Sailing Scirocco
Do you know the YouTube channel Sailing Scirocco?
Ever since we bought Kirana and began planning the life we live today, we have watched almost every German- and English-language YouTube channel by sailors. From the very beginning, we followed René’s preparations with his Scirocco.
The plan had actually been to intercept Scirocco in the Kvarner, spend a few relaxed days exploring our sailing area together, and show them our dream island. But things turned out differently… At the beginning of May, Scirocco set off, and almost as soon as she had started, water came into the boat and Scirocco was stuck in Istria. Then suddenly everything happened very quickly.
On social media we learned about Scirocco’s departure and her plan. Before we had even really understood that she was already on her way to the Caribbean, René had sailed Scirocco almost all the way down to Split.
I showed Sheila Scirocco’s post, and fifteen minutes later the anchor windlass was rattling the anchor up.
Two days followed, through headwind and rain. At the same time, something was burning through all our electricity, so we ran a lot under engine. A good 140 nautical miles later we were exactly at Scirocco’s last anchoring position. In gusts of around 35 knots we dropped anchor and started looking for Scirocco. After a short radio call, we learned that her position was already on Brač. So: off to the INA in Split to refill the cigarette provisions, give the dogs a little shore leave, and then continue towards Brač…
Around midnight, maybe half past twelve or one, we finally approached the buoy field where Scirocco was lying. With stressed words and completely overtired, we brought Kirana to the buoy closest to Scirocco. René, Scirocco’s YouTube pirate, immediately came over in his dinghy. While Medo was still half confused, and B’Elanna with pointed ears was already mentally preparing to wake the whole settlement, we helped René aboard Kirana. As always: just briefly, just for one beer… It became almost 4 a.m. 😁
Our time together
The next morning Scirocco set off ahead of us towards Hvar. René still said, “You’ll easily overtake me.” At the same time I was thinking again about the growth on our underwater hull… “No chance,” went through my head, and how right I was.
On a perfect broad reach, with almost the whole genoa out, we followed Scirocco directly, and our Volvo Penta gave everything it had so it would not become completely embarrassing… 😅
When Scirocco rounded Sveti Klement, René took down the sails to check out the bays for the last few metres under engine. That was our chance to show that Kirana can actually sail. Perfect close-hauled course, a comfortable roughly 20 knots of bora… I pulled out the full mainsail, trimmed genoa and main tight… Kirana heeled gently to the side and shot forward.
The downside of Sv. Klement is that the bays drop off quickly. Less than 100 metres from shore, the anchoring ground is soon 20 to 25 metres deep. Hauling the anchor from that depth only destroys the windlass. Finding sensible anchorages therefore becomes rather tricky.
Then came a beach day… Wolfgang, Scirocco’s guest, even caught a fish. And if a few more had joined it, the dinner mentioned in the video might actually have become something. But before our enthusiasm about that one fish could grow too large, Medo grabbed the fish, gnawed on it and buried the rest somewhere on Sv. Klement. Never mind. Scirocco’s fridge was full of dinner, and very modestly we contributed whatever we happened to have.
When you are invited, you cannot simply feed the food to the dog, so I held back. After all, we had been invited by Scirocco. But when René shared his best piece of meat from his plate with B’Elanna, she too understood that she had found a friend for life.
The following morning B’Elanna woke me. She was outraged… Scirocco had simply left the anchorage. René gone… “That Austrian just disappears”; you could see the thought in our Malinois’ eyes. And until Scirocco returned from Hvar, she kept uninterrupted watch for her.
For the rest of the day, I no longer had a dog. B’Elanna saw René wanting to swim ashore… Strictly speaking, she merely sensed René’s thought, because he had not got any further yet. When René then prepared to jump into the water, our little one was already as good as at Scirocco.
We wanted to meet a YouTuber and found a new friend.
But time flew by and René wanted to set off. Continuing to accompany him would only have slowed him down, and so the farewell came, as always, far too early. René hauled up the anchor by hand, and slowly I realised that he was now sailing to the other end of the world. When he made his last round around our boat, I set myself the goal of seeing René again somewhere along the way that same year.
On the way back
Everything was dark; far away, a lighthouse marked the passage between two islands. We were running 335°, the autopilot holding course. The sea was mirror smooth, the engine at 1300 RPM. While Kirana moved through the night at a good 3.5 knots and I briefly checked on Sheila, there was a crash… We had run straight into a fish farm basin. “Collision,” I still hear myself shout as I hurry to the engine controls.
Oppressive calm. Kirana drifted slightly sideways, the engine idling in neutral. With hand lamps on deck I searched for damage at the bow, while Sheila took our bed apart to inspect the bow from inside. “No water, no damage,” I heard Sheila call. The shock was still in our bones, but we were richer by the knowledge that Kirana can be absolutely relied upon.
I stayed awake for a little while longer, then lay down and handed Kirana over to Sheila. The following afternoon we anchored again in our home anchor bay in Krk, directly in front of Hotel Koralj.
Scirocco
Scirocco has now left Croatia. She spent a few days in Montenegro and is continuing towards Greece these days. We wish René and Scirocco only the very best on their journey, with many impressions and, with a little luck, a four-pawed friend who will accompany him too.
May we meet again soon somewhere in the world.
More Scirocco?
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingScirocco
Website: http://sailing-scirocco.com/