summertime goes south

9th August-San Vito to Castellamare di Golfo
The forecast is for the heatwave to break, at least in the Palermo area, with 90% chance of thunderstorms. Not wishing to be caught out we decided to head for Palermo on Thursday and be free of the risk of thunderstorms at sea. From San Vito we headed south rather than west, for Castellammare dei Golfo, tucked up in the south-west corner of the bay, aptly named Golfo di Castellammare and anchored off the harbour. The localised nature of the weather was emphasised by the change in the winds. San Vito was completely calm but in the bay the wind picked up and at one point a nasty sea built up as the wind increased to over 20 knots, coming directly from the high ridge adjacent to the town. In addition the wind from the south was hotter even than the high ambient temperature - like a fan-assisted sauna!
Closer in to the coast the wind dropped and at first we anchored off a beach but a long way from the harbour, so we moved to the harbour. In contrast to the frenzy of fun at the tourist resort of San Vito, we found a delightful town, touristy but with a life of its own. The old town is built up the steep volcanic rocks on several levels, climbing away from the harbour and boasts the usual castle and number of churches dating from at least the 16th century. Pity we don't have more time to explore but we leave for Palermo tomorrow and preparations to come home.