Aisling I

I've been spending a lot of time listening to Italian lessons and have managed to master a selection of useful phrases, like "It's a car!" "I'd like an orangeade and a panini please", and "Would you like to dine with me tonight?" Unfortunately, not a single one of those phrases was even remotely useful when the guardia costeria arrived to tell us that we had to move our boat off the Trapani town dock. Rick had abandoned his efforts to communicate with them and asked them to wait a "momento" while he summoned me to the bow. Presumably they were expecting him to return with someone who could actually speak their language, but instead they found themselves faced with me, in a nightgown. saying the Italian equivalent of "No may here??" "Must to go now??" "May here later??" and even worse, clearly not understanding a single word they said in response. Still, it was obvious that they wanted us to move to the laid moorings at the entry to the harbour. There seemed to be a glimmer of hope that we would be able to come back to the dock later, but I couldn't fully understand that part.

It was really too bad that we had to move, because we thought we had found the perfect spot. We were enjoying the company of our new neighbours Jaab and Diana, who were the dockside equivalent of Tom and Linda in terms of friendliness and helpfulness. We'd been able to wander off into the town for dinner on Saturday night without having to use the dinghy or climb off the anchor. We had also been very happy to see that a water delivery truck came along the dock every evening, selling nonpotable water at 20 euros for 300 litres. (You will note that our standards have now dropped on the issue of water- if it's safe to shower in, I'll pay the asking price.) Unfortunately we had not yet filled up and the truck was nowhere in sight when we pushed off the dock and headed out to the mooring field. Picking up a mooring ball here is no easy feat, because we have to feed the line through a small eye in the top of the heavy ball. As we approached the buoy, a friendly voice hailed us, and Claude from the American-flagged boat Cenou scooted over in his RIB to give us a hand. Shortly after we got settled, he appeared with a bag of books and an invitation to coffee. We enjoyed meeting his two young daughters, who had stayed behind in Trapani with their father while their mother made a quick journey to the US. The family has been cruising aboard their 46-foot catamaran since 2006. I've always wondered what it would be like trying to find space to anchor one of those big cats in the Med, but now I can clearly see the benefits. Their boat has almost as much space as my parent's first house did and regularly does 200 mile days! The only downside of the cats seems to be weight management (of the boat, not the crew)-the boat slows dramatically when overloaded.

During the afternoon, Rick continually scanned the town dock with his binoculars to see what the other boats were doing. It seemed we were the only ones who'd obeyed the order to move. We're just so...Canadian.

There are advantages to being in the mooring field. The view is nicer and the breeze makes it cooler onboard. It's also an excellent vantage point to watch the comings and goings around the hydrofoil ferry that crashed on the mole on Thursday night- almost a year to the day from another similar crash. (Luckily there were no fatalities this time, but I would think twice before getting on one of the Ustica ferries.) In spite of our front-row seats, the level in our water tanks was getting lower, so when we saw a vacant space at the town dock on Wednesday we decided to move back. Unfortunately, within three hours, the coast guard paid us another visit and insisted that we move around into a stern-to position, or leave. This time, they meant business and stayed around to be sure that every boat complied. There was lots of grumbling and if we'd paid attention I'm sure we could have learned a few colourful new Italian words. Rick made it clear that trying to med-moor on our stern anchor wasn't something he was prepared to attempt for the first time in the stiff breeze that had suddenly come up- but we still had no water and something had to be done. I sprinted down the road to inquire about the price of a marina berth- 90 euros. Gulp. Could we perhaps just come in and buy some water? The manager pointed me to a vacant place at the dock and I told him we'd be there in ten minutes. Thanks goodness he spoke English- or so I thought. After maneuvering Aisling into position, bow to, it became clear that he thought we were staying for the night. Some telephone-based assistance from his English-speaking friend was required before he agreed that, although it was not "normale", we could fill our tanks for 15 euros. When I went back to the office with the money and some Canadian and Nova Scotian flag pins, he decided that 10 euros was enough and gave me 5 euros back.

After getting settled back on the mooring, we had a lovely evening with Jaap and Diana onboard their Dufour 40, Sykiara. Early in the evening, the reason for our eviction from the dock became clear. As part of the festival, the statue of the Madonna di Trapani was brought to the dock on a float, loaded onto the ferry and taken out to the mouth of the harbour. Later, she was brought ashore for a procession to the cathedral, followed by a dramatic fireworks display over the harbour.

Yesterday was the day we'd been anticipating for weeks- Roy and Joanne have arrived! We've already explored several of Trapani's beautiful old churches, had a swim, tasted Sicilian pizza and gelato and done a little shopping. Today is the holiday and we're just about to head to shore to see what's happening on the streets.

All the best from Bonnie, Rick, Roy and Joanne

Comments

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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