Heading to Sicily
We left Roccella at daylight so no pics from there. Flat seas and fine weather but again no wind so the day was spent motor sailing all the way to Sicily. Another 13 hour day but what a beautiful anchorage we came to just under the lee of Capo Taormina. We were approached by a runabout offering moorings but we chose to anchor along with a couple of other yachts.
Next day once ashore we checked out much of the town around the waterfront. We were keen to see the old town built on the side and top of the rocky headland. We caught a bus for the hairy ride around the winding road. When we arrived not knowing what to expect I asked about the return trip and was told the next bus back was in 25 minutes. Wondering if we would see everything in that time we followed the other passengers from numerous buses up the road. What a surprise. Wonderful buildings, alleys, views of the bay below and of course the eateries, gelato shops and other shops offering from high end fashion to tacky souvenirs. Needless to say we were not on the next bus down the hill in fact we spent over 3 hours there. Mount Etna is close by and has a constant cloud of smoke/ash coming from the top. That means tomorrow perhaps we have black covering the boat instead of the brown/orange we have become used to.
Next morning we dinghied over to the caves where there is an endless stream of day boats taking the tourists that fill the multitude of hotels around the water as well as up in the old town. We were very impressed especially with the ones in San Andra Cove, where we could go right inside. The area is a marine park, one of many that the Italian government has put in place. We were amazed to see tho’ on the way here we passed oil rigs right in the middle of a marine reserve that normal traffic can’t even navigate thru’. Not sure about the logic of that. Our afternoon was spent ashore with a long walk around to the marina at Naxos looking for a supposedly super store supermarket. We did find a shop and have succumbed to buying the UHT milk we knew from last time…no more fresh I guess.
The yacht has a router in it and we thought to get a new chip for it so we can have cheaper internet than my hotspot and with better coverage. Found the store and no, unless we have the password from the previous owner we can’t use it. So I will email him for it and see how we go other wise I’ll get a dongle and perhaps have some success with that. It is just the down and up loading of photos that makes for the expense with my hotspot…It takes forever.
We said goodbye reluctantly to Taormina and sailed to Brucoli, anchoring just outside the entrance to the river. Plenty of action here with the usual run abouts anchoring or rafting together for an afternoon of swimming off the back. We had a visit by a swimmer who had lived in Melbourne for 5 yrs and he came to make sure our flag was Australian not NZ. He brought some females with him and gave us some laughs with his comments. He said he loved the bacon and egg breakfasts we have in Aus, so we didn’t tell him that tomorrow being Sunday we have just that for breakfast. In fact next morning we wondered if he could smell it and arrive at the back of the boat. Very friendly people. We only stayed overnight and were pleased to leave the swell that had arrived in the night.
A short trip next day to another gem of an anchorage at Siracusa. There is the old town and the new town, the old being very old but beautiful. And they have markets so we have them earmarked for t