You Want It Delivered Where?

July 8 - Oblia Sardinia:

King and I arrived back at the marina from our Palermo flight at 1 a.m.  Walking down the docks it began to feel odd that we had not arrived at our slip but Ostinato was not where we remembered her to be.  We walked further.  The marina was overflowing with returned charter boats during our absence making it feel a bit different from what we remembered.  My pulse started to quicken....where the heck is Ostinato?!  Finally, at the very end of the dock, there she sat, all by herself, on the outside where we had refused to dock when we first arrived.  Definitely, not where we had left her!  A bit disconcerting, especially the part about not reconnecting the power cord.  Luckily, between the wind generator and the solar panels all systems were happy.

We had picked up a rental car with the intent of resupplying groceries and driving south to see the east coast.  After a few hours of driving, it became clear we were both way too tired to enjoy this little adventure so we wisely turned around and dropped the car back at the airport where we hopped a bus back to the marina.  King talked the driver into making a special stop at the end of the marina drive vs us walking 1/2 mile from the bus stop. I'm sure we both looked like wilted puppies.  It was a wise decision to go back to Ostinato.  We slept hard.

The next day King repaired something and I spent the day catching up on laundry while we had water and power.  Winds were blowing 25 knots which made doing the sheets an exciting event. Once they were done, the wind dutifully calmed to a light breeze.  From Cala dei Sardi marina, we did a short motor the next morning to Cala di Volpe, a long bay with huge moorings for the big mega yachts that were in no short supply.  We snuggled up into the head of the bay for the night where we could anchor less than 20 feet and sand.  On that short trip, the fresh water pump died.  King also determined that one of our house bank alternators was OK but the regulator was toast.  So much for a fun day on the water.

Mega yachts made us look tiny.
If you look closely at the center of the ship you will see one of several "dinghies", a 40 ft sailboat!  Yikes!!!

July 11- Mistral winds were forecast so we hauled anchor in search of mooring balls in the Maddalena islands where we might ride out the high winds in beauty and not worrying about dragging.  We sailed, motor sailed and finally stowed the sails and motored around the entire archipelago and the only mooring balls seen were under private contract, not part of the park.  While

Our safe anchorage at Cala di Volpe
part of the Aga Khan's Costa Smeralda

we could anchor, the pilots, and what information we found online, indicated you could not stay on anchor overnight.  That made the entrance fees into the park a bit hard to justify.  Back we went to Cala di Volpe where we at least knew the holding was good.  Ostinato, with another 15 or so small yachts tightly packed into the head of the bay, hunkered down for the next three days in 30-40 knot winds. King occupied his time chatting to his new BFFs in Seattle at Balmar about the inner workings of alternators.  On the 3rd day he gave in and ordered a new regulator from the State's that would be sent to a company in England that would arrange for delivery to Bonaficio in Corsica.   On the afternoon of the 4th day, the winds laid down enough to allow us to put the dinghy in the water and briefly go ashore for pizza.  It could of been cardboard for all I know but just getting off Ostinato made it the best pizza ever!


July 17 - Ostinato left the protected anchorage of Cala di Volpe for Porto Pozzo and headed west.  At this point, we were simply waiting for weather that would

Our first sighting of a flying dinghy in Porto Pozzo...
Happy to report it landed successfully

allow us to cross the straights to Corsica that a) was not on the nose and b) blow 2 knots or less. Porto Pozzo would be our jumping off place. Waiting there would get us closer and give it one more day for the seas to calm a bit.  The anchorage was wide but provided great protection from the Northeast.  We spent a peaceful night before our 6 a.m alarm to haul anchor. Next stop Bonifacio, Corsica!


