Aisling I

A great thing about having friends come to visit (besides the obvious fact that we get to spend time with our friends) is that it motivates us to do some touring. Even though we've now spent a cumulative total of nearly six months in Sicily since our first visit in 2008, we haven't even come close to seeing everything that this amazing island has to offer. When Bob and Nancy rent a car and ask if there is anywhere we'd like to visit, the Villa Romana Del Casale quickly comes to mind. This circa 4th century AD villa near Piazza Amerina has over 3,500 square meters of well-preserved mosaics, including a most unusual mosaic of women in bikinis. As a bonus, we can make a detour to Caltagirone on the way.

Renting the car through Antonio at "Yacht Services" has the advantage of allowing additional drivers at no charge, so Rick takes the wheel to give Bob his initiation into the fine art of driving in Sicily. Nerves of steel are required by the driver and passengers alike. On the narrow highways, impatient Sicilians drive at breakneck speed, barely missing oncoming vehicles as they weave in and out to overtake. Wrecked vehicles are displayed at strategic points on the roadside, with stern warnings about the dangers of reckless driving. It's clear that these serve only to terrify tourists. Driving through the narrow streets of Sicilian towns is only slightly better. "You just have to get your fender slightly ahead of the other guy's" Rick tells Bob nonchalantly. Bob looks a bit doubtful.

Caltagirone is another of the UNESCO-recognized baroque towns, but is best known for the colourful ceramics made by the town's artisans. True to form, it is almost noon before we arrive in the town centre, but since many of the shops here stay open all day we'll have no trouble buying as much "ceramiche" as we can carry. In the first shop that we visit, Rick zeros in on a ceramic table top, which we definitely can't carry home. The shopkeeper assures him she can ship it to Canada for him, but when he hears the price he beats a hasty retreat. At another shop, we are welcomed by a French woman from Normandy, who teaches French in the town but (apparently) works part-time in the ceramic shop. She enthusiastically rattles on about what a wonderful place Sicily is, which she largely credits to the Norman influence. "And the food is so healthy! They don't use artificial fertilizers because Mount Etna nourishes the soil!" she gushes, then goes on to claim that "No one gets sick here!" This is obviously not true (just yesterday I saw an entire wall covered with death notices outside the public gardens in Ragusa) but I agree that the food is very good. Then she tells me that the ceramic pieces being sold in this shop are the best quality in the entire town. And for some reason, I believe her. Never mind; the things we bought from her were very nice. We move on to a less expensive shop and buy even more.

A prominent landmark in Caltagirone is a long set of steps paved in ceramic tiles. Bob starts to look a bit nervous...will Nancy want to climb it? Perhaps we should have, but instead we continue down a side street to La Piazetta, a restaurant where Rick and I had a delicious meal with Ni, Krissy and Katherine a year ago. "Please, not too much food" Bob pleads. But the food here is so good! We convince him that having the pasta course as well as the mixed antipasti will not be too much, but of course it is. If we keep this up, the four of us won't fit into the car.

The scenery along the road to Piazza Amerina is rural Sicily at its best. At some points we can even see Etna in the distance. Nancy is delighted by the fields of poppies, and finally we find a place where we can safely pull off the road to take some pictures.

By mid-afternoon, we're on-site at the Villa Romana del Casale, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The villa is believed to have been the retreat of Diocletian's colleague, the Roman Emperor Maximium (a theory supported by the fact that the capitals of the marble columns of the atrium are identical to those at Diocletian's villa at Split). Our Blue Guide claims that the villa is comparable "in richness and extent" not only to Diocletian's Palace, but also to Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. The Villa Romana was covered by mud in a flood in the 12th century, and remained buried for over seven centuries. This likely helped to preserve the incredible mosaics, which, being Roman-African in style, bring to mind those we've seen in the Bardo museum in Tunis. Seeing these works of art in situ allows us to get a glimpse into the lives of the rich and powerful in the 4th century AD. In places, sections of the walls remain standing, and some frescos are also partially preserved.

