Sicily (2 Oct - 8 Oct 2013)

After our first failed attempt to sail from Sardinia to Sicily we left the next morning with calmer seas. We sailed 215 nautical miles from Cala Sisine in Sardinia to Palermo, Italy. It took us two days. We arrived in Palermo but unfortunately due to our lack of navigational guides and information about the harbours in and around Palermo we unknowingly chose to stay at an expensive marina...I think it was called Marina Villa Igiea. It was a 15 min bike ride from downtown Palermo. In Palermo we stumbled upon a fantastic nautical bookstore where we talked to the super informative staff. We found out we could have stayed in the downtown harbour in the heart of the city by contacting one of the private yacht clubs and it would have been a lot cheaper than the 55 euros we were paying at our Marina. Now we know for next time. The staff member guy also told us about some anchorages in the area. We bought an Italian flag, Imray Greek water pilot, and something else I can't remember. OH also got some good info about Vulcano island. Palermo is awesome and grungy, dirty, wet, concretey, dilapidated, grimy...like a moldy basement. So much character.

We left the expensive harbour the next afternoon and back tracked a bit and sailed 5 NM North to Mondello. We wanted to anchor in the Bay of Mondello and rock climb at the crag near by. Unfortunately there was a bigger swell at the anchorage than anticipated. It was getting late in the afternoon and the sun was going to set, so we decided to go to the small fishing harbour in the city. We had to lift the keel and took the only empty spot that would accommodate Arbutus. While we were securing Arbutus and organizing everything on deck a curious Asian girl started chatting with me. She was on vacation and was couch surfing in Mondello. She was staying with Francesco her host. He's Italian and speaks...you guessed it Italian. Which was very useful for us when we tried to see if we could stay the night at the fishing harbour. The harbour office was already closed for the day but Francesco talked to some of the fishermen and said they said it was ok for us to stay, we just needed to go back to the office in the morning. We spent the rest of the evening with Brenda from Hong Kong and Francesco. He invited us to have dinner with them in his home. It was our first home cooked meal in a HOUSE since the beginning of our trip. They were both so warm and welcoming and we got to know both of them over dinner. Two strangers were our friends within a couple of hours. Beautiful. We had such a great time with them we did it all again the next evening. After dinner Francesco took us out to the bar filled alleys of Palermo.

We spent two nights anchored in the bay...we were not allowed to stay at the fishing harbour. We asked the harbour officer if we could keep Arbutus where she was...the officer said no, so we had to anchor. Unfortunately Arbutus was really rocking bow to stern and we couldn't invite Brenda and Francesco on board for dinner.

We met the nicest people in Mondello. The kind cafe owner who treated us like family, the smiling climber we met at the crag, and Francesco and Brenda our new friends. I love Sicily. Our next stop was Cefalu just 34 nautical miles away, but between Mondello and Cefalu a small storm was awaiting us...OMG!!! It felt like a storm to me but Paul just called it bad weather. We saw lighting in the horizon, grey clouds of death, and we felt a chill in the air. The lighting storm was unexpected, therefore a real pain in the ass. Oddly enough I enjoyed the ride. I was hiding underneath the dodger protected from the rain and only came out when Paul needed a hand. So I was enjoying the scenery and it was stunning. We were in the middle of a thunder and lighting storm with the sun setting in the horizon. I've never seen anything like. It was something very special.

When we reached the anchorage just in front of the city Paul went inside to take off his wet clothes and I stayed in the cockpit with my camera. The rain clouds were no longer above us but moving further out to sea, towards the sunset. I really had to bump up the ISO on my camera to capture mother natures incredible show. Once again I remind myself how lucky I am to be on this trip.

I was ready to eat a quick dinner and go to bed but Paul wanted to see the town. The dinghy was already inflated...omg...the entire time we were in the thunder and lightning storm we were towing the dinghy!!! At one point it was completely filled with water and Paul had to empty it. I don't know how he did it...Miraculously we only lost the wire cable we use to lock up the dinghy. Too bad it was brand new and had only been used once or twice. Cefalu was another Italian city full of character and life.

The next stop was Vulcano island and we departed Cefalu at night. I think we used the engine most of the way there. We arrived in the morning and dropped anchor in the bay of Porto Di Ponente. There were two other boats in the bay but they both left shortly after our arrival. No time to rest when there is an active volcano to hike! Great hike, great views, great wafts of sulfuric gas at the crater to be inhaled, and great photos to be taken. We left early the next morning...when I say early I mean before the sunrise. Thankfully we've only had a few super early morning departures since we started our trip. When we got on our way Paul went back to bed...slacker...and I was treated to a magical sunrise complete with picture perfect clouds.

Our next country....Greece!