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Envoy is currently cruising around the Corfu Channel.
In Taormina we decided to put Envoy on a mooring so we could safely leave her while exploring ashore. The moorings are owned by a very helpful Maltese guy called George, who charges a rather expensive 45 Euros (NZ$70) per night for them, including rubbish collection, but also ferries people from boat to shore and back for 10 Euros (NZ$16) per trip. This is good because in this area it’s not easy to find a place to leave your own dinghy when going ashore, and you often have to pay to leave it in a safe place. Also George’s very large RHIB would make it easier for Sharron to get ashore with her very sore knee.
Next day George took Doug and I ashore, and we caught an open-topped red hop-on, hop-off tourist bus to Taormina. The guide / ticket-seller told us the return time and a couple of hours later we caught the red bus back, but half way through the trip we realised it was a similar looking bus but not the same one we’d caught before, and in fact operated by a different company. Fortunately the guide was engrossed in answering questions from another passenger and never asked to see our tickets, so we got back without any problem.
Doug has a big interest in cuisine so it was a must to hire a car and take him to see Catania’s La Pescherie – the fishmarket (as described in an earlier posting). As Lonely Planet says, this is the best show in town and not to be missed – anybody who thinks “the Med is fished out” needs to visit this huge market brimming with exotic fish species.

Doug with some large swordfish at La Pescherie

La Pescherie sells all kinds of food and here Doug is buying some nuts

It was time to leave Sicily and start heading up the boot of Italy and back to Corfu in Greece.

Map showing the boot of Italy

This journey takes five days cruising most of each day as there are very few anchorages along the coast and the marinas are widely spaced. First day was a pre-dawn departure for a nearly 12 hour cruise to Roccella marina. We could hear thunder and see lightning in the distance but didn’t encounter any, although at sunrise we saw some impressive storm clouds.

Storm clouds at sunrise

Roccella marina is an efficiently run operation costing 50 Euros (NZ$78) per night including power and water. For the first time in six years of Med cruising we had a berth with a finger, enabling us to disembark and board without using the passarelle. This was great for Sharron with her sore knee, and we went ashore to the one and only pizzeria for a one metre-long pizza.

Envoy berthed alongside a pontoon finger for the first time

Before sunrise next day we headed across the Gulfo di Squillace, so named as it’s notorious for sudden squalls, but we had perfect calm conditions. We had planned to overnight at a marina called Le Castella, but when we got there at 1600 hours we found it very small, shallow and with no assistance or direction available.

Wind generators above Le Castella marina

Le Castella marina has a very narrow shallow entrance

We headed further north towards a larger marina in a harbour called Crotone, hoping to arrive before dark – we don’t like arriving at unfamiliar places during darkness when you can’t see fishing nets, mooring lines in the water and other possible hazards. However the coast just south of Crotone was perfectly sheltered in the light wind so we were able to anchor off a beach after an eleven hour cruise, saving ourselves marina fees.
At 0330 hours the next morning we were awoken by the roar of powerful engines, a wake causing Envoy to roll and sweeping searchlights – the Coastguard had come to investigate us. I sleepily went up on deck and an officer politely asked where we were from and heading to, how many people on board, why we were anchored there and when we were leaving. Satisfied with my answers he thanked us and soon roared off again. Although in Italy we’ve seen many Coastguard, Polizia and other official vessels this is the first time any have questioned us.

TECHNICAL – Nothing to report

ENVOY LOG – as at 10/9/14 we’d spent 155 days aboard and cruised 1,526 miles for 274 engine hours.

Envoy is currently in Gouvia Marina, Corfu as a storm is due to pass over the area.

Our last post describes the Aeolian Islands – here is a map showing them

Our friends Doug and Mary were keen to visit Taormina, so we decided to leave Envoy in the Marina di Portorosa on Sicily’s north-east coast and travel there by car. This marina is particularly expensive at 135 Euros (NZ$211) per night, but there’s not much alternative offering good shelter in this area. Sadly the once grand marina complex is poorly maintained as evidenced by faded paint, plaster falling off buildings, pot-holed roads and vacant shops in the arcade. The marina is built around a canal system with many quality houses fronting the canals.

