Well my lovelies - This is the final blog entry of our Sailing Season 2019 aboard Patience. Thank you so much to all of you who have bothered to read the blog and share our adventures. I really really hope more of you will take the plunge and join us on board next year. We love sailing and exploring new places, but having friends and family on board to share it with, is the icing on the cake - so please come xx

Tuesday 24th September 2019
For our last couple of weeks we had an awesome crew on board - Derek and Sue (who took this fab photo of me and the boys.) They joined us in Malta and sailed with us back to our Winter berth in Porto Maria Delle Graze in Roccella Ionica, Southern Italy.

We managed to share a few nice anchorages in Malta with them, while waiting for a weather window to cross to Sicily. One evening they
took us for a wonderful Pizza supper in Valetta. It was great to walk around the city at night, it had a completely different vibe. Seeing the buildings lit up was a real treat, as Ricky and I tend to be in bed by 9 most nights. We felt almost grown up.

When we finally set sail from Malta it was very very early. We set a course from the island of Comino to the bottom of Sicily. We were heading for Portopalo. We all got up with our wake up calls, but once we had left the anchorage, Derek and Sue took the sunrise shift so Ricky and I got to go back to bed. That's the kind of crew we like! It was a long trip, but the sun shone, the wind was perfect, Both Derek and Sue were natural on the helm and Ricky caught 2 fish!!!! (The first of the season) What a day!

Our second stop was Syracuse, where we anchored in a large bay further North on the East coast of Sicily. This city is said by many to be more Greek than Greece. Then again, it was founded by the Corinthians and actually has more, fabulously preserved ancient ruins than Athens.
It is a place that we will revisit when we have more time and are not on a transit voyage.

Our last stop over before our final destination was Taormina, still on Sicily. On route we stayed quite close to the shore, so we had a fantastic view of Mount Etna, which was 'smokin' - pretty amazing really to be sailing past, if you stop to think that it is still an active volcano. At night apparently you can sometimes see lava erupting from the crater. That must be spectacular to witness.

We weren't so lucky with the weather for the final leg of our trip. We had to motor across the bottom of the Messina straight, because there was no wind unfortunately. It did however, pick up once we reached the corner of Italy and we managed to sail the rest of the way to the marina.

We were all looking forward to the Marinas famous Meter long pizza, but unfortunately the pizzeria was closed so we took a walk into town instead. The following day Sue and Derek went off exploring, while we took the sails off ready to stow away for the Winter.

More boat jobs and packing for us followed , while Derek and Sue boarded a train and headed East along the southern coast of Italy to continue their holiday . Fab company - thanks guys x

10th October 6.20 am
With heavy hearts and heavy luggage we crept out of the marina, trying not to disturb the other residence. We walked to the bus along the coast and despite there not being a single breath of wind, the waves were wild, crashing on the beach, which was very odd.

The bus was on time and unbelievably only 6 euros each for a 2 and quarter hour journey to the airport .

Italy we love you - look forward to returning in the Spring .
In the meantime, we get to catch up with everyone at home and hear what you have all been up to while we have been away - Can't wait x