Waiting for Gianni...

Garlic for sale in Trapani

We had a few days to kill before Gianni, the mechanic, could start work on the boat which gave us the opportunity to get to know Trapani. It was nice being back in Italy. It's funny how you start to miss ham, bacon, sausages etc. when you can't get them. It was also lovely to have a normal tasting pizza at last - the Tunisian versions never tasted quite right. As well as enjoying the shops we had a good wander round Trapani old town with its grand baroque churches and piazzas.

Trapani old town

Trapani

Chiesa Madre, Erice

One of my father's favourite places in Italy was the nearby medieval hill top town of Erice and it has been on our "to do" list for some time. We made an early start and hopped on a bus for the 40 minute hair raising ride to the dramatic town perched 750 mts above the sea. We walked along the city walls and through the lush park to the Norman Castle of Venus. The panoramic views were amazing but we couldn't quite see over to Tunisia due to the haze. We spent the rest of the morning wandering through the narrow stone streets of the small quiet town. We had the place more or less to ourselves without a cloud in the sky but by the time we left on the midday bus coachloads of tourists were arriving along with swirling cloud.

View down to Trapani harbour from Erice

                                                      Cobbled streets of Erice

Piazza Umberto I, Erice

                                            Torre di Re Federico Secondo, Erice

Erice shop

Back in the boatyard Gianni finally turned up to embark on the awkward job of removing and replacing the exhaust hose. Not a difficult job as such but one requiring a double jointed contortionist. Boat Service Trapani proved to be a good find and we would definitely recommend their services. Finally with no leaks we could move on again. Of course the weather gods weren't helping us now so we moved out of the yard and back to the harbour anchorage to wait for a favourable wind to help us on our way north.

Torri del Balio, Erice

Boat yards and yet more boat yards...

In the travel lift - fingers crossed!

A very dirty bottom!

We were finally ready to have the boat hauled out only to discover that mid May was peak lifting time in Monastir. It's a small yard in the marina with a fast turnover but still we had to wait a week or so before they could squeeze us in. Rather than living in the chaos of a boat on the hard we treated ourselves to an apartment with a large balcony overlooking the marina. It was lovely after a hot hard day's work to have a long soak in a bath - we don't come across these very often! The nice carpet of growth on the boat's bottom was soon removed and thankfully we discovered no major problems. We brought our own antifoul paint with us this time but couldn't get hold of our preferred colour black, so we now have a smart navy bottom and shiny new anodes. While the workers finished the boat we were preparing ourselves for off with the next southerly forecast. We couldn't resist buying six 20 litre olive oil containers to store some extra diesel on deck. At around 0.50 eurocents per litre it was less than three times the cost in Italy.

Walking through town with olive oil containers!

A shiny navy derriere

Splashing time

Our apartment above the customs office

The Capitainerie from our balcony

Marina and boatyard (top left corner) view from our apartment

Ribat and marina view from our apartment

We had a last fillet steak at our favourite restaurant and said our goodbyes to the few cruisers we were leaving behind. With a good weather forecast we decided to try and make the 350 mile passage to mainland Italy in one hit. We had a cracking sail on day one with our super clean bottom helping us slide through the water. At nightfall the wind dropped and we had to continue with the aid of the motor. We passed the Egadi islands at dawn and were escorted by a pod of dolphins as we left Sicily in our wake. The day was going well but on a routine engine check in the afternoon we discovered water in the bilges. The taste test proved it to be of the salty variety, something which is preferably found outside the hull! After considerable investigation we still couldn't identify any specific source. While it was manageable with regular pumping to stem the flow there was always the worry it could increase. We had no choice but to turn around and head for the nearest harbour which was Trapani, north west Sicily, some eight hours away. The ingression of water appeared to be associated with having the engine on so we sailed most of the way and finally dropped anchor in the harbour at 2am.  

Trapani from the harbour anchorage

Moored up in one of Boat Service Trapani's berths

The following day we investigated as much as we could and decided, although unseen, it was most likely to be the flexible exhaust hose. This was quite a relief as we had thought it may have been the P-bracket and for those not technically minded, the strut that holds the propellor shaft. This would have involved another lift out of the water and untold structural work. The coastguard kindly gave us the number of Boat Service Trapani and we arranged to come in to the boat yard the following morning. Unfortunately we had to wait for a few days before they could sort us out but since we couldn't go anywhere it gave us the opportunity to explore Trapani and the local area.

Our final spot in the BST yard alongside a 70ft yacht!

Back to Africa

White cliffs of Ponza

Having said a fond farewell to Corsica it was time to slowly make our way south again. We retraced our steps back to the old harbour wall in Olbia, Sardinia, where we discovered we had two dead batteries. To make life easier we treated ourselves to a night in the marina. Conveniently we were lucky to find Bosch replacements at the local hypermarket of all places. With all systems go again and with a stocked up boat we had planned on sailing directly south to Trapani on Sicily but with nothing but southerly winds forecast we were forced to change plans.

