Left Malta at 7am, swell 3-5 metres from North East, entered the Port of Palo at around 4pm, settled at anchor, joined by 4 other yachts for the night, little swell , great nights sleep. Off to Syracusa to the Grand Harbour Quay.
A good motor sail to Syracusa, hailed the port authorities on VHF 11 and was allocated a place on the quay, now getting pretty windy, we managed to tie up with the assistance of a lady and her children, they live on their boat and are in the anchorage. She told us her friends had been broken into on the quay and everything inside the boat of value had been taken. I went to the coastguard to fill in the relevant forms, not much English spoken, then back to the boat and we decided to anchor out. The port authorities gave me specific coordinates to anchor in, so we spent a good night at anchor, in the morning went into the marina yachting marina, for safety so we could get checked in and have a look around this UNESCO world heritage town. Spent time checking in and got our Constituti from the Harbour Master, somewhat like a transit log in Greece. no charge!
Had a great walk around the fort and old town area, really magnificent buildings and squares, a narrow warren of streets runnning all over. Met a lovely New Zealand family that tied up to the quay, Nick, Tanya, and their beautiful girls Elody and Yasmine, from Mapua, Nelson , on their yacht Te Fiti. Had a really great chat to them, so nice to talk to other kiwis, happy sailing guys, hopefully we will met again back in our beautiful New Zealand.
Marina yachting is small and doesn't have much in the way of facilities, toilets and a somewhat communal shower system, which we decided to give a miss. For our 50 foot yacht we paid 75 euro, water and electric is on top of that figure. Really nice people running the place. Off to Augusta to anchor the night, just after leaving the rain and thunder and lighting started, visibility not so good. We passed the huge tanker port and anchored in 5 metres within the bay. Kelvin decided to rig up the rain catcher and now it has stopped raining, but expecting more! Good night, but at about 5am the swell came in and we were rolling all over the place. so started off toward Taormina. Very big swells and waves and 20-25 knots ,raining hard , not a very nice sail, decided to ring the marina at Riposte and book berth for the night as the anchorage at Taormina wouldn't be suitable. Got into the marina, raining very hard lots of thunder and lightning. 97 euros for the night!! went into town and the rain was horrendous, the thunder was extremely loud, locals said they haven't seen that much rain. Great nights sleep, super hot shower in the morning. Left after filling up with diesel. Motor sailed up through the Messina strait, past Reggio Di Calibria, where we stayed a couple of nights in 2014 after sailing the west coast of Italy to Greece, on our very first voyage on Ondina. We anchored in the little fishing village harbour of Scilia, really a cute wee place, somewhat rundown, but with charm, the fishermans house go all the way to the edge of the sea and their boats are stored either beneath their houses or next to them. A large fortified rocky hill protects the harbour and town and a huge church lies next to it. A wedding was taking place on one of the balconies over looking the harbour. We were joined later in the evening by a British Catamaran who anchored next to us. It rained heavily and we had a fair bit of thunder and lightning over the evening, a great view of Stromoli from this little harbour. Got rolly about 4 am so took off toward the islands and sailed most of the way, 10-15 knots easterly, can still see lightning over the hill behind us, lots of ships exiting and entering the Messina strait. A little rain, overcast. aiming for Vulcano the bay on the west looks good, and will have a rest and get some jobs done for a few days.
Safely anchored in Porto di Ponente, right under the active volcano, a spectacular sight and can smell the sulphur too! You are able to walk right up onto the top of the hill and look into the volcano, got some much needed washing done and good weather now to dry it! Most of the boats have now left and just a handful of yachts left in the bay for tonight. Spent a few more nights here, as we are due in Palermo on 9th Oct to pick up our new dinghy and motor. Went ashore and had a walk around the village, very touristy but nice and all geared up for the vulcano walking trip etc. Hot mud pools are open and loads of people bathing in them, right on the beach 40 m out are some amazing hot water springs. All in all this is a wonderful place to see, despite the anchorage being rolly at night. Lots of tourist boats coming and going and the ferry berths over the other side of the penisular in Porto di Levante. There is also a jetty that one yacht was tied up to, and an abandoned marina, without break water. Really enjoyed this stop, relaxing and sunny most of the time and great views of a dormant volcano, one night we were treated to an amazing firework display from across the hill!
Vulcano to Palermo
We took the anchor up at 5 pm, hoping for some easterlies that are predicted, light but with poling out may be helpful to blow us to Palermo. Wind died later in the evening, so motor sailed and motored the remainder of the way, only a few ships overnight. We entered Palermo harbour and moored at the marina we had booked a week ago, staff really friendly. Cost 95 euro !! a night for our 50 foot yacht. We have needed to be here to pick up our new dinghy and motor, so have to grin and bear the cost.
Went for a walk around the town , really impressive, a real town and loads of amazing buildings and churches. Got some groceries at Carrafour, they delivered them an hour later, great service. Need to purchase over 50 euros to get free delivery.