Rick and Bob are well-matched as travelling companions, and they do the full tour of the site in record time. Nancy and I are equally well-matched, since we both like to savour every detail. There's so much to see that it's almost bewildering. The Room of the Ten Girls is truly amazing with its depiction of women doing exercises in bikinis, but my personal favourite is the Corridor of the Great Hunt, which shows game animals of India and Africa being captured and loaded into galleys on a fish-filled sea.

We're at least half an hour behind Rick and Bob, but they are waiting patiently. They wait patiently again while we make a detour to a cluster of shops outside the gates, where we each buy a really neat ceramic lemon juicer. It's evening by the time we get back to Marina di Ragusa, and our last stop is at the Demeglio's supermarket, where we buy a kilo of mussels for dinner ...and of course, a little more wine. We're back onboard Aisling just on time to wish Kathy a Happy Birthday through Facetime. If only she could be here to join us in our toast to her health...Salute!

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Vessel Name:	Aisling I
Vessel Make/Model:	Slocum 43
Hailing Port:	Halifax, NS, Canada
Crew:	Rick and Bonnie Salsman
About:	Crew from Halifax to Horta: Bonnie and Rick Salsman, Dave Morse, Wally Fraser Crew from Horta to Spain: Bonnie and Rick Salsman, Al Salsman, Rob Salsman We left Halifax, N.S. in June 2007, sailed to Horta, and explored the Azores for a month. [...] More
Extra:	The info below is a copy and paste from some literature about the Slocum 43. Please excuse the platitudes. Although I may like them , they are not truly mine. Aisling I is a 1987 Slocum 43, designed by Stan Huntingford. She has been designed to satisfy the sailor who wants the blue water, "get [...] me there" ability with the amenities for great comfort at anchor and at sea. It's a combination of engineering, performance, comfort and safety, wrapped in high quality Burmese teak finish, teak and holly cabin soles and rich upholstery. She is meant to be easily handled by a couple under almost any conditions. She was built in Taiwan to exacting standards using some of the latest technologies of the time that are still admired today. LOA: 42'6" LWL: 35'10"" TYPE: Sailboat - Cutter Rigged BEAM: 12'11" DRAFT: 6' 5" BUILDER:SLOCUM DISPL: 28,104 lbs. SAIL AREA: 808 Sq.Ft. DESIGNER: Stan Huntingford BALLAST: 9,000 lbs. HULL MATRL: Fiberglass ENGINE: Perkins 4108 TANKAGE/FUEL: 120 gal TANKAGE/WATER:150 gal GENERAL INFORMATION: Naval Architect Stan Huntingford has incorporated into this sturdy double ender, both seaworthiness and ample interior space that offers steady and comfortable cruising. Below the water line, the hull shows a fine entry with a long cutaway forefoot followed by an efficient and modern keel section and a deep profile skeg hung rudder, just forward of a tapered stern section. This design combination readily separates the Slocum 43 from other traditional yachts and offers ease of handling and lively performance. This yacht is a perfect example of a classic offshore design and has a warm, roomy and comfortable interior . Incorporating a tumble home stern, bulwarks, dorades, opening ports, oversize rigging and quality construction, This yacht is a modern classic. ACCOMMODATIONS & LAYOUT: Headroom is 6'4" or better, throughout the boat and storage capacity can only be noted as "more than ample". Beautiful Burmese teak joinery throughout, solid teak staving , all doors are beveled and hand fitted, lockers are teak lined and the glossy varnished cabin sole is teak and holly plank. The interior is finished with a satin varnish with high gloss accents on the trim. Teak doors are louvered. This yacht sleeps up to six people in accommodations with the forward cabin, main salon and owners quarter berth cabin. The forward cabin design is a signature of the Slocum and incorporates an upper and lower twin bunk to port, with the top berth extending into a a settee and to port, there is extensive storage in the form of shelves, hanging locker, drawers and louvered doors. Naval Architect Stan Huntingford has incorporated into this sturdy double ender, both seaworthiness and ample interior space that offers steady and comfortable cruising. Below the water line, the hull shows a fine entry with a long cutaway