Little did we know we were trading peaceful idyllic (but too much wind) Sardinian anchorages for a marina on speed.  Getting there early gave us front row seats for the boat docking excitement.  The marinaros could always manage to squeeze in one more boat which came and went continuously throughout the day.  Restaurants lined the docks, tourists clogged the sidewalks and music blasted until the 5 a.m.  For this, we paid €135, the highest marina fees of the summer.  We decided that while the rock facade with the "fort" on the top of the cliff, was eye catching from the sea it was less than pleasant up close.

The regulator we had planned to pick up here was still roaming somewhere about the French countryside.  The delivery company had been hacked in mid June and continued to be in utter chaos.  King had called his contact in England and requested they recall before we arrived in Bonafacio.  Waiting in the marina was not where we wanted to be especially at that price.  When we arrived a "do not accept package for Kingsley Ross" was taped to the counter.  Even so, the package was accepted later that day but we were never notified.  We filled our water tanks and left early the next morning.

On our way north to Porto Pollo (yes, seems to be a popular name), we enjoyed a nice downwind sail making speeds of 7 knots when suddenly the wind just died...No, not slowly tapering off but just completely disappeared, poof!  Very strange.  At the same time seas got very confused with waves coming right at us. Three minutes later we were hit with 25 knot winds from the opposite direction (on our nose of course)!  Getting the sails under control was quite the circus.  We both were starting to really dislike the winds in this part of the Med.

We spent the night in Porto Pollo in clear blue water with sand for the anchor.  Perfect.   The next morning a ride to Filitosa, Corsica's 3000 BC equivalent to Stonehenge was on the agenda.  Following the directions from friends who were a few days sail ahead of us, we found the bicycle rental shop with no problems.  King's eyes widened and he grinned from ear to ear when he saw a line of electric bikes.  He had wanted to try one since he first saw one several years ago.  There was no question which type of bike we would rent.  The ride meandered past the beaches, through the countryside, around cow pastures and up medium inclines that were enough to make me say "thank you, thank you, thank you" for the electric motor.  Filitosa was good but the bikes were the stars of the day.

The standing stones at Fillitosa have carved faces

After dropping off our bikes we picked up our favorite "on the road" meal, rotisserie chicken and a baguette and hauled anchor.  Next stop took us halfway up the coast of Corsica to it's capitol, Ajaccio to meet up again with Trish and Dave on Rob Roy.  We found them across the bay in Anse Sainte Barbe on a mooring ball and snagged one directly behind them for the night.  It would be a quick reunion before we were off again the next morning.  We made the most of it with appetizers on Rob Roy and dinner on Ostinato.  The group managed to pull together wine, the rotisserie chicken, salad and brownies.  Who could ask for more?

The following morning, we waved goodbye to Rob Roy for what likely would be the last time this summer, and continued our trek north.

Even from the marina's mooring balls
it was a long wet dinghy ride into Calvi

Our next port was Calvi on Corsica's north western coast where we would rendezvous with SY Horizon.   We hadn't seen Vince and Barbie, who are new neighbors at Shell Point, since Marina di Ragusa in early May.  After a wonderful reunion at anchor, everyone moved to a mooring the following day to prepare for the next blow.  Since it looked like we would be here a bit we inquired at the marina about getting our package delivered but once they knew we were in the anchorage they declined. The Information Center came to our rescue but no one could tell us exactly where the package was so the plan was once more abandoned.

July 30 - We stayed in Calvi for over a week moving between anchorages to seek protection depending on the direction of the winds or moving to the docks to add water to the tanks or back to the main anchorage to get close enough for a grocery run.  We were starting to watch the calendar as days ticked off and the beginnings of worry slipped in about our ability to make Spain in time to meet granddaughter, Julia in early August.

At long last, a tiny weather window opened giving us just enough time to jump to Toulon, France, 125 miles away.  It would be a long day.  To get us there before dark, we pulled anchor at 3 a.m. and crept slowly out of the anchorage. The only light came from near by boats masthead lights and the on again, off again illumination of the lighthouse just overhead.   No coffee this morning.  As soon as we were clear, King offered to take the first watch so I could snuggle back in bed for a few more hours sleep.  Sweet!

