It might not have been one of our better decisions to leave Vieste on Wednesday 17th July to sail to another coastal town further south, but set off we did. The moderate northerly wind was no problem but the sea was still boiling from the strong winds of the previous few days and even getting out of the north facing harbour was excitement we had not bargained for.
It was a downhill sail and very fast which was a great relief to the crew who had to don the sea bands to maintain equilibrium! Trani and Bischelie, the ports we had hoped to visit were going to be untenable with the big onshore swell, so we kept going a full 55 miles to the major port of Bari. We arrived just before 7pm to a warm welcome from a private sailing club who helped us moor up on their visitors’ pontoon. We were a long way out of town, but the bikes came in handy and we enjoyed exploring the old medieval town of Bari, complete with castle, lots of churches, residential back streets and most famously the shrine and tomb of Saint Nicholas, who is, amongst other seasonal obligations, the patron saint of sailors.
On Saturday 20th July we sailed 12 miles down the coast to Mola di Bari, a smaller characterful fishing port that had been commended to us for the fresh fish being landed, traded, cooked and served straight onto your plate! The harbour was very shallow and despite going aground where the pilot and charts promised us deeper water, we made it into the small harbour and secured the penultimate berth in the Nautical Daphne Marine.
We just happened to be in Mola di Bari on the same night as a great commotion. This turned out to be the opening ceremony of the area’s ‘Games’, due to start the following day. It was like the Olympic ceremony all over again only without Danny Boyle’s input and short of a few million quid in the kitty for special effects. Despite a charming lack of organisation, several teams, led by rather good drummers and talented flag wavers, converged from various side streets on the town’s central square. We were royally entertained along with what seemed like thousands of others spectators. After enough of the festivities we fetched up in a fish restaurant alongside the fish market to enjoy the day’s catch. Nigel devoured an octopus and Mo enjoyed a Spingola, or sea bass.
Back to Bari, we are now moored in the Marina Ranieri as we are leaving the boat here to take a bus to Naples to meet up for a day with nephew Nick, his wife Maria and children Elin and Mia, who are spending a few weeks with Maria’s family in the town she grew up in.
Deja Vu 
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