ARBATAX

With dinghy repair under control we leave Villasimius on a beautiful sunny day with quite the breeze....15knts, really looking forward to taking out the jenny.  By the time we were on course the wind had died and we motored all the way to Porto Corallo.  Really just another marina without a town or infrastructure.  However, we did have dinner out in the only restaurant for miles where the skipper chose "cavallo" (horse) from the menu.  It was a lovely quiet, mild evening without any insects.

Upon arrival in Arbatax the next afternoon no one in the marina answered our VHF call to direct has to our berth and help with docking.  So we headed for the fuel dock and filled her up, 250 euros later we were helped into a berth by the friendly marinaro.

After a quick shower and marina office check-in we had a visit from the Guardia Finanzia for about an hour.  They are a law enforcement  agency and part of the Italian armed forces.  They are essentially responsible for anything to do with smuggling... drugs, alcohol and especially people.  They asked for all documents regarding the boat, passports, and where and when we had travelled in the last year.  They also wanted to go below to look around. At first the experience was a little unsettling, but they  were courteous and even recommended a restaurant.

ROCCE ROSSE

The next morning called for a little sightseeing excursion; a brief walk from our boat took us to the rocce rosse, Sardinia's most famous cliff.
 The port in Arbatax is dedicated to the building of oil platforms, gas rigs and a hugh wharf for commercial vessels.

ARBATAX HARBOUR

Next morning was bright and sunny with a stiff breeze so we decided to move on to an anchorage with a nicer view.  Wind was good 12 knts, mainsail was up, we both had smiles on our faces to finally be sailing again.  That lasted all of 15 minutes, then the wind died off with just 5 or 6 knts dead on the nose.  We noticed the waves were suddenly bigger and the sky was clouding over; we don't remember rain in the forecast.

SQUALL SKY

Within seconds the wind gusts picked up and we were in the middle of a rain squall with 40knt winds.  Quick to react, the skipper double reefed the mail sail and we just held on and hoped the squall would end as soon as it started.  The term reefing just means to reduce the area of a sail in order to stabilize the boat and avoid any damage.  Luck was on our side and within 15 minutes the wind was back below 20 knts.  Ideal wind speed is around 15 knts.  Looking ahead...was there more on the horizon?

LICATA - SARDINIA MAY 2014

So another cruising season as finally arrived.  With the skipper's winter TO DO list completed we waited for a weather window to open that hopefully would give us a chance to sail.   Leaving Licata was bitter-sweet...saying goodbye to so many wonderful new friends and of course our sailing companions for the last 4 years Gaby and Gerald was especially hard.

Farewell Dinner @Mulino

Our short term plan is Sardinia, Balearic Islands, Valencia, Spain  park Simple Abundance during the hot, expensive summer months July and August to spend some time playing with the grandbabies in Canada.

Our long term plan for Sept. and Oct. is maybe a visit to Morocco
before heading to the Canary Islands where I will go ashore while the men-folk Wolfgang, brother Erik and Nephew Christian  take part in the ARC (Atlantic Rally Crossing)..Las Palmas to St. Lucia.  I chose not to do the Atlantic crossing by boat, rather by plan.  We will all be together again in the Caribbean in time to enjoy a rum punch while listening to steel drums sitting under a palm tree wiggling our toes in the sand by Christmas.

We dropped our lines May 6th and only knew we were headed west.  Winds were light from the south east...too light in fact.  The jenny was out but the engine was still running. We had a choice - continue motoring or  spend one night in Sciacca, 50nm up the Sicilian west coast and check the weather again in the morning. We spend hours sitting in the cockpit watching the boat slip thru the water gracefully...watching the white bow wave spinning its white lacy designs.  Sometimes for miles we see "Velella", a type of very small jellyfish that live on the water surface.  They are deep blue in color, but their most obvious feature is a small stiff sail that catches the wind and propels them on the surface of the sea.

