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SAIL SICILY  Sicily
is the largest island in the Mediterranean but is little known to most people.
The Mafia, and perhaps the active volcano of Mount Etna will be the limit
of knowledge about this island for most people. Waves of invaders ruled
the island since the Greeks in 735 BC, followed by the Corinthians, Phoenicians,
Carthaginians, Romans, Barbarians, Byzantines and Arabs in 827 AD. Normans
and Spaniards followed. Finally Garibaldi landed in Marsala in 1860 and
Italy was unified ten years later. In
the 19th century the criminal organization famous all over the world as
Mafia was born and starting from the moment when Sicily became a part of
the new Italian state. In 1860 this organization took the real control on
the territory of the island. After the second World War the Italian government
conducted a programme of improvement of the Sicilian economy: division of
large landed estates, reclaim of the soil along the seacoasts, settlement
of industry, construction of the new roads and railways, development of
tourist infrastructure. Nevertheless all these modifications didn't reach
the desired results till now mostly due to bad and irresponsible organization
and intervention of mafia in all the spheres of Sicilian activity.   The
island lies just two miles from the “toe” of mainland Italy,
and separated by the Straits of Messina, home of The Rock of Scilla and
the whirlpools of Charybdis, from Homer’s stories of Ulysses. The
prevailing summer winds are from the north and west, except for the east
coast where southerly winds can be expected.We started our cruise from the Maltese Islands, some fifty miles from the SE tip of Sicily, with a good spinnaker run. On arriving at Sicily a strong west wind blew for two days and we took shelter in a shallow bay just north of Capo Passero. Siracusa (Syracuse) founded by the Corinthians some two thousand six hundred years ago, and still full of visible history. The large protected bay makes a good anchorage with close access to the city.  A
superb market provides fresh fish, fruit and vegetables, close to the ruins
of the Temple of Apollo. On the second afternoon all anchored yachts were
requested to tie up to the town quay (own anchor from the bow, stern lines
to the quay). Within an hour the anchorage became the venue of an air display.
The following day a longer air display pulled the crowds and we enjoyed
a grandstand view. We
continued north past the volcano of Mount Etna (2798m, 9189 ft), making
three anchor stops before entering the mainland port of Reggio Calabria.
The small yacht harbour had no space, nor did the Marina to the north of
Messina, and a reluctant Guardia Costiera (Italian Coast Guard) official
checked our papers and gave us permission to lie against the harbour wall
for one night.The Messina Strait has a fearsome reputation for currents, whirlpools and whipped up water. Like most tidal gates a little homework to ensure the best conditions to pass through pays off. We shot through the narrows with almost four knots of tide helping us across flat water. The second phase of the transit is not simple. Turning West North west out of the strait into a head wind, force four (increasing to six), and short seas whipped up by the wind and tide is no fun in a 27’ bridge deck catamaran. After three hours of brisk sailing, and too many miles to go to shelter, we decided to return to the lee of Capo Peloro and await more favourable cruising conditions.  Three
days later we continued to the active volcano of Isole Vulcano, and at last
felt that we were cruising. The bay was beautiful; Sulphur and steam came
from various parts of the Island we could see. The island has a relaxed,
tourist feel and we enjoyed swimming by day, and dining out by night. Some
visitors cover themselves in the volcanic mud for health reasons.We motored the four miles to the next island of Lipari for fuel and sailed on to the famous active volcano of Stromboli. The beach consists of black sand and rock, some red stones and floating white pumice stone (widely used to keep hard skin away from feet). The anchorage proved to be uncomfortable with a knot of current stirring up a swell. We weighed anchor on waking next morning and returned south down the west side of the island. Puffs of steam came from the summit, mist hung over the sea below the 900m steep black slope, and two rocks bounced down the slope breaking the dawn silence.  The
Island group is known as the Lipari Islands or the Aeolian Islands. Ulysses
tells of the gift of a bag from Aeolius, God of the Winds, containing the
contrary winds, which a curious crewman opened, releasing the strong winds
and blowing them off course. We had a lovely sail for a couple of hours
until we came in the lee of Isola Panarea. We motor sailed to Isola Salina
and as we rounded the SW tip felt 30 knot squalls from around the headland.After reefing both sails we were further offshore and the visible signs of the squall had gone. We enjoyed a close reach for a couple of hours until headed, with rising wind and seas. An aspect of Sicily is often long distances between safe anchorages. The swell grew, the wind moderated, and we motor sailed for an uncomfortable few hours to Cefalu, anchoring after sunset.  Cefalu
is a gem of a place, with it’s old narrow streets, squares and Norman
Cathedral. It was a pleasure to explore, helped by a regular bus from the
port to the town. Delicious ice creams can be bought everywhere in Sicily
and meals and local wines are good.The run of adverse winds and seas had finished and we took advantage of lighter conditions to progress west to Capo Gallo. Here the Coast Guard told us not to anchor where we had chosen, instead to pick up a mooring, which gave us an interrupted night as the large buoy intermittently hit the underside of a forward beam, whilst tied away from the hulls. Again we moved on waking, to be confronted with more strengthening headwind and seas. We saw more of these red buoys and decided to take a breakfast stop in the lee of the small island of Femmine. We were later charged 3 euros for the privilege and given a leaflet about the nature zone which had been set up to protect sea-life.  Later,
in better conditions we continued past Palermo (no-where obvious to anchor
in or near this major port), on to San Vito, a sheltered, sandy resort bay
with clear water and endless restaurants ashore. We remained for three nights,
back in relaxing / swimming mode. As we tried to leave we experienced engine
problems, which we resolved, eventually, by changing spark plugs and removing
the red stop button from the four stroke Honda 9.9hp outboard.We rounded the shallow cape and gently motored the next Island group, the Egadi Islands. With a southerly wind forecast (as we are headed south), we chose to anchor in the north facing harbour of Favignana.  About
120 years ago Signor Ignazio Flario from Palermo bought the islands to set
up a tuna canning industry. Many buildings, boats, and equipment, especially
old anchors make the place a living museum. The town is delightful, and
the harbour clean enough to snorkel, despite ferries arriving and leaving
all day long. We
enjoyed this time of light but contrary winds, and moved on at the first
sign of the prevailing wing returning for the downhill run. We took a gentle
sail (no motor at last!) to the dessert wine making town of Marsala, anchoring
in the lee of the harbour for a night. The South West side of the island
has very shallow water, as we found when the depth sounder recorded frighteningly
small numbers. A good spinnaker run towards Porto  Empledocle
followed, cut short by difficult quartering seas. The commercial harbour
has an anchoring area where we spent a comfortable night as the strong Westerly
wind blew. By morning we were in mist with visibility under 100m. Eventually
it cleared and we took advantage of favourable winds, and helpful but again
quartering seas to make the return passage of 83 miles to Comino in 15 _
hours, the last five of which were in darkness, the first night sailing
of the 640 mile one month trip. |
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