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.
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.
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.
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| Farewell Dinner @Mulino |
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 |
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 |
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