Cruising Sicily
The history of Sicily goes back to 1400BC when the
first wave of people took a liking to this island strategically placed
in the centre of the trade routes from west to east. After
the original tribes had established themselves they were overrun by the
Greeks who where challenged by the Carthaginians but they were run out
of town in 480BC and the influence of the Greek Magna Graecia took over
and built some great temples on the island. The city of
Syracusa on the east coast sided with the Romans and much of the Greek
architecture was destroyed.
Rome's influence declined and the Arabs and then the Normans
back from the crusades arrived. Roger had a great influence
and built some magnificent churches with Jesus as the central
theme. Cefalu and Monreale are the best examples.
The latter rivals the best the Catholics could build in Rome.
The Mafia is said to have influenced the life of every
Sicilian but for the cruiser one can only see the positive results of
development.
Aeolian Islands
We left Tropea in Italy early in the morning to sail eastwards
for the volcanic island of Strompoli. The wind was kind to us
but as we neared the island it can straight on the nose so we had to
motor onto the lee of the volcano which was giving off smoke
and gas. It has the classic conical shape but unlike Mana in
Vanuatu you are not able to climb to the craters edge. The
island rises out of the depths and there is no place to
anchor. We tried to anchor in 40m of water with
lots of chain but as the wind came up and it grew dark the anchor
pulled out. We picked up a mooring buoy. A yacht
and a catamaran did the same, then spent almost an hour pulling stern
to stern so that the crew could share their evening meal.
What an effort.
At 4:00 we dropped the mooring and set sail anticlockwise
round the island to see the red glow of the volcano as it released the
pressure into its crater forming the famous "lighthouse of the
Mediterranean". We did not see the glow only a dull gray
cloud over the summit - in the dark and as the sun rose. Well
you just cant trust these Italian navigation marks.
We then head south to the islands of Panarea, Salina and
Lipardi on route for the safe anchorage on Vulcano. The
scenery through these volcanic island with their weather and wind
eroded rocks is very dramatic but one has to keep a sharp look out for
"above and below water rocks". We pulled into the crowded
anchorage on the east of Volcano right in the wash area of the numerous
ferries that stop here. Not a great place but relatively
safe. On Sunday evening the charter and weekend boat left and
the bay was left to the long term cruisers.
The volcano dominates this anchorage and small town supporting
the many people who come here to climb to the top of the
crater. On the edge of the bay there are hot springs and mud
pools with the usual fat bodied tourist expecting some miraculous cure
from coating themselves in the evil smelling ooze. At some
points the sea water was hot as the water bubbled up from underground
but you had to seek out the spot and the ferry wash soon disturbed the conversations.
From the Aeolian Islands we headed south to the main island of Sicily.
Sicily Island
You
can not mention Sicily with out mentioning the influence of the Mafia.
The building development is every where. Hugh apartment
blocks and good roads and railway lines. We sailed the 50nm in a south
west direction with little wind to Cefalu. It has a marina but we
chose to anchor out 38 03.253 n 14 02.207 E in 5 meters of water.
Good holding and a quiet night. The following day we went
ashore and walked past the marina towards the town of
Cefalu
which has one of the largest cathedrals built by Roger in the Norman
style. Jesus is the main figure which dominates the church.
The town is full of tourists but it has some great streets.
The Roman laundromat is well preserved.
Palermo
We left early
to try to reach Palermo where we had heard that the space in the
harbour was at a premium. Well it was. We motored right
into the Marina which is in the South west corner of the Harbour, Not
the one on the northern side of the harbour. The water is foul.
No one would answer the radio so we motored around until we found
a space and went astern into it and tied up. I took the boat
papers and set off for the marina office. Not an easy task and
when I found it they were not interested only saying that the charge
would be 60 Euro. No thanks. I walked down the dock towards
the fuel berth and found the Club Mediterranean Sailing. The
fellow said I could fit into his spare berth for a few days if I didn't
mind moving if the owner returned early. Great. We moved
out of the smelly marina and squashed into a lovely place near the fuel
dock. The people were so helpful.