SCIACCA MARINA

 After checking in for 1 FREE night and the best spaghetti frutta de mare we've ever had, we knew we'd made the right decision.  Next planned stop was Favignana, an island just  north west of Trapani, Sicily.  Our selected  anchorage was not sheltered enough so we chose to go into the marina on the north side of the island.
Next morning we set the autopilot towards Sardinia and settled in with our cushions and electronic toys for the 24 hour trip.

The passage was quiet with only a few freighters to keep track of on our plotter display. However,  sometime during the 1/2 moon lit night, the skipper noticed our dinghy loosing air, so he put her on life support and pumped air into her every half hour or so.

Arriving in Marina Villasimius in southern Sardinia around 10am, all we really wanted to do was catch up on a few hours sleep.  After a light lunch and a short snooze it was time to inspect the dinghy for the slow leak. A quick check exposed the culprit was in the bottom right rear side.  Armed with his scalpel, the skipper/surgeon carefully de-layered the PVC.  With the acetone soaked rag and the right mixture of glue she will be reconstructed layer by layer?????
Well the story doesn't end there!  Mother's Day morning brings a new revelation.  While pumping up the dinghy and organizing his thoughts about dinghy reconstruction the skipper realizes he has taken apart the wrong side.  This called for  a stiff drink and more glue.  Shit sometimes happens.....we had a good laugh and went to the beach.

VILLASIMIUS BEACH

SICILY - WINTER 2014

MAP OF SICILY

Spending considerable time in Sicily I wanted to describe this beautiful place in a little more detail.

Sicily is more than just the largest, volcanic island in the Mediterranean.   Sicily is where the mountains meet the sea.  Culturally and historically it is unique in its  archeology, art, history and breathtaking scenery.  Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still plagues Catania (city at the base of Etna) with black ash during occasional weak explosions.

MOUNT ETNA

The countryside glows with orange and lemon orchards.

Northeastern Sicily has the lush forests, the central regions are rugged with rolling hills.  Vineyards, olive groves, and almond fields complete the picture.  The Sicilian inland terrain is mostly hilly and intensively cultivated wherever possible.  Sicily lives mainly from agriculture and fishing although tourism has gained importance in the last few years.

Sicily has been a Greek colony, a Roman province, and Arab emirate and a Norman kingdom.
For example, Agrigento, a city on the southern coast best known as the site of the ancient Greek city Akragas has the famous Valley of the Temples (it is a ridge rather than a valley) constructed during the 5th and 6th centuries BC.  They constitute some of the largest and best preserved ancient buildings outside of Greece.

TEMPLE JUNO

Rich Romans built large estates that produced grain which was exported to Rome.
The Villa Romana del Casale is the largest remaining villa with the most complex collection of Roman mosaics in the world.

RONMANA DEL CASALE MOSAICS

ROMANA DEL CASALE MOSAICS

Other traces of Roman architecture can be found in the amphitheaters in Taromina and Catania.


APRIL 25, 1943 LIBERATION DAY IN SICILY

April 25th is a holiday celebrated every year.  Most stores and places of business are closed with families out and about enjoying the warm weather and the many yachts at "il porto" (marina).  Liberation Day is the celebration of the l943 landing of the Allied troops on Sicily.  it's actually better known as the Allied Invasion of Sicily in which the Allies took Sicily from Nazi Germany.  It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation followed by 6 weeks of land combat.  Later that same year Mussolini was ousted from power.

For tonight's dinner I'm preparing a typical Sicilian dish "veal piccata", tender veal topped with lemon sauce and capers.   Capers are actually the flower bud of the caper plant and has long, spiny branches growing over rocks.  Sicilian capers are distinctively more flowery than those from the more northern regions and are preserved in dry salt not vinegar.  From May to September, approx. every 10 days the plants are picked over by hand early in the morning before the flowers open.  Then the capers (about pea-sized) are put into sea salt for 2 months before they are sold.

May 2, 2014

From May 3 to 6 in Licata celebrations are held in honour of the patron martyr Sant'Angelo.  In the three day festival a hugh market is erected on the main roads throughout the town with singers and musicians performing in Sant'Angelo square.
This square is also the place of our favorite cafe' where we enjoy meeting with friends over a cappichino or glass of wine.

Sant'Angelo Square with Valentina