Stromboli and strombolicchio

Just about an hour ago we passed the black volcanic island where i used
to go on holiday as a kid, i've been to the eolian isands countless
times, but never had to round them as a mark on a course...

Last night was not one of the easiest, as we approached capo passero
under masthead kite we were hit by up to 45kt true which made for some
excitement... i then called a gybe to gain some water over the headland
as i was not sure what the wind would do around there, we sailed east
for about one hour in total, which was probably all wasted as the shift
we had at capo passero was permanent and not due to the headland...

we went on hoisting the smaller A4 but it was still piping seriously and
the only meaningful outcome was a spectacular broach, leaning down
hoplessly we had to jump all the haliards to come upright, we let the A4
haliard go completely and we streamed it behind the boat until with some
effort we recovered it onboard with just a small tear...

As the lions lost their breath everyone felt pretty tame after the
experience and the cockpit was promptly deserted, the nights are long
at this time of the year... we had solid winds all night on a broad
reach, anything between 25 and 35. we got caught into two fishing nets,
both times we wasted a solid 20-30 minutes reaching for it and cutting
the lines snagged in the rudders.

I was taking some bunk time as we approached the straight and it was
quite straight forward to cut through the current although the wind was
quite shifty... from there on towards stromboli in a swell and 25kt
fetch...

i havent been able to connect since the start to check positions, not
sure how we are doing, but given, the gybe i called wrong, the hour
struggle with the kite in the water, the fishing nets and generally a
somewhat far from impeccable race so far, i suspect it's not extremely
good, but there's plenty to go so we'll see.