Continuing this summer's tradition, the trip across was an 18 hour motor sail.  We arrived at 2000 (8 p.m.),  dousing the main and getting the anchor down just as the sun set in a beautiful cove in the marine reserve of Ile de Porquerolles, to the southeast of Toulon.  Even the roll that found its way into the anchorage couldn't disturb our sleep.

We arrived at the anchorage just as the sun was setting
Ile de Porquerolles, near Toulon, France

While the forecast showed more high winds in our future, it felt great to be in mainland France.  It was time to top off the fuel tanks so we were off to Toulon the next morning.

A boat load of new recruits for the French Vol Coastguard
Learning how to secure the boat was lesson #1

The expected 5 knot morning breeze was more like 20 and was increasing so while at the fuel docks, King checked out marina costs.   They squeezed us into a spot that required King to back what seemed like a mile down the pontoons.....I might add, he should of gotten a standing ovation from everyone who came out to gwak.  Once we arrived at our designated slip, we discovered the mooring lines they gave us were attached to the boat next to us.  Really?  Thankfully, a yacht a few slips over planned to leave in a few hours so we sat tight.

Nothing makes me smile more than seeing the kids out for their sailing school.  This group was in Toulon,

We spent 3 wonderful days in Toulon.  The marina was perfectly located in front of the city.   There was a huge Carefore grocery that King would not let me loose in without supervision, plenty of museums to feed our souls and the bread...oh the French bread, to feed our bodies.

While the French are not known for their fish & chips, King couldn't resist! 

The high winds seemed to be rolling in every 2/3 days and then hanging about for 3 days.  At times they would be OK where you were but not good where you were headed.....and visa versa.  That was our problem leaving Corsica for the French mainland and hte problem we faced on the next passage.  Our morning rituals included a visit to the WINDY weather app that painted the picture of of high winds screaming down into the Gulfo du Lion from the Rhone Valley in bright reds and oranges. The pilot book says the Gulfo du Lion has the highest percent of the gales in the Med.  We decided long ago that we are more blue/green kinda sailors.

July 2 - The 2 day window we had been closely monitoring was holding so we did a quick morning visit to the grocery, topped off water tanks and prepared to depart Darse Vielle Marina at noon.  Our next destination, the Costa Brava, where Spain reaches the French boarder.  The land breeze was close to 20 knots as we motored Ostinato out of the marina.  It looked like we might get a bit a sailing in but once we were away from shore, the winds eased round to our nose at 5 to 8 knots.  The traffic in the Gulfo du Lion overnight was modest, mainly sailing yachts heading east or west.  For my midnight to 3 a.m watch, I awoke to fog, a phenomenon we had not experienced in years......and who worked out that watch schedule anyway?!   The entire cockpit was dripping with dew and visibility was only about 1/4 mile.  I kept one eye on our AIS screen and another scanning the water, knowing that not everyone had AIS.  It was a tense hour before the fog began to lift.      

We motored into Cala Jonquet at 0930.  What appeared to be a tranquil anchorage in the pilot books quickly turned into a major destination for small boats looking for a "secluded" beach.  The holding was weed and sand so it took several tries to get secure.  On one attempt we pulled up the anchor of the boat behind us.  Fortunately, he was waiting for us to get settled to depart so we didn't get any much deserved dirty looks.  While we caught up on our missed sleep, boats arrived and winds changed so no one had a clue where our anchor was.  It was payback time.  King decided it was not a good recipe for a place to spend the night.  Sure enough, the boat beside us was floating on top of our anchor.  They kindly scooched over for us to pull our chain aboard.  We move on up the coast about 10 miles to a spot off the beach near the Port of Roses marina.  At 2000 a battle of the bands began around the huge bay.  This did not look promising but either we were too tired to care or they wore themselves out early.  Everything was quiet by 2200.

