We spent a couple of nights in St Elmo Marina, Cagliari, which gave us a chance to look around the town and do the tourist thing. At 77 Euros a night it wasn't cheap, but it was nice to be plugged into electric again and have running water on tap, and the marina staff could not have been more helpful.
The pilot book states the Golfo di Cagliari appears to be a magnet for thunderstorms, and this certainly proved to be the case! We had several thunderstorms during our stay and on the morning we left it was still stormy.
The crossing to Sicily would be about 195 miles for us, and we planned to make landfall late afternoon. We chose to make an early start from the marina and in pitch darkness we slipped the mooring lines and glided out, trying not to wake our neighbours in the process.
Once dawn broke it was clear that for at least the first few hours of our passage the forecast was spot on, rain and grey skies. All around us we could see some spectacular lightning, but fortunately the way we were heading was clear of this.
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| Stormy day leaving Cagliari |
We decided to keep the bimini up as no high winds had been forecast, and it does a great job of keeping the worst of the rain out of the cockpit. We also had the distraction of squadrons of flying fish.
Eventually the sun broke through and with it, a little visitor to our boat. No idea what type of bird it was but it seemed to enjoy the rest and eventually found a snug spot behind the liferaft to have a sleep. He stayed with us until sunset.
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| Friendly hitch-hiker |
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| Sunset en-route to Sicily |
It was a fantastic sail through the night in about 12 to 14 knots of wind and with no moon, the night sky was simply breathtaking. We had a competition on our 2 hour watch rotas to see who could spot the most shooting stars, but after a while we gave up as there were so many! We would occasionally spot the lights of shipping on the horizon and match them up to the AIS targets on the chartplotter, which is always reassuring.
And so night eventually became day and we continued to enjoy a fabulous sail. At about 0800, we saw a large pod of dolphins swim past us at speed. Unfortunately, they didn't stop to play. It looked like they were on a mission to find breakfast.
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| Lynne taking it easy after saying hello to the dolphins |
We eventually arrived at Castellammare del Golfo at 1635 and entered the marina. Our pilot book advised that it was possible to anchor inside the breakwater, and this was confirmed by one of the marina staff that came to meet us in a rib. Not only were we in a lovely sheltered spot, but we had a really good view of the town that evening when we had dinner in the cockpit.
We went ashore later for a look around the town which was very nice, and even managed to find a late night convenience store to get some chocolate.
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| Anchorage at Castellammare |
After a peaceful night's sleep we got up early and set sail for Cefalu. This is another beautiful town and we spent a few days here just relaxing and sightseeing. We had our first sample of Sicilian ice cream here. Yummy! It was also here in Cefalu that we met another British couple, Mark & Sam, on their Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45DS Moonshine. They invited us onboard for a coffee and we discovered they were also heading to Licata for the winter.
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| Cefalu from the anchorage |
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| Lynne buying a postcard |
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| The beach at Cefalu old town |
From Cefalu we had intended to sail a little further up the coast, but on the morning of our departure the wind was good to take us in the direction of the Aeolian islands, so we plotted a waypoint for the Southernmost of the eight islands, Vulcano. We anchored in Porto di Ponente, close to the volcano that dominates the island.
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| Anchorage at Vulcano |
We had a wonderful sunset vista from our anchorage, but the calm and tranquillity was short lived. For the next few hours we had a huge storm with high winds causing a few yachts to drag their anchor. Our anchor alarm also went off a few times so we remained on deck in full wet weather gear in case we had to move suddenly. Memories of a similar night at Stintino in Sardinia came flooding back. Thankfully, by midnight the worst of the storm was over and the lightning could be seen far out at sea so we managed to get some sleep.
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| The calm before the storm |
The following day was sunny and calm and just right for a walk up to the crater of Vulcano.
Armed with plenty of water, the hike up the amazing paths to the top took about an hour, but it was well worth it. Mind you, a clothes peg for the nose would have come in useful as the smell of sulphur (just like rotten eggs) was vile.
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| Pathway up to the crater |
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| Half way up to the crater |
We had intended to see more of the Aeolian Islands and Steve was particularly keen to do a night sail around the most northern of the islands, Stromboli. This island has an active volcano and at night is supposedly spectacular, with its firework like show of spewing lava. However, the clouds had gathered and it was beginning to look stormy again. The Aeolian Islands have a fearsome reputation for strong winds. They get their name from Aeolus, god of the winds. In the Odyssey, he gives Odysseus the contrary winds tied up in a bag, but his curious crew open it and the ship is blown off course to further delay his return to Ithaca. We had already seen how quickly conditions can deteriorate, so we reluctantly headed back to the mainland where conditions were better. We anchored overnight at Tindari.
The following morning we once again set off early. We were heading to the Strait of Messina and we wanted to make sure we arrived when the strong current would be in our favour. The Strait of Messina separates Sicily from the mainland of Italy. At its northern end it is approximately 1.5 miles wide, and 7.5 miles wide at the southern end. You can expect to find strong winds and whirlpools in the Strait and in the words of the redoubtable Admiralty Pilot: 'The currents and whirlpools, famous from antiquity, are such as to necessitate some caution in the navigation of the Strait, moreover, in the vicinity of the high land, on either side, vessels are exposed to violent squalls which descend through the valleys with such strength as, at times, to inconvenience vessels.'
