vessel's name and port of registry and the vessel's unique registration number known as the 'official number' and, in our case, also the tonnage. Once I signed and returned the note, I received all the official new documentation for MacMac within 48hours. Another box ticked!

This in turn meant that I needed to go visit my friend Simon Mooney from Mooney Media Ltd who had agreed to produce the required signage that I needed for the MacMac name and home port, which was now a legal requirement to display. Design agreed and produced, I added another job to the list.

0230 in Banbridge, Tuesday 24th January, Zacc arrived from Belfast to drop me at Dublin airport for an 0600 flight to Milan. Front door to the bag drop with 2 x 20kg bags, 10kg cabin back and my computer case, I was through security at at gate 203 within 15 minutes (could have had another hour in bed. I had forgotten how great it was in airports in January. No tourists!!!

Crossing the English Channel, I could see (or could not see) France, as there was a huge cloud inversion covering the entire country all the way to the Alps. It really was spectacular and when the Alps popped up, it really was a sight tom take your breath away. I hadn’t realised how large an area the Alps covered as we flew over it for quite some time!

I had a 4 hour lay-over in Milan, so time to kill. However the queue for security looked like everyone was heading home from Milan Fashion week. Never in my life I have felt so inappropriately dressed and “tramp-like”. Getting on the plane to Brindisi, a guy sat beside me who I thought had come straight off the catwalk. Those Italians knew their style for sure!

Carravagio - Milan Airport

The runway is right beside the marina in Brindisi and as we came into land I could see MacMac waiting for me. I grabbed a taxi outside for the short 10 minute drive. I decided to ask the driver (using iTranslate) if he could stop at the supermercato. With my prepared list I whipped round in no time at all and emerged with two HUGE bags of shopping. Next stop the Marina.

Well feck me, the next 30 minutes nearly killed me. I may have mentioned the Marina is like a ghost town - totally deserted. Not only of people, but of bloody trolleys too!! I’d say it was a good 1/2 kilometre from the gates to MacMac. I’m standing like a lug with my 2 x 20kg bags, my 10kg cabin bag, my computer bad AND two enormous bags of shopping. How the hell could I manage this?

I started a relay to get me to the head of the pontoon. There were eight lampposts between me and salvation (yes I counted them). 2 bags to the next lamppost, back, pick up two more, lift the original two and move to the next one (you get my drift?). Once at the head of the pontoon, two lifts would see me home. All I had to do was carry all the gear across the passarelle (plank) and start stowing.

As I lay on the deck, panting like a big dog on a hot day, I started to look around for the nearest AED. I was totally bolloxed I don’t mind saying.

Mark wouldn’t be returning until Thursday afternoon, so after packing everything away and giving the boat the once over, I started on my list of jobs! Following a hearty feed of a family bag of M&M’s I continued to work until midnight, when tiredness hit me like a brick wall - sure I had been on the for for 22 hours - no wonder.

I had the alarm set for 0700, but I didn’t need it. The rain started lashing down about 0600. The a dry spell and a piece to camera!

With around 15 below decks tasks completed on Wednesday, Thursday borough a dry start, so I set about removing all the old “Gigondas” names from the stern and boom. Hoping to get the new MacMac names put on before Marks arrival. Of course it bloody rained again in the middle of it all, but I persevered until all trace was gone and at least the surfaces were ready for when it was dry.

Mark arrived at 1400 and with a little over 2 hours of light left before darkness, we prepped the boat for more or less immediate departure. We said our goodbyes and moved MacMac about 100metres to the fuel berth. 118litres of fuel cost €247. No such thing as red or marine diesel here - that was a shock I can tell you. Not often fuel at home is cheaper!!

On this occasion, rain did stop play (along with the squalls) so we decided to get up at 0530 and depart then after a good nights sleep - with hindsight - a good call!

After a delicious breakfast of Honey Nut Loops and coffee. we slipped the quay just after 0630, not a puff of wind.

Clearing the harbour entrance, we had a 2 mile sail along a traffic separation channel before we could set our course to the south - so we made another Mark and Mac chat video!

So that’s us on our way (again). Catch up again next week.