The sheltered Portorosa Marina is built around canals

I was on the quayside alongside Envoy’s passarelle when the paving stone I was standing on collapsed underneath me giving my left foot some nasty cuts and bruises. Fortunately nothing was broken but my foot was still sore two weeks later. This seems to be a regular occurrence as we notice many of the paving stones have been replaced.
From the marina we drove by rental car to stay one night in Taormina – a great town already mentioned in previous blogs.
Doug and Mary were flying out of Palermo the same day as Diane’s sister, Sharron, and her husband, Doug, were flying in, so we drove to Palermo and stayed one night there, enjoying a great night out with Doug and Mary on their last night, and then collected Sharron and Doug.
Back at Marina di Portorosa we had a rapidly rising north-west wind and approaching rain – not the greatest welcome for our new family guests. Sharron was also still recovering from a broken kneecap and it was with some difficulty she managed to walk across our passarelle and climb down into Envoy’s cockpit. The wind caused a surge to build up in the harbour and even with additional spring lines deployed Envoy moved backwards and forwards in her berth, making for a slightly uncomfortable night. The seas outside the marina had built up to nearly two metres, breaking across the three to four metre deep harbour entrance and making departure impossible for the next few days, so once again we hired a rental car for some touring inland and to the nearby coastal town of Milazzo. Spending so much time aboard we enjoy occasionally getting away from the sea, boats and marinas into the mountains.

Mountain village of Nuvarra

Three days later conditions looked okay to depart so we left our berth and refueled at the diesel pumps for just the second time this year, taking on 800 litres. However the attendant warned us against leaving so we deferred to local knowledge and spent a further night in the marina. I could imagine deciding to leave regardless of local advice, having some type of accident – “I told you so!” The next day the seas calmed to less than half a metre and we set off early for a 70 mile cruise through the Strait of Messina to Taormina.

Map of Strait of Messina

Because the Strait is only about a mile wide at its northern end and often has considerable traffic you’re required to call “Messina VST” before entering the Strait and provide your vessel details and destination. It was quiet for us though, and we only saw one huge container ship and about six ferries.

We had to alter course to stay clear of this huge container ship

Conditions were calm but the Strait has swirling currents making an extra sharp watch essential. Historically the Strait had huge whirlpools and the largest, known as Charybdis, was dangerous to ships. An earthquake in 1783 altered the sea bottom and the whirlpools are no longer dangerous except to very small boats. Arriving back at Taormina completed our 15 week circumnavigation of Sicily.

Map of Sicily’s east coast shows many of the places we’ve mentioned

TECHNICAL – During our cruise to Taormina the Robertson autopilot’s motor failed. Fortunately we have two autopilots so simply switched to the Simrad unit until we can get the other repaired, probably in Corfu. The led display on my portable infra-red thermometer has also failed and will need to be replaced. I use this for monitoring operating temperatures of pumps, alternators etc.
Ditto our Radio Shack wireless thermometer enabling us to check the outside temperature from the pilothouse. Home in New Zealand you’d be able to replace these easily, but not so here.

ENVOY LOG – as at 5/9/14 we’d spent 150 days aboard and cruised 1,376 miles for 250 engine hours.

Envoy is now at Kalami Bay, Corfu, Greece.
Next stop was the Aeolian Islands, a group of seven stunning still-active volcanic cones about 15 miles off Sicily’s central north coast. 
At Isole Vulcano we anchored off a great south coast beach called Gelso.

Laurie, Doug and Mary enjoying evening drinks on a small beach near Gelso

Another day there we couldn’t resist having a beer or three in an atmospheric palm frond-thatched beach bar, and while chatting to their friendly staff in our happy state we decided to have a fresh seafood lunch there the next day. On our way back to Envoy we were joined by a pod of frolicking dolphins rounding off a perfect day.

Very basic but totally atmospheric beach bar at Gelso

Two views of Envoy anchored off perfectly-calm Gelso beach

Mary taking in a sunset in Envoy’s cockpit

Next day we went ashore for lunch and the chef proudly displayed a platter holding a fresh fish that looked something like a three kg snapper. Doug asked him how much it was going to cost, and we all reeled in shock when he told us 100 Euros (NZ$156). After going into the restaurant we told our waiter we weren’t all that hungry and had decided to have a pizza instead. His English wasn’t all that great, and we were unsure if they really understood us as we ate our pizzas in trepidation of being served the super-expensive fish. Fortunately the restaurant was very busy and they must have been able to serve the fish to somebody else. Nearby Porto di Levante on Vulcano’s north east coast is anything but peaceful, and we made the mistake of paying 60 Euros (NZ$94) for a mooring only to be later surrounded by boats anchoring very close to us in the mooring area for free. Fortunately the wind stayed light and in the same direction or chaos would have resulted – a mix of anchored and moored boats doesn’t work. Ashore is a mud pool said to have therapeutic healing powers, and there was no shortage of people frolicking in the mud in various states of undress putting this theory to the test.

