Roccella Ionica to Crotone

The bottom of "the boot" with our track.

Thank goodness for Yanmar and diesel fuel otherwise we’d still be about a mile from Roccella Ionica. We powered the entire 70+ miles, even though we could have sailed the last hour or so. We pulled into the marina and were directed to a slip but we had a 17 knot wind on the beam – I think the puffs were a little more.

As we pulled into the slip I lost control of the boat and we basically parked against the boat beside us. Just that morning I commented to Marina wondering why so many people have difficulty docking when we grease it every time – should have known I was tempting the gods.

Anyway, the big problem was that the laid mooring wasn’t pulling our bow far enough left so we got another anchor rope further out and put it on the windlass (the motorized anchor winch). The Ormeggiotore and I put the rope on the winch and tightened it up – worked perfectly but we were getting an over-ride – because I led the rope incorrectly. Anyway, in the process of freeing the over-ride I managed to get four fingers of my right hand between the winch and the rope – with about 20,000 pounds of boat pulling on it. I reckon that when my finger got caught I tensed my leg that pushed my toe onto the foot switch and my hand kept rolling onto the winch until my entire hand was between the rope and the metal winch drum.

Crotone Marina

Holy crap! I managed to extricate my hand by stepping on the ‘down’ button with my foot and releasing some line. Then we re-routed the rope, pulled it in again and tied it off. It was at that time that the pain started to kick in. I also managed to get the Ormeggitore’s pinky in the winch too – and I feel terrible about that. We offered him some ice and a can of beer …. later he was fine and Marina said one of the other staffers was joking about how he could still fully function with just a thumb anyway. 
Personally, I can’t wait to see what colour my fingers turn. (In the end, they faired much better than expected and are healing quickly).
Crotone isn't much to write about. The marina was nice and so were the people there, but the town itself seemed not well cared for and not well laid out. It wouldn't be a place I'd recommend for a holiday.