The 50nm sail from Taormina to Siracusa was a long day and we reached bay of Siracusa about 9.30pm. We had read in both the pilot book and online that we had to call the harbour master for permission to anchor. This was not only because of Covid-19 but also for allocation of a berth or anchor spot. We did what we thought was right and called them. They gave us permission to anchor but asked us where we had come from, our boat registration and informed us that we needed to complete some forms online for permission to go ashore. We ate and went to bed saying we would sort it the following day.
At 8.30am the following morning the harbour master was calling us very loudly from their launch boat, passing us forms for us to complete and email to the 7 addresses on the form. We explained that we had already done this but they weren't interested and told us we had to do it. This was Monday morning and although we filled in the forms and emailed them, it took another 4 days of pestering by phoning and emailing 3-4 times a day before we were eventually given permission to go ashore. The most annoying part of the saga was that other boats had anchored in the bay and gone ashore. When we contacted them via Navily they had not called the harbour master and therefore did not need to complete the documents 🙉, how we wished we had not towed the line on this occasion.
In the midst of all this our friends came in their rib to visit us on the boat bringing with them the most delicious Sicilian delicacy Aracini. Being that theres were parents of one of our best friends, they were amazing. We had never met them before but they were truly wonderful people and we make friends for life very quickly.
When finally we had been given permission to go ashore the weather was fabulous and we took a dinghy ride into the old town of Ortigia. I cannot express enough how beautiful Ortigia is. It is an island that is reached either by boat or by a small bridge from the mainland. It has so many little lanes, that in fact are roads as we saw cars drive up them. The buildings were baroque style, high and tightly packed with many different ornate balconies. Although a lot of the facia of the buildings is missing, this just adds to the antiquated feel and look of them. The flowers overhanging the balconies and collections of pots and plants outside the very old ornate doors was stunning.
The colourful market in the Ortigia is also a place that must be visited. With fresh fruit, veg and fish stalls nestled within the small lanes and singing stall holders selling their wares, it really is a must-see place. It's opened every morning from 9am - 1pm and busy every day too.
We left Ortigia at 5pm th 12th October on our last sail of the 2020 season. It was a 54nm overnight sail. We were sad. Although this summer has been relatively short due to Covid-19, we'd had a wonderful summer. We had nothing to complain about. We had a summer that many people would have been very envious of and would loved to have had. This last sail was going to take us to our winter berth in Porto Touristico Marina di Ragusa.
It's amazing how time flies. Its been a while since I have written anything. I have created our vlogs and we've been busy making the most of the end of what is going to be our 2nd year of sailing this wonderful journey.
Sicily is an island of 2 dimensions. On the one hand it is beautiful with its tiny lanes, high buildings to keep out the sun, stunning beaches, crystal clear waters, magnificent cathedrals and churches and fabulous towns. Then there's the other side of overflowing bins with rubbish everywhere, run-down buildings, stray street dogs and bureaucracy.
We left Arunella heading for Cefalu with a great wind behind us. Cordelia and the weather had other things in mind for us though and with the wind picking up and 2-3mtr seas and a broken steering cable we decided to sail overnight to the Aeolian Islands. We arrived at the island of Vulcana, slept and was woken up with a braying donkey, who we realised was grazing on the hillside just 200mtrs from us. We relaxed in the warm sun, had coffee and decided we would overnight in the next anchorage north of the island. We sailed up the coast of Vulcana with its blackened volcanic scenery until we reached the anchorage where we would spend a few days. This overlooked the volcano and a very small fishing village.
The island of Vulcana is wondefully magical. An island that seems to be stuck in time with its one-story houses (most of them unoccupied), very tiny roads but with all facilities within walking distance. The small shop that sold everything from meat and cheese to hiking boots. This is a place that we could have easily spent weeks just relaxing and pondering our wonderful life.
We hiked the volcano, which has not erupted since 1888 so we felt safe enough. Its 1000mtrs high and took us about 90mins to climb. We've never experienced anything quite like it. When we reached the top it really took your breath away, we felt like we were on top of the world. The crater was enormous with steaming sulphur escaping through the gravelly ground. The view over the island and towards the other Aeolian Islands was magnificent.
The local fishermen also sell their fish direct from their boats, so as we had travelled nearly 3000nm and only caught one fish, we decided to buy a couple. What started off as 2 small fish for €5 each ended up being 2 large fish for €15 each. With the language barrier we could not complain, we laughed and thoroughly enjoyed the fish, even though we didn't know what we were eating.
After our week exploring we decided it was time to head toward the Messina Strait. We were on our way to Siracusa, which is half way to our winter berth in Ragusa.
On route we visited the coastal town of Milazzo. A fairly protected anchorage where we stocked up on provisions for the next few days and visited Milazzo castle. We saw dolphins in the anchorage that visited the 3 nights we were there. A pretty town with the traditional colourful small fishing boats pulled up on to the beach. It was here that we bought the best pork chops we had had in ages, a real 'to die for' taste.