Two views of Vulcano’s mud pool

Isole Salina is about five miles NW of Vulcano, and here we anchored off the Santa Maria Marina in choppy conditions for one night allowing us to explore this peaceful small town without the tourist hordes of Vulcano and Lipari.

Mary watches a cane basket weaver at work in Salina

Many of Salina’s streets have beautiful flower gardens

Lipari is the main Aeolian island and we anchored off Marina Corta, slightly south of the old town. With all types of ferries constantly passing, the anchorage was anything but calm although did settle down during night time without passing boats churning up wakes.

Ferries passing close to anchorages cause considerable wakes

First settled 6,000 years ago Lipari has plenty to see ranging from the impressive and largely intact hilltop fortress to the narrow cobblestone streets of the old town.

What a view of Lipari from our anchorage 

We’d leave our RHIB in this great little harbour while ashore

Panorama of Lipari

On the western side of Lipari we found a reasonably sheltered and peaceful anchorage called Valle Muria away from tourists and ferry wakes, where a rustic taverna, built into an old cave serves welcome ice-cold beers.
Valle Muria’s beach bar

TECHNICAL Doug is an electrician and helped out with a few jobs, repairing a 12 volt socket in the pilothouse, installing a new engine room 12 volt blower to replace a failed one and making it more effective by installing new extraction ducting.

Envoy is currently in Gouvia Marina at the Greek island of Corfu undergoing maintenance.
Our last posting included a picture of a classic-looking 90 metre older-style ship. A reader informs us this is in fact a vessel called Nero, built in China in 2007 and currently for sale at 60 million Euros. But although a replica she still looks great.
With Doug and Mary we hired a car and driver for a day tour of mountain villages near Cefalu within the Madonie Regional Park on Sicily’s central northern coast.

Morning coffee in the village of Glatteri with our guide, Marco

The Gibilmanna monastery and its church dating from the 17th century were of special significance to Marco as he got married here

The monastery’s stunning gold altar

A beautiful archway leads into a hidden courtyard

The mountains of the Regional Park rise to nearly 2,000 metres

At the village of Pollina we came across a group of young boys playing soccer and Mary asked them to line up for a group photo – they were happy to oblige

Pollina is set on a mountain top

View of Cefalu area from Pollina

Laurie, Di, Mary and Doug at Pollina

Nuvarra is yet another stunning village

Our favourite village was Castelbuono where we enjoyed a sumptuous lunch of wild boar hocks in the stunning wood-paneled Ristorante Nangalarruni, set in the middle of a maze of cobbled lanes – we’d never have found it without our guide.

Wild boar hocks for lunch

The castle here was built in 1316 and remains in great shape, supposedly haunted by a ghostly apparition of Queen Constance Chiaramonte.
After leaving Cefalu we’d planned to berth at Marina Capo D’Orlando. Arriving outside the marina with a 20 knot onshore wind and one to two metre swells we peered inside but couldn’t see any yacht masts or larger motor vessels, but did notice some sand banks and apparent silting. Not wanting to take any chances in the adverse lee-shore conditions we cruised on to anchor inside a lagoon sheltered by an extensive sandbank south east of Capo Tindari, near the village of Marinello. While most of the anchorages along this coast are fully exposed except to the south, this one had reasonable shelter from all directions except the east, and we stayed a couple of nights.
August is peak holiday time and ashore is busy with mostly local tourists, while large RHIBs between five to nine metres predominate on the water. There are no apparent safe boating regulations, such as we have in New Zealand, so all day long RHIBs, jet skis, ferries and other vessels travel at speed close inshore and close to other vessels, creating large wakes and making us thankful for our flopper stoppers.

