Photo: Full moon rising over the city of Syracusa, our view from the cockpit our first night in port. So romantic!

The forecast was for moderate northerly winds, perfect for crossing the Ionian Sea to Syracusa, Sicily, 300 nm due west. We set off in the morning together with SV Mindedal, but being a larger, faster boat, we soon left them in our wake. it was our first overnight trip (actually two nights at sea) since sailing up the Strait of Malacca two years ago. It was almost full moon, best time for a passage.

Electronic navigation makes passages ever so much easier than in the past. From the comfort of our cockpit we monitor our course on the iPad, using Navionics software. The AIS system lets us know if any ships are on collision course. But almost invariably their AIS alarm has alerted them to our presence and they've changed course to avoid us miles before we see them. There is of course the exception: we just had to sail around a Greek freighter that's adrft in the middle of the sea, with no one visible aboard. All dead of the plague? Or just awaiting orders to proceed to port.

The wind eventually petered out and we had to motorsail the rest of the way, our autopilot keeping us on course. As we approached the coast we could see Mt. Aetna looming in the north, almost 11,000 feet high. We passed the ancient fortress guarding the entrance to Syracusa and anchored in the Grand Harbor, 50 hours after leaving Pylos. Mindedal arrived the next morning.

Shortly after we arrived, two American couples dinghied over from their boats to welcome us. Instant new friends! We launched our dinghy and took our passports and boat papers to the Coast Guard office, but as we'd heard from others, it seemed an inconvenience for them to have to deal with us. In fact, they didn't seem to know what to do with us. The officer made a phone call ("Americanos, Passeporte") and then shuffled around for a form for us to fill out. No passport stamps.

Our duty done, our next priortiy was to find the phone store and buy a SIM chip for 3G Internet. We then ambled around the old town in the midday heat, past ancient temple ruins and down narrow alleyways, and had our first gelati.

In the next few days we explored the city, which has one of best markets we've been to, and visited the Archeological Park of Syracusa. Here are a few photos of Syracusa and also Ragusa. Syracusa and Ragusa...