While this looks great...behind us was filled with jet skis and mooring balls

Have we mentioned it is vacation time in Europe?  It seems that most of Europe is on vacation in August and they all have boats. What were listed as anchorages in our pilot books are now loaded with mooring balls, which are filled with small power boats.  This is also the time for the highest marina charges.  Finding anchoring space, with any protection, was much harder.  Those that you can squeeze into typically have jet skis and power boats dragging about inflatable bananas.  It takes a bit for the waters to calm down in the evening but if you can hold out, its lovely.   Lucky for us the winds have been kind and we were only two days out from Badalona which would serve as our home to explore Barcelona with granddaughter Julia.

The Columbus statute
at the end of Las Ramblas

A great visit with granddaughter Julia!

I had planned to end the blog here and include a few pics our adventures with Julia but, of course, that was before the unthinkable attacks on the Las Ramblas in the center of Barcelona.   Luckily, we had decided to visit the Gaudi Park that day and then on to the Gracia Street Festival but it was hot and near siesta time so the three of us decided to return to Ostinato for a rest.  We would go to Gracia Festival in the evening.  Or, at least, that was the plan before emails and texts began arriving asking if we were OK.  We stayed home that night as did many others in Barcelona asking "why|" and being thankful that we were safe.

Barcelona is such a wonderful city, I have struggled with ending this blog on such a sad note.  Often something happens in our travels that one of us will say "That's gotta go in the Blog!"  Our favorite for Spain so far was on a side trip to visit The Dali museum.  We sat down for lunch and the waiter asked if we were English "No, American" we said in unison never sure what to expect.  He became very excited ..."did we like Elvis?" he asked.  "Well yes, of course.  Everyone likes Elvis" we said.  He went on to tell us he was going to Memphis next year to see Elvis' home.  He then began to unbuttoned his shirt and opened it wide to display a 10" tattoo of Elvis' head on his stomach.  I have to say, I'm not that big of an Elvis fan but what are ya gonna say?  My only regret is we were all so dumbstruck that no one thought to ask for a picture.  You will just have to use your imagination!

P.S.  We are happy to report that while the first regulator that was shipped to Bonifacio continues to be missing in action, a second was shipped in from the State's and has found us in Barcelona.

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The staff was on strike the day we visited Joan Miro museum so this is all we saw

The gondola ride up the Montserrat Mountain
was a bit breath taking! 

We did the pilgrimage to see the
Black Virgin in the monastery in Monserrant

Inside the stunning Guadi La Sagrada Familia

and out.....La Sagrada Familia.  A banquet for the eyes!

Can you imagine living here?! Another Guadi masterpiece

The Barcelona Maritime Museum

Roman ruins in Badalona....who knew!

King and Julia finally both took time off their cell phones to explore the Museum of Modern Art

Dancing Waters show in Barcelona was worth missing the last bus.

A quiet lunch on Las Rambles Aug 9

Birthdays and Guardian Angels

June 20 - We had a beautiful sail north from Carloforte, sliding along the west coast of Sardinia to Oristano.  Along with SY Rob Roy we anchored just of the 8th century BC ruin of the Phoenician city of Tharros.   The anchorage was a bit rolly overnight but getting to explore the ancient city ashore the following morning made it more than worth it.  From Oristano, Rob Roy and Ostinato sailed on to Porto Conte.  I had hoped to anchor near enough that we could take the dinghy to shore and do a walk to Grotta di Nettuno, an underground cave full of stalactites and stalagmites.  The cave is reached via a staircase, Escala del Cabirol (or Mountain goat's staircase if that paints a better picture), carved into the mountainside. Only 656 steps! However, after at least a gazillion attempts to get the anchor to hold and only one mooring ball between us, we abandoned the plan and followed Rob Roy further into the bay where we found some lovely sand in 5 meters of clear blue water.  Trish and Dave swam over, checking our anchor on the way, to invited us to dinner the next night on Rob Roy to celebrate my Birthday!  I do love a party!