TECHNICAL – nothing to report

You can’t write about Sicily without mentioning the Mafia, which has been heavily entwined in Sicily’s more recent history. Tourists don’t come into contact with the Mafia and have nothing to fear from them, but it’s estimated that 70 per cent of Sicilian businesses pay protection money or “pizzo” to the Mafia ranging from about 200 Euros (NZ$312) per month for a small shop or bar to Euro 5,000 (NZ$7,800) for a supermarket. Back in 2004 the Italian Mafia’s total annual income was estimated at 90 billion Euros (NZ$141b), of which about a third was generated in Sicily, and their total assets estimated at over a trillion Euros.
Thankfully the murder of anti-Mafia judges and police has ceased, but while a good part of the Mafia leadership are serving lengthy prison sentences the organization apparently continues to thrive, and still has tentacles in the highest levels of society.
After Amy’s departure we left Trapani for the last time, heading east and anchoring off north coast beaches – Scialandra, Capo Rama, Mondello and Porticello.

Views from our anchorage at Scialandra

We find many modern super yachts lacking in style but this grand old lady looks stunning

Along the coast of Sicily there are dozens of ancient watch towers

Although a few other boats were anchored off these beaches, none of them offer complete shelter and fortunately the winds were either southerly or very light northerlies with little swell. Again we were surprised by the very large number of RHIBs – at Mondello there were several hundred at anchor with people just sunbathing and swimming off them. In New Zealand you’d normally beach your RHIB or anchor it very close to shore and spend your time ashore, but here motor boats are not allowed in swimming areas so they have to anchor outside the buoyed swimming area. Considering the way Italians drive their small craft this is a very sensible precaution.

You rarely see a rooster tail like the one from this 70 footer

We bypassed Palermo and headed to Cefalu, anchoring off the marina and with some protection from a large marina breakwater. This is a great, picturesque anchorage, protected from all except NE winds and dominated by La Rocca (the rock), 278 metres high and the site of Il Castello, a ruined Norman castle. 

Cefalu and La Rocca viewed from the sea

Some swell penetrates the anchorage but our flopper stoppers kept us comfortable as well as keeping other boats from passing too closely.

Envoy in stunning Cefalu anchorage

View from Envoy at anchor in Cefalu

Cefalu’s extremely crowded sandy beach is quite typical

Many people choose to swim off less crowded rocks

Here in Cefalu our Kiwi friends Doug and Mary joined us for two weeks and we had no qualms about leaving Envoy unattended at anchor while we did some day trips ashore; although we’d spent some time in Cefalu in 2007 it was great to revisit this absolutely stunning medieval town with Doug and Mary.
A highlight is the Duomo di Cefalu, a stunning church built in the 12th century.

Duomo di Cefalu viewed from the sea

And from land

We found this very talented model maker in Cefalu – he charged us a Euro for taking his picture

TECHNICAL I changed the Lugger engine oil and filter after 200 hours, a job made easy by the 12 volt oil-change pump. Our large RHIB had been in the water for 9 weeks and was becoming increasingly difficult to keep clean (it’s not anti fouled), so we swapped it over for the small RHIB, which is OK while there’s only two of us aboard. The small RHIB is suspended from Envoy’s transom when not in use so marine growth isn’t an issue. The large RHIB is too heavy to suspend in that way and we tow it.

ENVOY LOG As at 17/8/14, we’d spent 130 days aboard and cruised 1,166 miles for 212 engine hours.

Envoy is now back at Taormina having completed a 15 week circumnavigation of Sicily.
Although we’d already spent six weeks in the Trapani and Egadi Islands area we always find some new places of interest and different things to do with new visitors, and this proved to be the case with our daughter, Amy.
Having been settled by Greeks, Corinthians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans and Spanish the Egadis have a fascinating legacy of history culminating in the tuna trade. Since the 1960s tourism has taken over as the major activity.
Most of the jellyfish had gone although there was still the odd one around – I jump in the water first with my mask on to do a quick check. The water is a tropical 27d so we stay in for ages.
We cruised to Marettimo and berthed in a small marina – quite expensive at 85 Euros (NZ$133) per night, but at islands like this there’s no good shelter for anchoring with any wind. Here we dined at a great restaurant overlooking the marina, La Scalatta, made famous after a visit and positive reviews from Jamie Oliver. There are no menus and the chef, Giovanni, serves whatever delicious fare he feels like preparing, with a heavy fresh seafood bias. Giovanni served us a culinary six course treat of bruschetta, clam chowder, grilled tuna, prawn risotto, mixed grilled fish and cassata and lemon gateau, of course washed down with various local wine varieties.

