To my surprise, we actually did sail away from Marina di Ragusa yesterday morning. (The photo above was taken by our friend Steve on "At Last" as we were leaving- thanks Steve!) Most of our friends thought this was a tad early to be leaving, and I fear they may be right. Of the seven previous seasons that we've sailed in the Mediterranean, only once before have we managed to leave the dock this early. That was in 2008, when Wally and Martha joined us in the south of Spain and helped us get the boat ready. As I recall, we were bundled up in foulies, hats and gloves for the passage to Ibiza.
Why leave so early? This year, we've got a couple of good reasons. One is that our daughter Katherine and her fiancé Martin are getting married in August, so we'll be flying back to Nova Scotia in mid-June to help with preparations. That means we have limited cruising time, and we need to get the boat to Rome before we leave. We also hope to meet Rick's sister Lyn and her husband Kevin somewhere on the west coast of Italy in mid-May. We expect to have some weather-related delays at various ports as we make our way north, but we have lots of little maintenance jobs to do to pass the time, and lots of books and movies onboard.
Considering the social schedule in the marina, it's astonishing that we got away at all. The biggest event of the month was held on Tuesday night, when the "Sailing Nomads" gave their final performance, at the restaurant Quatro Quarti on the waterfront promenade. This talented group of musicians, including sax, guitar and keyboard players plus vocalists, are all cruisers who spent the winter at Marina di Ragusa. Gary from Australia on Neptune II, is a world class sax player who was a studio musician in his pre-cruising life. Peter, our neighbour on Victoria, is also terrific on guitar. The Nomads put on a fantastic show to a packed house.
Then for a finale, Quatro Quarti's manager Theresa performed two beautiful songs with the daughter of the restaurant's owner.
There are more photos of the event
in our photo gallery. A great time was had by all, and an excess of fun was had by some. Fortunately, everyone made it safely across their passerelles to their boats. Sadly, the members of the Sailing Nomads will now go their separate ways to various corners of the world, and we will not hear their like again.
On Wednesday we were invited to tea with John and Jan on Brigantia, and spent a pleasant hour in their cozy enclosed cockpit as the wind howled outside. The next afternoon the weather was better, and we had a few friends in our own cockpit for coffee and cinnamon rolls.
On Thursday evening, we lingered at a gathering hosted by Ni and Krissy on Finalemente, knowing we should get to bed early but hating to say goodbye. In spite of it all, we managed to pull away from the dock at 7.40 the next morning. With the wind behind us and a little boost from the motor, we arrived in Siracusa before 5 p.m., with dolphins jumping beside Aisling on the approach. There would certainly be no difficulty finding a place to drop our anchor, since there were only two other boats in the harbor. It was "Liberation Day" in Italy, the anniversary of the day the Italians began a revolt that resulted in the end of the Nazi/Fascist regime. We could hear the sounds of bells, music and celebration drifting across the water.
Our anchor bit well on the first attempt, so we decided to launch the dinghy and go ashore for a while. With the wind piping up a bit, getting the dinghy in the water was a bit of a tricky maneuver, but everything worked beautifully. Rick was feeling pleased at how well we were managing this "cruising stuff". That is until the clip on the dinghy painter snapped. I was on my hands and knees wiping up some dirt from the deck when Rick yelled "Bon, we've lost the dinghy". I wheeled around to watch our dinghy (which, I might add, we'd just had reconditioned at a cost of $385 euros) blowing out to sea, with the motor attached . The only possible ways to retrieve it were to swim after it, which Rick contemplated for about 3 seconds ( not a good idea in April) or to fire up Aisling's motor to chase it. I don't think we've ever before pulled in the anchor so quickly, but with 140 feet of chain it felt like a lifetime! Fortunately, we caught up to the dinghy in minutes, and it was easy to snag. Then we headed back to re-set the anchor, and to wash off the large quantity of mud that we had deposited on our foredeck because we had hauled in the anchor without washing it. And then the washdown hose broke.... yup, maybe Rick has to re-think whether we really have this cruising stuff down pat.
In the end, we abandoned the idea of going ashore, pulled a lasagna out of the freezer for dinner and turned in early. We woke in the middle of the night to the sound of heavy rain pouring on the decks and a loud bumping noise coming from somewhere on the boat. It took us a quarter of an hour to trace it to a piece of wood moving around in the cockpit locker. Then, we heard water dripping and realized that the dodger was leaking again. Sometimes, it's hard to get a good night's sleep on this boat! Luckily, the rain was a clean rain, and not the horrible muddy stuff that deposits nasty brown spots on everything. So our decks are sparkling clean again. Isn't cruising fun?
This morning, we finally did go ashore and went for a run. A rat sat at the edge of Arethusa's fountain, nonchalantly taking a drink, proving that nasty things hide below the surface of even the nicest places. Next a bit of shopping, then cappucino at the Caffe del Ponte, then a quick trip to the market. But alas, we were not able to get the smoked mozzarella that we love so much, because Gaetano's place has become so popular that the line-up stretched into the street.
We came home with two orata (sea bream) from our favourite fish-monger, which we will cook for dinner tonight. Good thing we weren't planning to go out, because it's pouring rain again.
Rick's Cruising Notes
No change here since previous notes in 2009, 11, 12 and 2013 . Anchored in 30' , close to canal in mud, good hold. Dinghy dock in canal on left, past first bridge. Lock dinghy and tanks well as there have been thefts here. Great chandlery on Via Savoia (near the water end of the street). Laundry available on the mainland side, take Ponte Umberto off Ortigia and it's a short distance on the left