I awoke to flat water (my fav) in the anchorage and found that the birthday fairy had decorated the boat with Happy Bday signs.  Later in the day, King put on his once a year chef hat and baked a pineapple upside down cake to take along to dinner (also my fav).  I dug out some pink champagne we had stashed away for a special occasion.  We proclaimed the occasion was indeed special enough!  Celebrating summer birthdays when you cruise is a roll of the dice so it's always special when you get to celebrate it with friends.

Enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner aboard Rob Roy with Trish, Dave and Kingsley

A perfect downwind sail

From Porto Conte, we continued our trek north, a 10 1/2 hour day to Castelsardo.  At €37 a night, the price was just right!  Not to mention that it had a laundry and a big grocery store that you could fall into from the docks.  Did I mention the 12th century castle?  You did have to hike to the top of the steep, craggy cliff.....or you could cheat and take the bus like we did.....aha but no matter how you arrived, once you got up there, you were magically transported to an ancient village with twisting lanes, tiny shops, monasteries and, of course, the castle! They say, on a clear day, you can see Corsica.  We roamed the tiny streets, explored  the castle,  which is now a museum,

Castelsardo from the marina

 poked our noses in ancient churches (where I was admonished not to open doors.That lady had hearing like a bat!), admired baskets made by local ladies who sold them from their doorsteps and then, went in search of food.  One of the basket ladies directed us to a small restaurant a few turns from her home.  This was done while holding up a 2x3 ft. sign with the restaurant's name.  We were told in a mixture of Italian and English, "it was not the first one.....oh no, not that one, but the 2nd one we would come to."  So, we went there.  The food was quite good and the staff worked hard to make the experience fun.  Ohoooo, the complimentary Grappa burned all the way down.

Inside the walls of the Castle

View from the Castle.  Can't quite see Corsica today.

We walked the steep winding road back to the marina.  King used Mr. Google's secret setting to make sure we stayed maximum distance from any shopping areas.  This resulted in us going down back alleys and dead end roads. (Editors note: there were no dead end roads - fake news.)  We arrived at Ostinato with immediate thoughts of crawling into bed but just as I pulled on my jams there was a knock on the boat.

King went out to see who it could be and then didn't return.  What could the boy be into?  Back the clothes went on and then out the door where I found King, along with a group of Sardinians, trying to coax a poor kitten who had fallen into the water and found refuge on a ledge underneath the edge of the dock.  Kitten cries were attracting a sympathetic crowd.  One of the onlookers had asked King if he had ropes that could be used.  King attached lines onto a board and they attempted to maneuver it under the dock.  Apparently, the thought was the kitten would see it, jump onto the wobbly board without getting dumped into the water and the guys would pull him out.  Voila! ......the kitten had other thoughts.  He simply screamed louder now that he had everyone's attention.  This upset the crowd.  We talked one young Brit out of jumping into the water to save the kitten.  She then convinced her Italian date something had to be done.  He enlisted a local restaurant whose waiter brought sardines to lay on the board to make it a bit more enticing.  The kitten wasn't buying it.

Finally, someone convinced the fire department to intervene.  They arrived, red lights swirling but no sirens.  A quick assessment of the situation and the guys pulled up concrete blocks on the dock to see the kitten hanging on the rope that King had left in the water for him.  Within an instant they grab the kitten and he was on the dock.  Once his little grey paws hit the pavement, he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him with waiters and firemen in hot pursuit.  The plan had been to take him to a vet.......the kitten, again, had other ideas.  And yes, he was seen within a day scampering about the marina.

We were touched with how people came together to save the kitten in Castlesardo

The following day, Trish and I returned to the castle on the top of the cliff......this time we walked up. Besides nosing about tourist shops along the way and finding tiny street side restaurants to quiche our thirsts, we stopped by the "basket ladies" house so Trish could purchase baskets.  We also let her know we had gone to the restaurant she had recommended......this did not get any % off but she was very pleased and admitted that her sons worked there......as if the sign leaning against her chair wasn't a clue.