Jamie Oliver with Giovanni

Laurie and Amy pose with Giovanni

Laurie and Amy enjoying La Scaletta’s ambience

Amy tucks into the clam chowder

Next day we went around the island by tour boat visiting many deep sea caves and the two metre swell made it an adrenalin rush for all inside the caves, with waves bouncing us around and the thunder of blowholes.

The castle perched atop the craggy peak used to be a political prison

Inside the sea caves was a real adrenalin rush

Looking out from inside a sea cave

After cruising back to Levanzo Island we did a guided four wheel drive trip to see a cave – Grotta del Genovese which has some 14,000 year old cave paintings depicting deer, horses, cows, tuna and dolphins. 

Amy and Laurie alongside the Landrover

Entrance to Grotta del Genovese

Shopping in Favignana was of course compulsory for the girls and we found a fantastic delicatessen loaded with delicious treats.

Amy and Di enjoy a gelato break while shopping

Amy and Laurie in atmospheric delicatessen

Preparing snacks in delicatessen

Envoy’s saloon table set for dinner

TECHNICAL – nothing to report

ENVOY LOG As at 10/8/14, we’d spent 124 days aboard and cruised 1,072 miles for 197 engine hours.

John, Alice and Lily enjoyed their remaining time with us at the Egadi Islands – strolling in Favignana village with stops for cappuccino and delicious cannole, going ashore to sunbathe and swim, John and Alice doing a day-long bike tour of the island.
The wind was mostly 15-20 knots and every couple of days changed from NW to SE requiring us to move from one side of Favignana Island to the other, sometimes anchoring, other times picking up a mooring buoy for 25 Euros (about NZ$39). There was some slight swell wherever we anchored so we used our flopper stoppers most of the time and sometimes an additional anchor to keep our stern to the swell.

John and Laurie deploy stern anchor

At one beach we met some retired mainland Italians, Francesco and Lilian, who have a holiday house at Favignana. Lilian never had children of her own and would have cuddled Lily forever.

We meet Francesco and Lilian ashore

One of our favourite swimming beaches with RHIB anchored

A great anchorage on the southern side of Favignana Island

Favignana is the only island with reasonably sheltered anchorages, the two other islands being subject to swell. Because these islands are a Marine Protected Area cruising in some parts is not allowed, while anchoring in other areas is also not allowed.

Envoy on mooring in Cala Freddo, Lovanzo Island

Two fabulous weeks passed all too quickly, and we headed back to Trapani to take John, Alice and Lily to Palermo airport – a wonderful time, many more to come.

We drove back from the airport via Monreale, visiting the awesome Cathedral, commissioned by the Norman, William 11, and completed in 1184. This is considered the greatest example of Norman architecture in Sicily and one of the best in Italy. Countless paintings inside depict Biblical history in gold leaf, making you wonder how it has all survived Sicily’s tempestuous history.

Monreale Cathedral

Monreale Cathedral Cathedral’s naive has paintings in gold leaf

In Trapani we refueled for the first time this year taking on 804 litres of diesel plus 40 litres of petrol for the RHIB.
With nearly two weeks before the arrival of our daughter, Amy, it was back to Favignana again. A few days later we met some Australians – Gary and Vanessa and their children Marina (7) and Elliot (14) aboard their 13m yacht Neptune 11. They sailed from Brisbane six years ago and only Vanessa has been back one time since, so interestingly Marina has spent nearly her whole life aboard the yacht with no memory of Australia. Gary and Vanessa provide education but they do plan to sail home during the next two years, crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific, partly so their children can receive a more formal education.
Gary is a talented sax player, formerly playing in bands and we had one great evening playing guitar and sax aboard Neptune 11.

