Siracusa - Sicily
Posted at 10:39 AM, Nov. 23, 2006
We are rapidly coming to the end of the Italian section of our cruising for the time being at any rate. Just as we start to get familiar with some of the customs, food and wine, pick up a bit of the language and culture it seems as was the case with Spain it is time to move on. The east coast of Sicily which we really had marked down as a passage leg has proven to be a wonderful cruising ground, plenty of ports and harbours, friendly people, great fruit, vegetable and fish markets every day in every coastal town (seems to be the custom) and not over the top price wise for food and berthage. We will return at some stage and cruise more around Sicily – great place and huge history and culture.
All the way down the coast from Rome we have seen bright red bougainvillea’s everywhere, a similar number of Oleander trees and in the towns very much characterized by older men sitting round all day talking, playing cards and generally wiling away the days.
Savarna departing Riposto
Siracusa proved to be yet another amazing town and every bit as good as the guide books say. The old town is on the island of Ortigia and is an ancient Greek city dating back to 734 BC. Two bridges connect the island with the “new” town – naturally at the southern end of the island is the inevitable castle which we could not visit as it is being restored. But looked wonderful. We also endeavoured to visit the Greek Theatre which is still largely intact and carved out of rock in the 5th century BC. It seated some 15,000 spectators and the names of some of the “box holders” are engraved on the front of the seats as are the names of many Greek gods. We cycled over but found it closed at 1500 hrs and we were about 30 minutes late unfortunately.
Archimedes lived here and everyone reading this will recall that he was a famous scientist and for those who studied a bit of physics who can forget the “Archimedes Principle,”
We walked around the old town Saturday night until the shops shut and then had an excellent and entertaining dinner at a local restaurant recommended by the marina manager. The place was packed and a good meal only a short distance from the marina. Sitting and observing the locals was great fun. Just on dark a boat pulled into the marina a pier over and we noticed a kiwi on the bow. Caught up with Wattie and Jill the next morning and they had been away 11 years living on the boat (Cariad) a Birdsall 40 that Wattie had built himself. Having just passed 70 he can still handle a good vino rosso as well as the boat. They are wintering in Tunisia this year. Had dinner aboard with them Sunday night and exchanged stories and they had plenty. They also feature in the book written by Tony Farrington that Michael Dunlop gave us before we launched Savarna.
Sunday everything is shut except restaurants, bars and cafes – the usual in Italy. Another beautiful day and Pam and I spent several hours riding around all the narrow streets and alley ways on the island. An amazing place – just as well the shops were closed as the “main shopping” street featured all the brands from Rome. The place was packed as everyone promenaded with family, lovers or friends! The woman were immaculate, attractive and the men equally well dressed. We were pretty casual by comparison – I think I was only guy I saw in shorts all day!
Pam in main square Siracusa
Today, Monday 20th November, we checked out the market and provisioned up for a few basic essentials and then headed south towards Capo Passero which is at the bottom SE corner of Sicily and the most southern part. Had a nice sail with about 14 knot right on the nose but covered the 22 miles in about 3.5 hours and pulled into a very small fishing port about 3 miles north of the Cape. Brand new marina complex, nothing much about and very cheap. We plan to head off for an early start for the 60 mile passage across to Malta Tuesday. The weather map shows a frontal system with strong southerly winds (just our direction), electrical storms and heavy rain coming across Malta late Tuesday so the current plan is to get in to Malta before that hits so we don’t get stuck in Marzameni for a couple of days.
We had been hoping that the Hanse dealer for Malta who was delivering a new Hanse 470 to Malta from the south of France would have caught us by now for the sail across to Malta but he has been delayed and appears to be several days behind us. Go Shawn!
Finishing this off at 5.00 pm Tuesday 21st after arriving in Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta. Had a fast crossing and a great final sail for the season. Now in fact Thursday morning 23rd having connectivity problems into the Vodafone Malta network and limited internet access currently.
Cheers
Keith