After three days of chilling and sightseeing in Palermo I get back on the water. I can’t wait to finally get to the west coast – it’s supposed to be the most beautiful part of the coastline, at the same time the most exposed to wind and swell. The weather had been kind to me for the first two weeks, but now it seems to unleash it’s winter potential, bringing one storm after another. It seems I have three days of acceptable weather to get the Trapani before I get stuck again with gale force winds.
Even though it’s still fine to paddle, the wind is coming from the south, blowing offshore for next few days. They guys are not sure how situation around the cape will look like and if I manage to push through: with an offshore wind there is always s risk of being blown out into the sea which, lets face it, is not high on my bucket list.
The beautiful landscape makes the paddling so much more enjoyable and in the beginning I even get some tailwind pushing me gently. But as I go around Capo Rama I turn straight into strong headwind which makes me think if it’s worth it to battle it for several hours…I finally decide that it is, since it will majorly reduce the distance for the following day. For the next two hours I consequently fight against force 5-6 winds until I get to the bottom of the bay, now following the beach, slowly making my way towards my camp spot. I land, I get out and look around the place. I don’t like it: it’s not the cleanest, it smells, just doesn’t feel right. It’s also the weekend and I would not want to have unexpected guest in the middle of the night.
I sit on the rocks next to my boat, thinking what to do next as I watch the sun go down. The closest spot that I know of, that will be good for camping, is 10km away, maybe less then two hours paddle.
I decide to continue, as the darkness sets in. It’s a bit calmer, the wind suddenly stopped which makes me hope to cover the distance in good time. After half an hour though, it picks up again – I know from the forecast it will eventually start blowing stronger then during the day. Paddling for the next hour and a half, in strong offshore wind and darkness doesn’t seem like a great idea.
Thankfully, Hodei is already on it, looking for an alternative for me, closer to where I am now. He finds a room right next to the beach, where I can stop for the night. I finally land using my headlamp to navigate between the rocks on the shore. I already miss my tent life but I’m happy to have a place for the night.
The next morning is already windy and it’s supposed to get worst in the day. Because of the orography of the coastline I can expect some proper turbulences with this wind: strong gusts from random directions. My calculated distance for today is 40km, but I end up doing 44 because of how close I need to stick to the shore. Going around the corner towards San Vito lo Capo, I’m happy to be getting on my last straight – only 3km left before I reach the marina. It takes me a whole hour to get there, because of the headwind.
Roberto, the owner of the local dive shop, welcomes me on the shore – he agreed to store my kayak for the night. He also helps me find an affordable accommodation for the night since the campsites in the area are closed or expensive. Tonight I’m staying with Daniele, the local climbing business owner who also runs a guesthouse.
After last two days of fighting against the wind both of my shoulders are on fire. The red flag pops up: if I get an injury now I will be done with my circumnavigation. At the same time I have only 40km left to reach Trapani and the last day of acceptable weather. The next morning I get up before 5:00am and walk down to the marina.
I haven’t mentioned it before, but the worst part of the day for me is the packing/unpacking and carrying the boat up and down the beach. First of all it consumes a lot of time. Second of all the kayak itself weights 20kg and with its length of 525cm (and mine of 161cm) the whole scene of me carrying it looks like taken out of a sad slapstick comedy.
The boat spent the night behind the dive shop, maybe 150m away from the waterline.
- Step 1: unpack everything from the boat (all my things that I didn’t need at the guesthouse I left in the kayak)
- Step 2: carry the boat to the waterline
- Step 3: carry all the belongings to the kayak
- Step 4: pack the kayak
- Step 5: get on the water
The forecast says that I should be off the water by 1:00pm when the storm starts to creep in. I have the feeling I won’t make it to Trapani and I will have to land sooner. But it is worth trying to reduce the distance. I leave the marina heading towards the lighthouse – for me the magic line between the north cost and the west coast. I’m looking at the waves that seem a bit higher the forecasted. Slowly I move forward, my mind working like crazy in the background making calculations:
- I already have 1.5m have, with a forecast of 0.8m…
- I have force 4 headwind forecasted to pick up to force 6 gusting 7
- My shoulders are useless
- Exposed, rather rocky coastline ahead of me, will make it tricky to land with increasing wave…
Thoughts are swarming in my head. I’m not feeling it today. And I’m not sure if it’s just stupid fear or wise intuition speaking through me but I decide to turn around. I’m back in the marina after an hour on the water.
Step 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…the day is already filled with pure joy.
I text Roberto asking him to store my kayak again, and to Daniele about extending my stay.
Tom, that I’ve met the previous night at Daniele’s place, said that San Vito had this thing about it – it won’t let people leave. I guess his right – I will stay here for the next 3 days cause that’s how long the storm is supposed to last.
I get back to the guesthouse and I fall asleep for the next three hours, before I even start to think what’s next. Another 3 days on land, another 3 days off the water. I think I need to start learning Italian, just in case.