Gary and Laurie jamming

Although many people live the cruising life it’s very rare to meet people firstly with children aboard and secondly who don’t return home every year or so.
One day we were enjoying a quiet swim in a sandy cove when a 9 metre RHIB with about eight noisy Italians motored up right beside us. They introduced themselves and produced a bag of sea eggs (known in New Zealand as kina). One of them proceeded to break open some kina and spread their roes on slices of fresh bread for us, as they asked us al sorts of questions to satisfy their curiosity. We are surprised to meet some Italians who don’t know where New Zealand is – one said “close to Scotland isn’t it”.
One night we took a mooring in a Favignana Island bay called Cala Rossa (Cove of Blood). Here in 241BC a Roman fleet of 200 ships defeated a Carthaginian fleet of 400, taking 15,000 prisoners and making the sea red with the blood of those killed. All around this part of the island are Carthaginian ruins, laid waste by the Romans.
Then it was back to Trapani again, just two hours away, to meet Amy.

TECHNICAL – nothing to report

ENVOY LOG As at 1/8/14, we’d spent 115 days aboard and cruised 983 miles for 180 engine hours.

Yachts can anchor inside the sheltered harbour at Castellamare del Golfo, but wanting to explore by rental car for a couple of days we moored stern-to a jetty for Euro 60 (NZ$94) per night including power and water. This is a delightful spot with helpful staff, the obligatory ancient castle and the picturesque sea front lined with inviting bars and restaurants.

Castellamare del Golfo marina and village

Envoy initially anchored at Castellamare del Golfo before mooring stern-to a jetty

First stop with our car was Segesta, originally home to Bronze Age Elymians, descended from legendary Trojans, and the stunning and serene site of a never-completed but well preserved Doric temple dating from 430 BC.

Spectacular Doric temple at Segesta

Laurie, Lily and John before temple

What makes this site particularly great is the location of the temple on the edge of a deep rugged gorge surrounded by lush fertile farmland.

Di, Laurie, John and Lily view gorge by temple

The next stop was Palermo to visit the ghoulish Catacombs of the Capuchins where about 8,000 mummified bodies of people who died in the 1600s to 1800s are displayed for all to see in a gloomy labyrinth of corridors. Some are lying down while others are standing against the walls supported by cords. Included are the bodies of men, women, children and even babies, mostly reasonably intact and dressed in clothing of the period. The body of one young girl is said to be so well preserved as to be almost lifelike, but she didn’t look that way to us. It was very macabre and we all agreed the bodies looked like they were props from Michael Jackson’s DVD, Thriller. This was interesting but we wouldn’t want to do it again. If you want to see some macabre pictures Google Palermo catacombs.

We finished the day with a cooling swim at a stony beach, finding a small rock pool ideal for Lily to splash around in.

Next day we visited Scopello, a small and sleepy atmospheric village based around an 18th century baglio (fortified manor house).

Scopello’s main square

The owners of a hotel invited us onto their rear balcony to look below to the coastal site of an old tonnara (tuna processing factory). This is sheltered from the open sea by several small islands and a very popular spot for swimming, despite the fact you have to pay and can only sit on concrete.

View of tonnara from hotel 

Sicilians love kids and people wanted to hold Lily – the hotel owner with Lily

View of tonnara from the sea – the hotel we looked down from is upper left

John and Laurie snorkeled around the coast adjacent to the tonnara

Now we had a family conference and a change of plans. John and Alice decided they’d like to spend their remaining week back at the Egadi Islands, rather than exploring mainland Sicily. Fortunately the seven hour return trip was in nice calm conditions unlike our outward trip.

Alice and John on Envoy’s bow with paravanes out

TECHNICAL – nothing to report.

ENVOY LOG As at 22/7/14, we’d spent 105 days aboard and cruised 925 miles for 168 engine hours.

With the imminent arrival of our son John, daughter in law Alice and grand daughter Lily into Palermo, we moved to Trapani harbour, about 50 km from Palermo airport.
We were about one mile out from our Favignana anchorage on our way to Trapani when we noticed our RHIB was no longer behind us – I had improperly secured it, so couldn’t blame Di! We turned around and went back to the anchorage, where the RHIB was now close to rocks ashore, so I brought Envoy in as close as I could and Di leaped into the water, and swam about 40 metres to the RHIB. The plan was for Di to climb aboard, start the engine and bring the RHIB back to Envoy, but Di had forgotten where the outboard’s power tilt button was so couldn’t start it. I could see that Di was having problems and had got back in the water to hold the RHIB away from the rocks, so I anchored Envoy close-by, swam to assist her and all was OK. But there’s a lesson here – it’s nearly always me, the skipper who drives the RHIB, but it should be your crew so they are familiar with it. I’ve also thought about whether I should have asked Di to wear a lifejacket. I think the answer is no, because the swimming distance was short, conditions were reasonable, it was close to shore, and a lifejacket would have made swimming much more difficult.

