August 23rd to September 14th

We arrived in Vieste, Italy at about 3 p.m. and anchored next to Soleil Sans
Fins (Bill and Jean).  The next day Zelda (Terry and Marie) joined us and we
all walked around the town.  Gitana (Michael and Kathy) came in Sunday
morning at about 8:30 a.m. and Rudy went out to help them in the dinghy and
a portable depth gauge.  Since they are an 82-foot sailing vessel and draw
about 9 feet, they not only needed enough water below them, but also around
them.  They found a great spot until the winds picked up a few days later
and moved behind the seawall.

Vieste is a charming little town with a little bit of everything...food,
restaurants, banks and warm and friendly people.  We found a little butcher
shop that had delicious Italian sausage, a pasta shop that had outstanding
ravioli and a couple of fruit and vegetable markets that were perfect.  Of
course, we tried many different pastry and gelato (ice-cream) shops to make
a sound investment as well!!

The next two days, Rudy went up the mast to try to fix our VHF with the help
of Michael, Bill and Terry with no success.  They think they know what the
problem is which is most of the battle.  Rudy and I went to visit Gitana
that night to teach them dominoes. (We played for the next 4-5 days!!) Half
way through the game, their boat started to bounce around a little and we
decided to go back to our boat in our dinghy.  THAT WAS FUN!!!  Rudy and I
had to literally jump into the dinghy while it was on the top of the wave
and take off immediately!!  As we approached the entrance to the harbor, the
waves were crashing with the increasing wind. We got on our boat soaked, but
it was quiet inside the harbor.  However, we could see Gitana rocking back
and forth!!!  The next morning, Rudy found a spot on a dock in the marina
for Gitana and went out to help them dock their boat.  They told Rudy not to
come because it was too rough for our dinghy, but he went anyway!!!  RUDY TO
THE RESCUE!!!

When Gitana entered the harbor, Rudy took their dinghy and picked up Bill,
Terry and me so we could all help them dock.  When they were safe and sound,
we all negotiated for a berth as well.  We got the berth for 13 Euros a
night with electricity and water!!!  Not bad at all!!  (Gitana was paying 75
Euros)

So since we have been here at Vieste, (12 days) I have cooked twice on the
boat and have eaten on Gitana or in Vieste the other 10 nights!!!  Back to
my diet tomorrow!!

On Tuesday, September 3rd, we finally left Vieste along with Soleil and
Zelda on our way to Bari about 50 miles away.  We actually had all our sails
out and were going as fast as 8.9 knots.  We arrived in Bari about 3 pm. It
was so hot we stayed on the boat until about 6 pm before we walked through
the old and new towns.  The old town seemed to need a coat of paint and the
new town was very cosmopolitan.  They even had a Mc Donald's and a Burger
King (Rudy had a sample!)  We decided to go on to Brindisi the next day,
leaving Soleil and Zelda behind.

We left Bari about 6:30 am. As we left the harbor, the sun was shining like
a huge ball of fire and sprinkled along the horizon were small fishing boats
as far as the eye could see.  The fishing boats were all along the coast; it
was like weaving through a maze.  We again had all our sails up, but not the
whole day.

We arrived in Brindisi at about 4:30 pm and took a walk into town just after
a thunderstorm went through.  The next day Rudy and I went for a walk into
town and bought a few items in the shops along the way.  We passed the steps
leading to the Apian Way, which ended here.  They are in the process of
restoring the steps.  As we were eating lunch in town another storm poured
rain on the clothes I had washed by hand and feet.  They had a rain shower
rinse in the truest sense of the word!!  Soliel San Fin joined us that
afternoon and we had a great meal at the Yacht Club where we were staying.

Friday, September 6th Meg (Bob and Susan) arrived in the morning and then
later in the afternoon, Zelda (Marie and Terry) arrived.  Saturday came the
arrival of Gemini with Ross and Wei and we all watched a boat parade with a
Naval boat carrying the Virgin Mary icon around the harbor and then again to
it's original resting place.  Today, Sunday the 8th, Zelda and Meg left
giving Gemini a berth next to us.  The next several days (9/9-9/15) I did my
wash by hand and feet, got some Italian prescription sunglasses (lost mine)
and went shopping (grocery store) and shopping (fruits and veggies) and
shopping (butcher) until I dropped!!!  And it was ALL uphill!!!!  I even got
an Italian hair cut which was great!!! Rudy got one also....the first since
he left the US!

Rudy used the days to try to get the heat exchanger unit and the alternator
repaired. The alternator that was fixed in Split WASN'T!!!  It seemed to
work fine and we went on our way, not realizing that it was only producing
half its rated power to the batteries. The mechanics at the boatyard were
really trying to help us out and seemed to be doing everything possible to
help.  They thought they could repair the old heat exchanger and then they
thought they could repair the one Ross gave us...no luck!!  So they found
one in their yard and makeshift it to fit our boat.  When everything was put
back, we started the boat and it seemed to work.  We shut off the engine and
restarted the engine again.  Since it was dark, Rudy turned on the
instrument lights and everything went crazy!!!  The oil alarm sounded when
we shut off the batteries and stopped when it should have sounded. Rudy knew
there had to be a short, but couldn't find it.  Four hours later with a lot
of help from Ross, he found the wire that was cut by one of the men, a water
hose that was cut and realized that the engine block didn't have any water
in it!!!  We stayed the next day to fix it all!!!!  Life aboard a boat is
always interesting and an adventure!!!