Sicilian Shakedown (no mafioso!)
19 June 2009 | Catania, Sicily
The anchorage and town proved to be "sticky" and we didn't escape Siracusa until June 19th, under sail by the old fortress at the harbor mouth to make our way to Taormina and then on to Italy's "boot". We had a grand start for our "shakedown" as we sailed out of the harbor, beam reach on flat seas. It was perfect, until it wasn't. The wind shifted 120 degrees and the gusts started uncomfortable, choppy seas. Then, BAM! We heard a noise like a shotgun, louder than anything we've ever heard on board and quickly, with mounting anxiety, realized that we had lost a shroud!! Fortunately it was a lower to the mizzen and the rig was fine ... but our confidence not!! We took the mizzen sail down in a heartbeat, tied off the shredded cable end, reefed the rest of the sail plan and began the disturbing process of analyzing what went wrong and how we were going to fix it.
It made sense to backtrack to Catania, Sicily where there were marinas, internet access and maybe some professional help. We did begin to rethink it all, perhaps we should scrap the season's cruising plan and spend the next month or two (and a sizeable portion of the season's budget) and re-rig ... meaning sourcing all new cable & fittings, considering DIY vs. a paid rigger, thinking about suitable locations (should we go to English speaking Malta?) and on and on. We settled into a marina that night and, as luck would have it, berthed next to an English speaking Italian Army officer who referred us to the #1 rigger in Catania, perhaps all of Sicily, whose name was oddly Franco Catania. We met with him early the next morning and he was fantastic!! He had the know-how and equipment to complete a professional new hydraulic swage, provided us with a new, longer turnbuckle, and assisted Craig while we re-tuned the entire rig. All in one day and for a reasonable price!
Our evaluation of the cause was clear: in addition to the toll of age, the rig was unbalanced ~ we had not tuned it correctly after loosening the triatic, headstay & backstays for our crane lift & launch. It was our fault, but boy are we lucky for getting a "clarion call" (with no disaster!) to urge us to plan for an entire rig re-do ... and we will do it this year. But for now, we've tuned and re-tuned many times at anchor and under sail, trust the rigger's work, promise each other to be fair weather sailors whenever possible and to reef early & often. So it was off to the market early the next a.m. and then on with our journey!