Trapani is an interesting town based around an ancient large well-sheltered harbour where Peter of Aragon landed in 1282 to begin the Spanish occupation of Sicily. Trapani has an interesting well-preserved “old town” full of cobbled alleyways, churches, former palazzos (palaces), restaurants, tavernas and quirky shops.

Statue of Neptune in Trapani

View down Vittorio Emanuele, one of the old town’s main streets

A Trapani wine shop where you can taste first and buy cheaply in bulk

Delicious selection of Sicilian pastries including our favourite cannole (bottom left) – fried pastry filled with sweetened ricotta cheese

Berthing alongside a jetty in a Trapani shipyard cost 40 Euros (NZ$63) per night including power and water. Our location was anything but picturesque, surrounded by large vessels in various states of disrepair, but it was sheltered, safe, cheap and suited our needs.

Envoy moored in lifting berth in Trapani harbour

Impressive view of hydrofoil below water. She was out for repairs

On Monte San Giuliano (St Julian) 756 metres above Trapani is the fabulous medieval walled village of Erice, accessed by cable cars that provide fabulous vista for miles of surrounding area. Baby Lily was agape as she waved at the cable cars whizzing over our heads at the lower terminus.

Alice and John take in the view during cable car ride

Diane and the great view from the mountain-top village of Erice

The Norman castle, about 1,000 years old is still in good shape

Erice street musician with gaily painted donkey-drawn cart

Close-up of historical scene paintings on cart

Erice is famous for the mysterious ancient Cult of Venus – in the Temple of Venus acolytes (assistants to the priestesses) participated in sacred prostitution. Lonely Planet says it’s easy to guess why the site remained inviolate through countless invasions, until the Normans built the Castello di Venere on the site of the temple.

Ceramics shop on cobbled lane in Erice

Prior to leaving Trapani we needed to get our Constituto stamped by Coastguard so John and I went down to see them. Normally we find Coastguard staff to be civil and bordering on friendly, but these were a strange lot – it seems that a snarl on your face is a job pre-requisite, but after a long wait and none-too-friendly service we finally got the stamp we needed.

Back at the Egadi Islands we all had some family catching-up and relaxation time – swimming, walking, having coffees and beers ashore and generally chilling out. 11 month-old grand daughter Lily took to the water like a duck, and Diane and I loved looking after her, giving John and Alice some time out.

John, Lily and Alice enjoy a refreshing swim

Lily enjoying swim Favignana’s tepid waters in her new lifejacket with John

For a time one issue at the Egadis was a small jellyfish, called Pelagia, that give a nasty sting, feeling like a minor electric shock. Di had a brush with one that left nasty welts and still hadn’t healed over two weeks later.

Pelagia jellyfish

The jellyfish scars on Di’s upper arm was still there three weeks later

I got stung twice, and John once, and although the marks took some time to go they weren’t anywhere near as sore as Di’s. From then on wherever we swam we kept a sharp lookout for them, particularly with Lily in the water. At least there are no wasps – a curse last year in Croatia, and very few flies or mosquitoes.

Our plan was to head towards Palermo and then out to the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily, so we cruised back towards Sicily in a rising WNW wind exceeding forecast, reaching 20 knots. The long fetch here caused waves up to three metres high on our port quarter with some cresting and breaking, making for an uncomfortable trip and poor Lily was seasick, although fine after that. Anchored outside Capo San Vito marina that night was quite rolly from the unsettled seas, even with our flopper stoppers down, but by next morning when we set off for Castellamare del Golfo the wind and seas had dropped considerably. 

TECHNICAL The guest head holding tank contents full light isn’t working – another job for electrician Doug.

ENVOY LOG As at 10/7/14, we’d spent 93 days aboard and cruised 757 miles for 128 engine hours.

