October 2026
Chapter I, October 2026: The last warm crossing
The season is still in the water. You leave the heel of Italy in late afternoon light and wake to limestone. Nothing is crowded any more, and nothing has gone cold yet.
- Route
- Brindisi → Adriatic → Hvar → Dalmatian islands
- Distance
- 340 NM
- Aboard
- 8 days aboard
Brindisi → Offshore, Adriatic
1 day · 1 night at sea · 60 NM
Night passage under sail
You board in the afternoon, when the light on the limestone turns the colour of bread. Dinner is served underway, the coast of Puglia thinning behind us until it is only a line of lamps. Watches are shared, not assigned.
Adriatic → Hvar, Croatia
2 days · 120 NM
Landfall at dawn, then coastal
First light gives you islands instead of horizon. Pine and salt, shuttered terraces, a swim before breakfast in water clear enough to read depth by eye.
Hvar → Vis, Šćedro and the outer bays
3 days · 90 NM
Short island hops, anchoring every night
We anchor in bays that in August hold forty boats and now hold one. Long lunches on the foredeck, an afternoon ashore for oil and wine, and evenings so quiet you can hear the chain settle.
The islands → Southern Dalmatia
2 days · 1 night at sea · 70 NM
Coastal, one night passage south
The last stretch of the chapter runs south with the mountains on the beam. Stars, a warm deck, and the sense of a season closing gracefully rather than ending.
Chapter I qualifies for the 250 Mile mark, and — for those who stay the full passage — the 500 Mile mark.