Instead we sailed east across the Tyrhennian sea and dropped anchor on the south side of Ponza in one of the many dramatic bays. With strong winds from the wrong direction forecast sadly there was no time to hang around this lovely island and we set sail again the following morning. We only made it as far as the island of Ischia where we were forced to stay put for a few days waiting for favourable winds. Finally we were on the move again but this time with very little wind. Unfortunately with our diesel stocks now running low it

All alone in Vibo Valentia

was clear we weren't going to make Vibo Valentia and at 5 am we had to divert our course to Cetraro, a shorter distance away. It is not much of a town but it has a large marina with thankfully a diesel quay which saved a taxi ride in search of a petrol pump! We finally arrived at Vibo in the dark and dropped anchor just east of the harbour off a small sandy beach. We had the place to ourselves for the few days we waited for yet more favourable weather to send us south down the Messina Strait. Finally we set off at midnight and arrived at Messina in time for the southerly going tide along with some very nasty looking thunder clouds and water spouts. As we'd heard

Taormina

about a couple of yachts being heavily fined for not reporting to Messina control before entering the Strait we duly called up Messina VTS on the radio and were given permission  to proceed. Apart from the usual ferry dodging the passage was uneventful and we were happy to finally arrive in Taormina where we met up with our friends Rob and Amanda aboard Toi et Moi who were also on their way to Monastir for the winter. 

Ischia

                                                          Messina storm clouds 

Syracuse

Syracuse

The next day we all set off in breezy

Syracuse

conditions which increased as the passage progressed to gale force. With a handkerchief of gib out we had a sleigh ride down to Syracuse. We anchored in nice gooey mud in the large natural harbour and spent a week revisiting the wonderful old town. As we were interested in having a look at the relatively new port at Marina di Ragusa as a possible future wintering spot, we hired a car for the day rather than sail on round west. The car also enabled us to visit the beautiful Unesco listed baroque towns of Ragusa Ibla and Modica. Modica is also renowned

Syracuse

for its rather crunchy chocolate produced in a traditional method originally imported from the Mayans by Sicily's Spanish overlords. With the sky darkening by the minute we cut short our sightseeing and raced back to Syracuse and into Rob and Amanda's speedy tender before the heavens opened. It was time to move on and to our horror when lifting the dinghy and outboard back on the deck we discovered the bottom of both were covered in small barnacles. This was only after a week of being in the water and made us wonder what the state of the underside of the boat was....

Syracuse

Syracuse

Ragusa Ibla

Modica

Valletta from Marsamxett anchorage

After an uneventful night passage to Malta we dropped anchor off the yacht club in Marsamxett harbour. We had developed a problem in the cooling system of the engine and from the anchorage it was a short dinghy ride to "chandlery street" and all sorts of advice. After talking to various "experts" we decided to monitor the problem for the time being and moved on round to Rinella Creek where we spent the next few days in the water clearing the dreaded barnacles off the bottom of the boat. Our stay in Rinella coincided

Birgu by candlelight

with the Birgu festival. We dinghied round to Dockyard Creek on the Saturday night for the festival highlight, Birgu by candlelight. In the evening the historical streets were lit up by thousands of candles. We were also entertained by live music as we meandered through the atmospheric lanes. Sadly the glorious weather was due to take a turn for the worse. With a gale forecast early the following week there appeared to be a small window for the two day passage to Tunisia over the weekend. We stocked up with bacon and boat bits and set off north to St Paul's bay. The engine leak was back with a vengeance with a couple of inches of water now flooding the bilges. We had no choice but to turn back and seek expert advice and waved our goodbyes to Toi et Moi. After a couple of phone calls we had a Volvo mechanic turning up at 8am on the Monday morning. Msida marina

Varuna, a participant in the Rolex Middle Sea Race

was full but thankfully Kalkara marina had a spot for us. Edgar the mechanic tweaked the thingamyjig on the black bit and adjusted the doodarr....and we were ready for off again. Only problem was we now had the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo heading our way. We decided to stay in the marina where we were already tied up safe and sound and thought of the boats that were currently out there competing in the offshore Rolex Middle Sea Race around Sicily, Pantelleria, Lampedusa and back up to Malta. Of the 122 boats that started 71 retired as they were hit with storm force winds and 30 foot waves. 

        Large offshore supply ship squeezing sideways past Ride of a Lifetime in Rinella Creek

           Ride of a Lifetime gets involved in helping to lift Varuna, a Ker 50, out of the water

Kalkara Creek

Fishing boat in Kalkara Creek

Moored alongside the three master in Sliema

Once the storm started to abate we left the marina and motored round the corner to Sliema for yet another final shop before sailing on west. Anchoring was impossible for us due to depth and numerous boats on moorings so we tied up alongside a rusty three masted steel hulk. It is known amongst cruisers as a useful alongside mooring and its only a short dinghy ride to the shops. The next day with the sea state much calmer we set off on our two day passage to Monastir, Tunisia. Finally we were Africa bound.

Our migrant hitchhiker to Monastir

Dolphins keeping us entertained on our passage