A Tangled trip to Elba

Having made the decision to return to Florence sometime out of season we were also sure that Viareggio was too far north to spend the winter and so it was time to head south again. We had no desire to return to Livorno and beause the other harbours along that stretch of coast are all too shallow for La Premiere's keel we chose to sail straight back to Elba. Quite a large hop for us but with an OK forecast we made an early start hoping to make the 66 mile trip in daylight. As the sun rose we left the harbour in a flat calm, jumpers and oilys at the ready. For a while there was no hope of sailing but we eventually unfurled the jib to assist the engine and once Giblet had given up on Chris' lap and headed below we were able to get the main up too.

For three hours we had another beautiful sail, flat sea, an increasingly warm sunshine one reef in the main and close hauled. We passed Livorno and shook out the reef as we turned onto a southerly course. During our 1100 'coffee break' Giblet joined us in the cockpit. She sometimes likes to sit by the tiller facing aft where she can see out through the gap down to the transom. We call it "being on the fish channel" because in harbour she is often watching the greedy grey mullet. Today however as we sat chatting she decided to go down onto the bathing platform as we were sailing along! We didn't notice her go and a moment or two later we realised she was missing and couldn't believe where she was. Water laps over the edge of the transom as we sail along so she was getting wet but had not called out to us. Chris went over and picked her up, relieved that she hadn't fallen in without us noticing. Silly cat!

After that entertaining episode we had to put the engine back on because the wind we had been enjoying had virtually died. We were intrigued by the fact that three large tankers at anchor ahead of us were facing west when we had been having such obviously easterly winds but it seems we must have been enjoying a land breeze or something because sure enough a westerly breeze took its place. We enjoyed another stint of engine free sailing and we also decided that there must be some current with us. We were relying on our GPS log again because the usual one was clogged up. It didn't last though and by about 1415 we had to have the engine on again.

With Elba in view we motor-sailed onward, relaxed and chatting about this and that. We were taking it in turns to be "on watch" and a short while after I had handed over to Chris, I noticed the speed suddenly start to drop off - yet the engine revs had not fallen. Neither of us had seen any lobster pot flags but we put the engine into neutral and looked quickly round the boat. I noticed a green plastic bottle bobbing behind us and as the speed dropped off it looked like it was caught around the front of our keel - lucky it wasn't around the prop. We gingerly tried reverse and to our relief the green bottle did not follow us - it looked like we had escaped - but no such luck! Soon we saw that there was a whole row of small bottles. I warned Chris that there might be more behind us but too late. A clear Evian type bottle was already caught up and was dragged below the hull. Off went the engine, down came the main and all but a pocket of jib was furled in. We could see some fishing line pulled taught around our rudder so Chris climbed onto the transom armed with a knife and he cut the line which was stretched across our stern. It sprang away with a "twang". All the bottles were strung together! This did not solve our problem though; when we restarted the engine is was obvious that our prop was now well and truly fouled. There was only one thing for it . . . Chris had to go diving! Fortunately it was flat calm, so he struggled into his wetsuit and snorkel mask and went over the back. At 108 meters depth, he couldn't quite touch the bottom! We had a line with a fender stretched out as a safety precaution, but after a few excursions below the boat he had cut the tangle of line off the prop. The water was colder than we have become accustomed to so I had a bucket of warm water and a mug of coffee ready for when he came out. The whole escapade took about 25 minutes from start to finish so we were still going to get into Portoferraio in daylight but it would have been nice not to go through that. Amateur fisherman should be made to put flags on their floats. There is no way you can distinguish a piece of floating rubbish from an empty water bottle used as a float, and by stringing them together . . . . . words fail me!

Just over an hour later we were heading into the anchorage off Portoferraio. It was calm and quiet so we dropped the hook tested it, dragged (last time we were here we dragged anchor in a force 7) and had to re-lay it! Finally we were settled and could have a well-earned dinner. We wanted to do some things ashore so decided that the next day we would go into the marina rather than the old port because it would be easier with Giblet and there were finger pontoons! It was crowded with charter boats but we found a berth in which we were allowed to stay. Foolishly we did not find out the price until Saturday. £22!! The most expensive marina fees to date. It is due to go down in October so we decided that for the convenience and peace and security it was worth it...just.