We knew our passage through the Strait would be an interesting one. You could clearly see the whirlpools and 'bubbling' water, and you could definitely feel it through the helm, but at least we didn't experience squalls or strong winds. Our speed over ground reached 9 knots at one point and the plotter showed Scarlet pointing at 90 degrees to her course.
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| 9 knots in the straits |
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| Whirlpools and eddies in the Strait of Messina |
Swordfish regularly migrate through the Strait of Messina and you will see these odd looking sword fishing boats. The bowsprit of the boat can be up to 15 metres long. There is a chair at the top of the mast for the Captain, who can steer the boat from here and keep a lookout for the fish who apparently 'sleep' on the surface. The boat can creep up on the swordfish and a man at the end of the long bowsprit then harpoons the unsuspecting fish.
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| Swordfish boat |
We managed to do a bit of downwind sailing for a while, but as is usually the case the wind died, so it was engine on and we motored for several hours before reaching our anchorage at Taormina. We arrived in Taormina just as it was getting dark and were approached by a man in a rib, asking if we would like to tie up to a mooring buoy for 50 Euros a night. We politely declined and anchored a short distance away.
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| Looking down on the anchorage at Taormina |
Lynne had bought a guide book on Sicily whilst in Cefalu and it looked like Taormina was a beautiful place with plenty to see, so we decided to stay a few days. There were a few shops on the shore and a railway line, but to see the sights we got a bus to Taormina, which is situated on the slopes of Mount Tauro at a height of about 200 metres above sea level. The bus journey was interesting with narrow roads and plenty of hair-pin bends, and took about 15 minutes to get to the top. After a short walk we came to the main town, where there are reputed to be a thousand terraces overlooking the sea.
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| View of Taormina from the Greek Theatre |
We walked around the charming town and took a look around the 3rd century Greek Theatre. It is the second largest in Sicily, measuring 115 metres in diameter. From here, the views out to sea are spectacular.
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| Greek Theatre at Taormina |
Our next stop was the anchorage at Siracusa (Syracuse), situated on the south-east coast of the island. On the way down the coast, we passed Mount Etna which was smoking away. It was a pretty overcast day so the picture below is unfortunately not that clear.
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| 'Smoking' Mount Etna |
Siracusa is connected to the small Isle of Ortigia by a bridge. Siracusa was once the most powerful city-state of Magna Graecia, rivalling even Athens in power. It was founded in 734 BC and became the largest fortified city of the Greek world, containing half a million people and commanding a great fleet. Siracusa controlled Sicily and the western Mediterranean, and enjoyed some 200 years of prosperity until her quarrel with Rome.
Siracusa is popular with tourists because of its interesting historical past and there are lots of ruins remaining to this day. One of the places we visited was the Castello Maniace, situated on the tip of Ortigia. This is the first thing you see as you round the corner into the harbour. It was built in 1230, and owes its name to the British General George Maniace who conquered Siracusa in 1038.
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| Castello Maniace |
The city was also home to the scientist Archemedes, and there is a square dedicated to his memory.
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| Archemedes Square |
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| The Temple of Apollo |
Once we left Siracusa, we made an overnight stop at Pozzallo, before continuing on to Licata. From Pozzallo, we had a fantastic sail for about four hours before the wind sadly dropped and we once again had to switch on the engine. About two hours from Licata, the skies turned very black and it was obvious we were going to get some rain, so we donned our wet weather gear and motored through a heavy downpour. Once in the shelter of the marina, we found ourselves in blue skies and sunshine! The marina staff came to meet us in a rib and show us to our berth, and we were checked in by a very helpful and cheerful girl called Maria, who supplied us with maps of the surrounding area and a bus timetable to Catania Airport.
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| Scarlet in Licata Marina |
Licata is a relatively new marina and has a small shopping centre just behind the marina office. Perfect for yotties so we don't have too far to go for provisioning. There were already quite a few boats here for the winter, and more are arriving all the time. Two weeks into October and there is already a radio net and Google group up and running. We have already had a 'Yotties Get Together' at the marina bar and attended Italian classes. We are certainly not going to be bored this winter!
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| Licata marina |
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| The beautiful grounds of Marina di Cala del Sole, Licata |
It has been another fantastic sailing season, with lots of new experiences and lessons learned. Once again the star of the show has been our wonderful yacht, Scarlet Lady.
We have however, found ourselves talking from time to time about the future, and how our cruising plans might one day evolve. Whilst we are more than happy with our experiences in the Mediterranean so far, we are often captivated by sailors we meet who have undertaken a circumnavigation. It is something we never aspired to when we first started our voyages, but never say never as the saying goes. We also found ourselves talking about the possibility of a larger yacht, perhaps with a 3 cabin layout, and have 'begun testing the water' to see if it is viable. We would stay with the Jeanneau brand within the 45' to 49' range.
Right now it is hard to imagine a better yacht than Scarlet for our needs, but we will take a look at what is on offer.
Perhaps on our next update we will have some news of how things develop.
Steve and Lynne xx
