⛵ Santa Maria di Leuca 🇮🇹 to Isola Filicudi (Aeolian Islands) 🇮🇹

This passage started gently enough but became more involved than planned. It was a good learning experience for solo sailing.

The first day brought light winds along Italy’s southern coast, requiring frequent sail changes between the asymmetric spinnaker and the conventional genoa and main setup.

Passing Capo Colonna during the first night, I encountered proper ocean swell for the first time - long 2-meter rollers from the south. This felt quite different from the shorter waves typical in the Adriatic.

I had planned to transit the Strait of Messina, which has a reputation for difficult conditions due to currents and commercial traffic. To arrive during daylight, I used techniques like poling out the genoa and sailing wing-on-wing to maintain speed in light air.

Entering the strait, I called “Messina Traffic” on VHF but got no response. The wind built from 15 to 25 knots, which helped pushing me through. I stayed close to the right side to avoid the heavy commercial traffic.

Exiting the strait, the wind increased to over 40 knots. Getting a second reef in while maintaining course along Sicily’s coast proved challenging - the alternative was being blown north into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

I sailed through the night and found shelter in a bay on Isola Filicudi’s south side the next morning.

Weather Conditions

• Wind: Light northeast before Messina, then strong south winds 25-40+ knots during and after the strait
• Seas: Mixed conditions - from gentle 2m ocean swell to challenging steep waves in 40+ knot winds
• Weather: Foggy on the first day, then sunny but increasingly windy

Navigation

• Departure: Anchorage near Santa Maria di Leuca, Italy
• Arrival: Bay south of Pecorini on Isola Filicudi, Sicily
• Distance: 284 nautical miles (about 526 kilometers)
• Duration: 2.5 days

Technical Notes

• Lower shrouds worked loose in the rough conditions
• Boom kicker preventing proper mainsail trim
• Mainsheet traveler failed
• Staysail tweaker lines needed better setup
• Would have been useful to have the trysail properly rigged
• Italian authorities visited twice with RIBs, asking what flag the boat was under. I then put up the German flag

Highlights

• First experience with proper ocean swell
• Successfully transited the Strait of Messina
• Encountered the strong currents the strait is known for
• Handled 40+ knot winds for the first time
• Gained confidence in managing changing conditions alone

Photos

Experiencing my first real ocean swell - 2m rollers from the south that gave me the feeling of being on a truly vast body of water

Leech Flutter in 40 knot gusts

Happy survivor of the Messina Strait — Auto-generated track key: 20250309 | GPS track: 20250309.geojson