Palermo is the
most exiting city outside the great cities of the world. The open
air market is to be seen to be believed. It seems to run for
miles through the ancient streets of the city. Near the harbour
it start with fish, every variety one can imagine right up to a full
sword fish ready to be cut up. Next comes the meat section.
Luckily the meat is in display cabinets. In general it is
good. Further along the road is the clothes, then material, then
hardware and finally fruit and vegetables. We could hardly hold
back. The next day we talked to the main bus depot and caught the
local bus to
Monreale.
It is the greatest example of the Norman architecture in the
world. I believe the inside rivals the Sistine Chapel. Same
story but it is made in glass mosaic tiles not paint. The
cloister of the abbey next door is wonderful especially the tiles on
the columns. As we were walking out Denny recognized a friend
from our suburb in the ACT. His wife speaks Italian and they come
here every time they visit Italy. They offered us a ride back to
Palermo in their car. We had to stop in the main square to have a
drink and meet up with the friends they were staying with.
We
stocked up with food and wine which came from a very large tank and
dispensed via a bowser. I filled a 20 Lt plus a 10 Lt with red
and 10 lt with white. I had almost as much wine as diesel!
Well thankfully it keeps and we don t drink it at 2 lt per hour.
After paying the 100Euro for our three nights at the Club we set
off anti clockwise round Sicily. The Cape San Vito is known for
its bad weather so we expected some wind. What we got was the
most confused sea I have ever sailed into. I think the swell
enters the Golf Di Castellammare and bounces back out plus there seems
to be a current running past the Cape. We struggled for three
hours to round the Cape and start out track southwards. The wind came
up at over 35 kts so we were down to one reef and the stay sail as we
tried to get to Trapani. At 1700 we gave up and headed towards
the land to anchor in some shallow water. We dropped anchor off
the small town of Bonagia 38 04.191 N 12 35.559E thankfully the wind
was off shore and we could rest up.
The next day we motored round to
Trapani
to find an inexpensive place to leave the boat. We were directed
to a run down marina and placed at the end of a wharf with the bow
almost in the channel. great this will be cheap. Wrong 55
Euro a night. Well be needed to be along side as we were off to
the mountain village of
Erice.
We took the local bus to the base of the cable car then up the
mountain to this mountain top village with Saracen and Norman castle
remains. I almost came a cropper with my well worn shoes on the
smooth stone pavers on the steep roads. On our return to Trapani
we found out that the America's cup circus had come to town to hold one
of their qualifying round and the locals think all sailors have as much
money as they do. We left the next day after being ripped off by
a fish merchant giving us sword fish almost half the weight agreed at
the time of the sale.
This area is famous for the catching
of sword fish. Each year the fishermen set their nets in a maze
for miles around the islands so that the fish follow the net to the end
where they are easily caught. We came across these nets but the
fish had either not arrived or had gone. The small harbour was
full so we anchored off on sand. We sailed around the island and
set off for Masala to stock up on some wine however there was no wind
so we chose to motor further east to
Sciacca after passing the Greek temple of
Selinunte
Acropolis which is as big and almost as complete as the one in Athens.
The harbour of Sciacca was very dirty and full of trawlers and
rubbish. We anchored out 37 30.148 N 13 04.325 E.
The Greeks built many temples along this coast in the BC period. The next one was at
Empedocle.
We stopped in the port and tied up to a wharf and took the bus to
the ruin site as the sun was going down. The temple of Concordia
at Akragas near
Agrigento is the most spectacular.
Siracussa
was the last port of call in Sicily. We entered the bay with a
hot wind from the west. It was so hot it felt as if an oven door
was open as we sailed into it. The city was started by the
Geeks who built a hugh ampitheater and theater which was staging a play
so it was full of modern speakers, stage lighting but the same old
stone
seats. The wispering cave next door is worth a visit. After
a few days R&R and a good weather window we left for Greece.
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the next stage...
