Goodbye Sicilia - We'll be Back!

It wasn’t difficult to spend a few more days in beautiful Syracuse. We checked out the Archimedes museum – definitely one for the maths nerds, though they’ve put in an effort to make it interactive. Amongst his many contributions to physics and mathematics, Archimedes was Syracusa’s most potent weapon against the invading Roman fleet during a siege. Once the fleet was trapped in the harbour, the Syracusans used Archimedes-designed giant catapults to hurl rocks and other debris with great force against the ships. He also designed an array of large mirrors, which were assembled in a curve to focus the sun’s rays onto the sails, igniting them. The Romans were under strict instructions to capture the genius alive, but Archimedes was killed in his house, somewhat ironically, by a soldier with a sword.

A little out of town there is an archaeological park, home to an ancient Greek theatre which is still in use (Oedipus Rex, Antigone and The Parliament of Women were playing while we were there), a Roman theatre and an excellent museum. The wealth of artefacts was organised in a sort of spiral through the ages, from Neolithic to Roman, so you could really see the evolution of pottery, metalwork and other artefacts, as well as the influence of trade and conquest.

After five days at anchor, using the dinghy to get around, we decided to moor at the town dock for a while to make it easier to take on water and food, and to enjoy a few nights out at the city’s great restaurants. The town dock is free for five days, and you are right there on the beautiful boardwalk, in prime position to watch the locals make their passeggiata in style each evening. The only downside is that you have to shift position every now and then as superyachts or small cruise liners come in. Unfortunately at this time Terry broke his toe accidentally kicking something in the cockpit, so our excursions were curtailed somewhat. We did manage a walk around the tip of the old city of Ortigia, which was beautiful, and of course eat a couple of excellent meals (Don Carmelo’s is highly recommended). Good water was free from a public tap near the dock, and we made many trips with jerry cans to fill the tanks. Remember, nothing on a boat is easy! While loaded up with water cans (and several good meals) Terry broke our passerelle (gangplank for getting on the boat) and we had to make an emergency one from an aluminium ladder purchased at the local hardware store. Actually, with a bit of modification this turned out to be ideal - plus we also found a neat little fold-up cart for toting water cans! So after one final visit to the wonderful market for fresh swordfish, tomatoes, cherries, oranges, baked ricotta it was nearly time to move...

Common Sense (right) on the public dock in Syracuse

 

Another superyacht was heading in, so rather than moor again, we decided to go out on the anchor again for our last night. We farewelled Yorge and Karina, a delightful Greek couple who gave us some excellent tips for our upcoming cruise with Kathy, Leonie and Steve (can’t wait to see you guys!) and then headed out into the bay. We really recommend Syracuse as a destination – there is a lot to see and do, and it’s a genuinely warm and welcoming place.

A pleasant day of mostly sailing plus a bit of motor when the wind changed, and we reached Acci Trezza, our planned overnight stay. Well that was the only part that went to plan. It was marked as an anchorage but there was clearly no place to anchor in the tiny fishing harbour, so we tried for a mooring between a fishing boat and a French yacht. Aarrgh! We had been lulled into false confidence by the easy Med mooring on the dock in Syracuse where we could drop the anchor at the bow and back in with plenty of space and good holding on the bottom. This was a different matter – the wind blew us sideways, the bow-thruster only worked intermittently and the anchor didn’t dig in! We turned and tried again, with the French guys trying to assist, but we managed to get stuck on the anchor chain of a large fishing boat, with the wind blowing us hard onto it. The French blokes tried to float a long line out to us to pull the boat off, but it would only float so far so I had to jump in and swim out to get it. It was still too hard to pull us off in the strong wind, so we launched the dinghy in record time and Terry tootled around to attach a line. And what happened then? The wind changed and we floated gently off the chain. Marcel and Olivier, our new best friends, pulled us in sideways to the dock behind the fishing boat and everyone was able to breathe again. A few of the local fisherman had looked on with amusement during the whole process and advised with the usual Italian + English+ mime and gesture that they would be going out at midnight and that we should stay right there!

The Cyclops' Islands

 

Whew! Time to relax and share a beer with Marcel and Olivier, a jovial and generous father-son team of cruisers. Olivier sounds like a similar thrill seeker to our Paddy – kite-surfing, snow-boarding and snow-kiting, which I had never heard of before but involves ski-ing up the slopes as well as down them. I hope some kind boater is there to help them when they need it; cruising karma seems to work this way.

We recovered enough from our ordeal to go for a stroll around this lively little town. Apparently it’s an Italian tourist destination rather than an international one, so there were plenty of people out eating and drinking and making their passeggiata around the town and the waterfront. Acci Trezza is famous as the home of the Cyclopi in Homer’s Odyssey, and an array of strange pointed rocks at the harbour entrance are supposed to be the very rocks hurled by the enraged and blinded Polyphemus as Ulysses and his remaining (uneaten)sailors made their escape.

The next morning saw us underway early, escaping before the return of the fishing boat made exiting any more difficult. We were heading for Taormina, a comfortable three hour sail up the beautiful east coast of Sicily, which is dominated by the brooding presence of Mt Etna, towering over all. The land around the volcano is incredibly green and fertile from the mineral enriched soil and the abundant water from melting snow – clearly the reason people continue to live in its shadow despite the ever-present threat. Etna creates her own weather, with clouds of vapour issuing from the crater. Her last major eruption was in 2001, but there are frequent hiccups and lava flows which are said to be spectacular.

Etna beginning to smoke...

 

It wasn’t really a pleasant sail, with quite a significant swell making for a rocky journey. And unfortunately, the swell was coming right into Taormina Bay. We had a look at the anchorage, where three other yachts were moored or anchored, and decided that it was just too rough and dangerous: even the catamarans were bouncing around like corks. So, sadly, we had to give Taormina a miss this time around, which is a shame as it looks like such a beautiful town; perched high on the hills with a fabulous view of Etna and the coast. A funicular railway takes you up the slope from the water to the town. Ah well, we’ll definitely return to Sicily and will save it for next time.

Taormina - the sea looks much calmer than it really was!

So now we had only one choice – head for the mainland – but the nearest useable harbour is a long way away and the south coast of the ‘sole’ of the Italian boot is generally fairly hostile from an anchoring point of view. Le Castella seemed like the best place to head for, and that meant an overnight trip and arrival at about 10am the next morning. So we changed course and hoped for more wind, which did eventually arrive as we crossed the Straits of Messina. The narrow point of the Straits is where Ulysses encountered Scylla and Charybdis, respectively a many-headed sea monster and a giant whirlpool, one on each side. Apparently these were based on fact – there was a maelstrom here, until an earthquake changed the topography, and it was also a common place to encounter waterspouts – like snake headed monsters and just as dangerous. We only had a bit of strong wind to contend with, which was a relief. During the night we had good winds and were able to sail at 6 knots for a good clip before the motor had to go on again. One thing we are learning is that Mediterranean weather is very localised and rapidly variable. No wonder it took Ulysses ten years to get home – those winds that got loose from the bag are still out there!

And finally we made it into Le Castella, a lovely small marina with a huge old Spanish castle built on the point, over the ruins of a Greek temple. We backed in with no trouble at all and the staff have been friendly and helpful, the rates very reasonable. The Ionian Sea is calm and blue, the beer is cold and we’re very happy to be here in beautiful Italy.