Envoy is back at Favignana Island in the Egadi Group.
The Egadis are a marine park with all boats banned from some areas and motor boats from others.
Buoys are laid in many sheltered bays and these are in excellent condition costing a reasonable Euro 25 (NZ$39) per night or less for longer periods, during which you can use any of the moorings around the Egadis. Unlike Croatia anchoring is allowed near moorings at no cost. Friendly park staff patrol the islands regularly to collect fees as do Carabinieri to ensure rules are being followed.
The Egadis have no fresh water so this is regularly delivered by tanker.
One morning we awoke to find this tanker had moored just in front of us, and we never heard a thing when it arrived

A Scirocco (strong southerly wind) lasting three days, gave us plenty of time to explore the area around our sheltered anchorage. Like outer Gulf islands home in Auckland the Egadis have winds around 15 to 25 knots much of the time, and here we get a few days of NW-N, then a few of SE to S, so move our position accordingly. Rarely has the wind dropped below 10 knots.

We visited one of the other islands, Isola Lovanzo, and picked up a park mooring in a bay called Cala Freddo. This island’s only village is in the next bay around, Carla Dogna.

Carla Dogna’s quaint harbour

Envoy on mooring in Cala Freddo

We reported earlier that Sicilian wine is great and well-priced – this extra large 1.5 litre bottle of excellent Nero D’Avola red cost only 5 Euros (NZ$7.80)

Back on the main island – Favignana there’s a great anchorage on the southern side where we spent several nights.

There are a few yachts around, mostly Italian and we’ve not seen many cruisers at all except for a couple of French and Germans. During daytime many locals cruise the area in their small powerboats but they’re mostly gone by about 1700 and then all is quiet.

TECHNICAL “Touch wood” for good luck we’ve not had any major issues, only routine things like changing the oil and filters on the Lugger and generator.
Our Lugger engine’s conventional dry exhaust never emits any smoke, and although the exhaust blows directly onto our white-painted mast I only need to clean soot stains off this area about once monthly. We even hang washing out to dry by the exhaust while under way with no risk of stains. One recent morning I started the engine, went on the foredeck to lift the anchor and saw clouds of white smoke coming from the exhaust. My heart missed a beat – what has happened? I checked our diesel handbook and it cites stuck thermostats, dirty air cleaners, or blocked crankcase vent tubes as possible causes. We were clearing a lee shore in a strong wind so proceeded on and the smoke gradually cleared. Later it occurred to me that we’d had a heavy shower of rain during the night and the exhaust cover wasn’t closed, so some rain must have gone down the exhaust and was now showing up as steam. Since then all fine – huge sigh of relief!

Every day I check the engine room bilges and under each engine for fluid leaks, and our bilges are dry so any drop of oil or water shows up. One day I found the paper towel under the Lugger stained with brown dried liquid. It wasn’t oily or smelly and I had no idea what it was – but out of the ordinary occurrences on a boat do prey on my mind. A couple of days later we decided to clean the freezer. Lo and behold we found a large plastic bottle of coke had exploded, and coke had gone through the freezer’s drain hole into the engine bilge – mystery solved. Up to then we would regularly freeze plastic coke bottles with no problems – but no more!

Although our large RHIB’s 25 hp 4-stroke Yamaha was serviced in Lefkas we only test ran it at idle – big mistake eh Frank? Since then we’ve found it runs OK up to 2,300 rpm and above 2,700 rpm but erratically in between. The Trapani shipyard was also the Yamaha dealer so after much persuasion we got them to take a look and test run. They said the carburetor needed a clean so pulled the RHIB out of the water to do that in their workshop. It was such a quick job they said there was no charge, but when we tested it there was no real change, and we ran out of time for them to look again. So far our experience dealing with Italian technicians has not been good (neither was it on our previous visit). They always say “we’re coming in half an hour”, and you wait all day but they just don’t show up!

Our washing machine has developed a slight water leak. I’m able to see the rear of the machine through an inspection hatch and it’s not leaking from loose supply hoses, but possibly from a discharge hose which can only be accessed by pulling the machine out, which is quite a major job, so we’ll leave this until Corfu where we know there are good technical resources. Meanwhile we place a towel around the leak to soak up the water.

The engine room has two 12 volt blowers to extract hot air. One of these is not working and has a wiring problem that I can’t resolve, but we have an electrician friend, Doug Gooch, arriving next month so hopefully he can help me on this.

ENVOY LOG As at 2/7/14, we’d spent 85 days aboard and cruised 757 miles for 136 engine hours.