It took two overnight sails to get from Corfu to Italy. More accurately, to get to Reggio Calabria, where we intended to check in. Before we get into that story, here is a picture of the sun peeking through the clouds on my 2:00-8:00 a.m. watch:

We’d already hoisted the Italian flag next to the Women Who Sail the Med pennant:

And now, back to our story.

We hailed the Reggio Calabria port authority numerous times before they finally answered. After talking for some time, it was clear that we needed to go to a marina to check into the country. So, we moved a bit farther down the coast and called (on the phone) the marina, as advised. They answered and told us they didn’t speak English and we should WhatsApp them. So we did. Then we waited. Then they told us that they didn’t have room for us and suggested another marina. So we called them. They answered and told us they didn’t speak English and we should WhatsApp them. So we did. Then we waited. An hour had passed by this time and we decided to head out and check in at Salerno instead. It was our next stop, anyway, and a Port of Entry. So we did.

After we’d been underway for about 10-15 minutes, the initial marina contacted us to tell us that they now had a space for us. But we were done with Reggio Calabria by that time. LOL!

The story doesn’t end there, though, my friends.

We got to Salerno and found a good anchorage right near the town. It’s open to the wind on most sides and there is rather large swell from time to time, but the anchor is seriously dug in in 10 feet of water, so we are okay. We are about 200 meters away from the dark sand beach, which also happens to have a beach bar right next to it. Nice. This is the view from Seahike, looking towards the beach and vice versa:

Back to checking in.

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