 Well, it's a BIRTHDAY bonanza kinda month.  Rob Roy's, Dave, big day was only 3 days after mine so it was time to celebrate again!  This time on Ostinato.  King strung the birthday decorations up again and we fired up the grill.

David blew the candles out and the palm trees down on his BD cake

The weather has turned blustery requiring us to stay longer than planned in Castelsardo.  We

Won't be leaving today

entertained ourselves with a few games of Joker and a road trip to visit several 18th-15th century BC Nuraghe sites, including one of the largest, Santu Antine.  Oh....and we also stopped by a Lidel!  You never know what bargains you might find.

Nuraghe ruins  Santu Antine

Inside the ruins are multiple halls 

June 30 - Although it was not picture perfect conditions to leave, we were beginning to feel pressured for time to get Ostinato over to the west coast.  Our flights to Sicily were only 4 days away.  It was a late morning decision but once made we flew into action and had Ostinato off the docks before noon.  The predicted winds were a bit more gusty than we liked but there were behind us.  We put in a single reef in the main and headed west.  Rob Roy would be heading to Corsica so Ostinato sailed alone.   As we moved along, the seas calmed a bit and we actually had a great wing on wing sail through the straights between Corsica and Sardinia which is known for its high winds that tunnel between them.  Our anchorage for the night was in Liseia, a large bay located on its NW coast.   We anchored in 20 feet over sand in calm waters for the night.   The next morning the winds picked up from the west and we got a bit of roll from the fetch, it was time to nose around to the next bay for a bit more protection.  As kite surfers began to soar, we realized we had anchored in Sardinia's wind and kite surfing capital.  Let's just say the wind was perfect for that.....not so for anchoring....... Our marina was only a few hours away so it was decided to sit tight another day.

July 2  - We arrived at Calla dei Sardo Marina at 1300 giving us just enough time to get Ostinato and us ready for our quick trip to Ragusa.  The marina appears to be seasonal.  There is no protection from the surge of passing boats or winds, however, its location in a deep narrow bay provided protection by land on 3 sides .  It serves as a base for a charter boat fleet out of Oblia.  King gave Ostinato a fresh water rinse and secured additional lines while I put the inside back to some semblance of order, cleaned out the fridge of things that grow ugly in our absence and packed our backpacks for the trip.  There wasn't a minute to spare!  The taxi to the airport would arrive in the morning at 6:45!

The van was right on time and so was our arrival at the Oblia Airport.  If only we could say the same about our flight.  For the trip we had purchased tickets on Volotea Air.  Never heard of it, well neither had I but the price was right and it was going to where we needed to go without changing planes. How bad could it be?

As we walked into the airport the first thing we noticed was the words CANCELED next to the flight to Palermo Sicily.  Crap!  We quickly got in line and a nice gate agent told us that, yes, the flight had been canceled and they were waiting to hear from the airline what arrangements would be made to get people to their destination.  Apparently, these were contracted gate staff not actual Volotea staff.  They had no authority to do much of anything except sympathize.  "Go have breakfast and come back in an hour" she said.  We moved on but thankfully not too far,

King camps out in the airline manager's office

within 20 minutes we saw the line forming at the Volotea desk again.  We jumped in and soon learned that there were 12 seats to Palermo today.  The rest would be flown to Naples or Milan later in the day and then put on flights to Palermo the next day.  None of that would not do.  Our appointment with the Questura for our Permesso di Soggiorno, permission to stay or "Residence Permit" was tomorrow at 8:45!  King went to work on his computer and found a flight that would get us from Naples to Catania tonight.  From there, we could drive.  We spent the next 8 hours waiting to learn if we would get on the flight.