Our sail through the Messina Strait was uneventful. Steve had researched and researched again the best time to go through and obviously he had been keeping an eye on the weather. The weather was perfect, the sea was calm, we motor-sailed through with ease. It is 1.25miles across with mainland Italy on one side and Sicily the other. We overnight sailed to Taormina, where we spent 2 nights before our passage to Siracusa. We were looking forward to Siracusa, not only because of visiting the famous old town of Ortigia but we were also meeting friends.
Have you ever had a time in your life when no matter what you do everything seems dead set against you achieving your goal? At this moment in time, this is how we feel.
Three weeks ago we were in a beautiful Cala in Menorca, with crystal clear water, awesome sea caves with a fabulous beach cafe/restaurant. It was getting towards the end of the summer season so there weren't too many boats in the anchorage and life was great.
We knew we had to make the decision on where we were to spend winter. The Mediterranean can be a beast in winter, the winds kick up something crazy so most people opt to spend a few months in a marina and this was something we were quite happy to do as we also had a couple of major boat jobs to sort out and life would be easier in a marina environment.
Our options were to go back to Spain either Cartegena or Almerimar, go on to Sicily, head back to Gibraltar or further still to Lagos in Portugal. Our preferred destination was Sicily. This would be an excellent starting point for our summer 2021 season in the Greek Islands. Our reason for going back to any of the other places was that next summer we would continue to sail west in preparation for our Atlantic crossing.
Issue 1: Brexit is playing a big part in our decision. We are British and with the UK leaving the EU this means as of 1st Jan 2021 we are only able to stay in a Schengan area (Schengan being almost all of the EU, of which the Med is surrounded) for 90 days in any 180, whereas at the moment we have free movement as long as our stay in one country does not exceed 90 days, that's my understanding anyway. As of 1st Jan 2021 we will not be able to move around freely. There are only 5 countries in the Med that are non-schengan and 2 could be dangerous, 1 is at loggerheads with another Schengan country, 2 are in Covid lockdown and that leaves Croatia.
Weighing everything up and looking at our loose plan for 2021 we decide we are going to winter in Ragusa, Sicily.
Issue 2: We arrived in Sardinia, completed several online and offline forms knowing we would have to have a Covid test before we were allowed ashore. We booked into Sifredi Marina in Carloforte, who told us they could arrange our test. We arrived in the marina and waited for a date & time. The marina fee was £55 per night; however we were not allowed ashore, not allowed to use the marina facilities so after 1 night we told the marina we were going to anchor in the bay. They apologised, which was very good as it was hardly their fault, they were just following government guidelines. We just weren't prepared to spend £55 per night and not be able to use the facilities.
Issue 3: Day 3 at anchor and we were caught in the worst storm we have experienced. It only last an hour but the winds were +50knots with lightening, thunder, torrential rain, on a lee shore and we lost all electronics. It scared and stunned both of us. We moved anchorage to Calsetta and continued to wait for our Covid test date. 10 days after we left the marina they contacted us to say our tests would take place in the car park at Calsetta Port.
Test's done we then had to wait for the results. All this time apart from going ashore for the test we were still not allowed on land. No matter, we had enough food & drink so we were fine for a few more days. Another 6 days past, no amount of contacting the ATS by phone or email was getting us our Covid results so we decided to sail on to Cagliari. We had now been in Sardinia over 2 weeks and not seen any of the beauty of the island we had been told about.
Issue 4: On arrival in Cagliari we only needed fuel. We found the fuel dock, as directed by someone on Navily (an anchorage and marina app) within the harbour but it looked derelict. However, all of a sudden from nowhere a guy appeared and we topped us with fuel. More fool us as the fuel was the most expensive in the world at £1.89 per litre and cost us over £423.
We moved just round the headland to Poetta an anchorage, and settled there for a couple of days waiting for a good weather window to cross to Sicily. We will come back and explore Sardinia on our way out of the Med. Two days later and the winds were in our favour so we set off.
Issue 5: Wind....what wind? We ended up motoring for 50hrs going to Sicily. The water was like glass most of the way, so 70% of the 'most expensive fuel in the world' had been used in one 2-day trip!!
Issue 6: We arrived in San Vito Lo Capo, the northern tip of Sicily and dropped anchor in a lovely bay. We'd been contacted via email from ATS, who informed us we were negative so we were allowed ashore. Great, we had a scrummy meal in a restaurant and couldn't believe how many people there were about in the little fishing village.