forefoot followed by an efficient and modern keel section and a deep profile skeg hung rudder, just forward of a tapered stern section. This design combination readily separates the Slocum 43 from other traditional yachts and offers ease of handling and lively performance. This yacht is a perfect example of a classic offshore design and is one of the warmest, roomiest, most comfortable interiors available in a 43' cruising yacht. Incorporating a tumble home stern, bulwarks, dorades, opening ports, oversize rigging and quality construction, This yacht is a modern classic. Underneath the starboard countertop is a Stainless Steel automatic internal lighted freezer controlled by an opening top or door. Additionally, the refrigerator box opens from the front. The refrigerator and freezer have large capacity plates which were built to be easily removed for future servicing. There are 2-deep stainless steel sinks, fully gimbaled stove and generous counter space. Overhead cabinets have a moveable peg system, which allows you to custom fit spaces inside to the size and shape of your dishes. Over the galley is a large opening hatch for light and ventilation, also, there are two opening ports over the stove area for added ventilation. Directly across from the galley, to starboard, is a proper offshore, forward facing navigation station and chart table with tremendous room for an exceptional compliment of navigation and electronic equipment for easy use while navigating. The large nav table/desk has a generous storage locker under the desk top and room for the additional electronic navigation and communication equipment outboard. The nav seat is contoured for ease of use underway and the electrical panel is flush mounted here, on a swing-out door for easy access. Overhead are two additional opening ports for excellent cross ventilation with the galley and Nav area. Just aft of the nav station and to starboard of the companionway, is a large pilot berth that will be your favorite berth when offshore. There is a teak grate built into the teak and holly floor at the bottom of the companionway, to catch water from wet gear. With the wet locker and teak draining grate, which drains to the bilge, all foul weather gear is kept aft and away from the main living quarters. All locker doors are ventilated. At the bottom of the companionway stairs is additional storage behind bottom two steps. Next, to port is the owners aft cabin with a queen sized berth with storage below as well as drawers for him and her. Various shelves and locker with removable shelf and enclosed storage locker, as well as ample book storage and large teak framed mirror, mounted on the bulkhead. The aft stateroom also has excellent ventilation provided by two opening ports and an opening hatch overhead. There are 11 Stainless steel opening ports with screens and 5 opening deck hatches, plus the companionway hatch, with screens, which provides a tremendous amount of light and superior cross ventilation. There are also 2 dorade vents, one over the head and one over the chart table. Below deck ventilation far surpasses the standards in the industry. There are light colored curtains at the ports for privacy, interior cushions are a blue HULL AND DECK Hull hand laid-up Fiberglas with 20mm R62-80 Airex Sandwich. Cast iron ballast - 4.08 tonnes, flooded with resin and 100% glassed over ( encapsulated keel). Deck- hand laid-up Fiberglas with 3/4" Baltek balsa-wd sandwich core. Teak side decks - seasoned timber, quarter sawn with black bedding compound below and in seams, secured to Fiberglas by 1" sheet metal screws, countersunk and plugged. Inlaid teak on cabin top. 1 1/2" s/s shaft, tapered to ABYC std ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Conforms to United States Coast Guard and American Bureau Yachting regulations governing wire type, coding and load capacity FRP battery box, ventilated cover with quick release tie down NEWMAR (USA) electrical panel with panel light, circuit breakers with "ON" light and battery test switch, both 110v AC and 12v DC, volt Fuel tanks - New April2000, 120 gallons in 2 Aluminum 60 gal tanks with baffles, clean out ports, complete with dipsticks, inter tank connectors with valve, take off from top with s/s ball valve on each labeled and grounded More
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