Back to Sicily

After a fairly lumpy night at Blue Lagoon off Comano we set out early to make the 60-70 miles back to Italy. The wind was pretty strong and we were having some trouble with our windlass (turns out that the waterproof windlass switch is actually an air switch -- where a pump blows air down a tube and closes the switch -- the deck part of the switch had a hole in it -- no air goes down, switch doesn't work -- Granny is bringing two new ones next week).


We had all hands on deck, the wind was blowing about 15 kts and there were lots of mooring lines to anchors all around, and we weren't sure about our windlass so we were prepared. Marina and Jessie did a great job bringing up the anchor and had it stowed so quickly I was wondering how much line was still out when I got the 'off the bottom' signal. We powered out, sorting the cabin below as we went (having learned from previous passages where many things end up on the floor -- see the various videos we've posted) and then we pulled out the sails. We were really fortunate that the wind was on the beam. These are Tara's ideal conditions and we were charging along at about 8 to 8.5 knots boat speed over the bottom. For you land-based creatures going 10 miles an hour might seem pedestrian, however for us sea creatures, it's hauling butt. We were on the beam reach for about 8 hours -- the boredom was broken by Ross and his teenage 'Jolly Jumper' -- he has fun, and when he gets into the water unexpectedly it's entertainment for all of us.

As expected, when we got to Sicily we got into a convergence zone and the wind shut off so we powered up the Yanmar (engine) and headed back towards Marzamemi -- the town we stayed in last time. We had hoped to meet up with Frank and Valeria but their boat was out of the water and they weren't there on the weekend. We needed to get some provisions and sort out our internet and phones so I called a taxi -- a nice older guy came and got me in his van (no visible meter) and I made the classic mistake of not negotiating a price in advance. So I went to the Vodafone store -- about a 10 minute drive, he waited for me for more than a half hour as I tried to get our internet stick SIM and 2 phone SIMs purchased, then to the Grocery Store (where beer is only $1 per bottle and Parmesean is the cheapest cheese in the grocery), for another 10 minutes, then 5 minute ride back to the boat …. 25 euros -- ouch! Should have walked.


Anyway, I got food, phones, internet and an education all in one fell swoop (80 Euros + 60 Euros + 25 Euros + Moorage of 45 Euros … no wonder I need to work!).


We had a nice dinner onboard and hit the hay early as we had another 60 mile day next to get to Riposto.