Day 2 and at 7am in the morning we were woken with rain splattering on our heads (we sleep with the overhead hatch open), within 5 minutes the heavens had opened, the wind was hitting 30knots with thunder and lightening. Not again surely? Then all of a sudden Steve started calling to me that we were going to be hit. I looked forward out the cockpit and coming towards us at about 5knots was a catamaran side on. I called to Steve 'brace yourself its going to hit' and BANG! it hit us and slid all down the port side of Cordelia. We watched the catamaran drag another 100mtrs and then come to a halt. At this time the rain, thunder and lightening stopped. What had just happened? The skipper of the catamaran came over and after asking 'did you hit us' and we explained 'no you hit us' he bought over a bottle of wine as an apology - he'd picked up the cat 3 days previously and was on charter. Luckily the only damage to Cordelia was a 6cm scratch but Cordelia had ripped out their middle cleat and damaged the port side hull.
Issue 7: We could see another storm on the wind apps so decided to move anchorage to a more sheltered bay near Palermo. This was a wise decision because the storm lasted 4 days with winds gusting up to 38knots. It meant we had to do night watches even whilst being at anchor, just to make sure we were safe and we didn't drag. Two other boats in the anchorage did drag at 1.30am on the first night, both at the same time too. Lucky for us they were dragging out of the bay away from us. We were exhausted after 4 days but decided to use the last of the wind on day 5 to sail along the coast to Cefalu.
Issue 8: It was a fabulous sail. Although the waves were still fairly large the wind stayed with us and we made great time reaching Cefalu. Cefalu has a small entrance and by the time we arrived it was dark, although the moon was almost full so we did have some light. On turning the boat head to wind so that Steve could take the mainsail down, we realised we had a serious problem with the steering. The helm would not move and though we were facing the wind so Steve could take down the sail, we were unable to turn back towards land. This was a blessing though as Steve then had to go and reattach the steering cables. That done, we decided to carry on and sail through the night to Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands.
Issue 9: We started our night watches and whilst I was asleep Steve came and woke me asking me to watch the helm - he could smell diesel. After investigation he found the diesel leak, a compression fitting had worked its way loose. We think this may have happened when we motored our 50hours on tick-over form Sardinia.
CAN THIS ALL REALLY BE HAPPENING?
On a funny note - on our sail from Palermo to Cefalu we saw an owl, not once but twice he flew out, rounded Cordelia and then flew off.
We are Covid-free and we are still living a wonderful life 💙, so all is not bad in our world.
Here we are in Italy, well Sardinia actually. We were finally in Italian waters having spent the last 12months in Spanish waters.
We have booked our winter berth in Ragusa Marina, so whichever way we sail now we will be heading that way.
Due to the long wait for the Covid test in Sardinia and then waiting for the results, we didn't stay too long in Sardinia. The weather is getting temperamental, one good day followed by a couple of strong windy days so we decide not to hang around and start to head for Sicily.
We had read on Navily of an easy to reach fuel pontoon in Cagliari so after a night in Malfatario Beach, where we had a great swim and a quiet night, we headed for the fuel berth. Upon entering the harbour in Cagliari we spotted what was a derelict, very run down fuel berth. Some guy turned up helped us fuel up and then charged us a staggering €1.89 per litre, our total bill came to over €430!!
We spent a lovely quiet night in Poetta Bay, in crystal clear waters with fish jumping out of the water. It was amazing and just what we needed as we had a 2 night sail to Sicily the following day. Winds were in our favour and we were looking forward to a great 2 day sail.
Don't ever bank on the weather forecast. Our 2 night, 3 day sail was on flat calm seas, no wind and we motored all the way and used up almost 1/2 of our very expensive fuel.
We arrived in San Vito Lo Capo, the northern tip of Sicily. We'd had to complete another set of 'entry forms' for Sicily as we'd had to do for Sardinia, but this time instead of waiting for approval we went ashore. Our negative Covid test results had come through a couple of days before so we were fine. The small holiday town was very pretty, restaurants and ice-cream shops along the sea front with one long street behind that housed lots of little shops and restaurants. There was a different feel here, very few people were wearing face masks, although we carried on wearing ours. Until we are told we can walk freely around without them, we have decided to wear them. We had the most stunning tuna meal, so big that neither of us could finish the steak, it was delicious.
On the third morning we awoke to slight rain with the wind picking up. Within 10minutes the wind had picked up so much that a catamaran in front of us starting to drag right in our path. At a speed of about 5knots he hit us, their beam smacked into our bow. Luckily for us we only sustained a 6cm scrape although our bow-roller ripped out their centre cleat and hull. The catamaran was on charter and after making sure everyone on board their boat and ours were okay, we went on our way.
We sailed to Arunella, next to Palermo as there was 4 day storm due, with estimated winds of up to 50knots. We needed to be tucked into an anchorage as soon as possible. We made the right decision, the storm did last 4 days but the anchorage was great with good holding. Steve had prepared the boat for the blow and we had no damage and didn't loose anything overboard.
What do you get up to on passage? Watch how we while away the time.
Our trip from Sardinia to Sicily was so calm we even managed to pick up sea trash.
