We have one diesel tank out of commission but luckily it is the smallest one and so we filled up via our two 20ltr jerrycans before leaving Castellammare. The wall that you would have to moor up against to get to the diesel pump did not look very "gelcoat" friendly so Jon and Vic lugged the jerrycans down the pontoon which was rather wobbly but at least quite wide.

It was then pilotage across the bay towards Palermo. The sea was flat calm and we had very little wind again. I had emailed a couple of what they call "marinas" and are in fact a couple of pontoons owned and run by either a sailing club or individuals. The only one to reply was Nautica Filli Galizzi in Palermo Harbour. It is the first set of pontoons on the right as you enter the Cala. Kaira, the neice of the the owner does speak English which is a help and she wanted us to call her on the phone one hour before arriving so they could get ready for us. We did this and sure enough there she with her uncle plus a marinaio and they were ready to signal us into their pontoons. Each "marina" has a unique whistle to call to your attention and the Galizzi brothers have a rather large yellow polystyrene hand on a pole to wave you in too.

The cost is high at this time of the year at Euro 60 per night so we will be doing some anchoring now to keep the average nightly cost down. But it was worth going to the capital city to at least see what it is like. We berth bows to on lazy lines and this was a downfall as whilst out sight-seeing the Customs officers were racing up and down the harbour at high speed (as they usually do) and our bow ladder clipped the pontoon. Our ladder bent and so has an interesting curvy shape to it, but it did not break and is still very study.; thank you Phoenix 315 in Plymouth who made it for us.

This journey was 53 nm and we motor sailed in 8.5 hours with an average speed of 6.23 nm/hr.

As the wind was on our nose we had to tack out a long way to make it around the headland Capo Gallo.