While King was in the Volotea manager's office trying to convince him that once we got to Catania we would not need transportation to Palermo,  I began chatting to a man who ended up being the head of security for Oblia Airport.  He had worked in the State's and planned to retire to Tampa in a couple of years.  His English was excellent.....unlike my Italian.  I'm figuring he thought I looked like a basket case cause he soon became our advocate and we have little doubt without his assistance we would never of gotten on that plane.   Our original flight was for 8:30 a.m., we finally got tickets to Naples in our hands at 4 p.m. with instructions to get tickets to Catania once we arrived in Naples.  This required a truckload of trust but on the plane we went.  We finally arrived at our hotel in Ragusa at 11:30 p.m.  Its was a long, long day.

 Our Guardian Angel in Sardina, Gian Franco Pes took us under his wing in Oblia and saved the day!

We were up bright and early.  King decided we would at least be able to ask if we would get 2 years this time so I practice all through breakfast what I wanted to say.  I then tried it out on the hotel desk clerk before we left.  Yes! she could understand me!  That's a first.  We then jumped in the car and headed to the Questura.  The usual crowd of immigrants was gathered around the from gate waiting

for their names to be called.  We are not typical of the group but have done this so many times now it feels routine.   Our names were called in the first group and we pushed our way to the front of the crowd and were given a number that would be used to call us up for the review of our papers.  We were number 2.  As I sat I continued to practice my lines "will this be for 2 years?" ....in Italian, of course.   When we got to the desk, they split us up.
Oh no!  King hadn't practice!  Of course, that didn't stop him. As I was doing my finger prints....which there is not much left so it takes forever, I'm hearing him haltingly ask the question. The Immigration Agent laughed, as did the rest of the staff behind the glass wall and King, and then said "si, si".  Not to be outdone, I also asked about mine and was told "si, due anni!" YIPPEEEEE

After quick visits to the marina in Marina di Ragusa, have some gelato and stop by for dinner at our favourite pizza place (yes, in that order) we prepared to head north to Palermo where we would catch our flight back to Sardinia.  After 5 hours on the road with crazy Italian drivers we felt blessed to arrive in Palermo.  Yes, I admit I required a bit of retail therapy along the way.  In any case, we were very, very happy to arrive in one piece.  King and Google directed me into town and down multiple alleyways to get as close to the B&B as we could get.  Once we left the car we twisted and turned down so many tiny roads I feared we would never find the car again.

That was not, however, to be our problem.  There was no one to let us in at our B&B.  We waited, we called, we spoke to neighbors.  Nada.  It was siesta time so we decided to find a restaurant, get something to drink and wait a bit.  Of the thousands of restaurants in Palermo, we stumbled into A'nica Ristorante & Pizza Gourmet and found our 2nd Guardian Angles of the trip.  Yes, we apparently need a lot of  tending to......  In any case, while enjoying some lovely cold water, King asked the owners if they knew of the B&B and explained our plight.  They didn't know them personally but offered to try to make contact for us.  He got right through. (Hmm - the B&B answered when an Italian phone called.)  It went down hill from there.  We were told our rooms were given away and there are no additional rooms available.  We were both too tired to work up the energy to get outraged.

The restaurant's owners jumped to our rescue.  Within minutes they were leading us to a B&B next to the restaurant that had 1 room left.  Tonight was Dolce & Gabbana big international fashion show in Palermo, which is Dolce's home town.  The place was packed, we felt lucky to get a room.  This one was great!  And did I mention both of them and a customer/friend even stood in a parking spot in front of A'nica Ristorante to help me hold a place for King to bring the car around?  Beyond the fact that the owners of the  A'nica Ristorante are wonderful people, they also have a fantastic restaurant!  We enjoyed the best gourmet meal we have had in Sicily.  I had no idea you could do what they did to ravioli and King's tuna was apparently wonderful.  I wouldn't know because he would not share even one bite!

Half of our Guardian Angels dynamic duo in Palermo.  Fantastic dinner and people!

If in Palermo a must visit.

July 7 - Back to Sardinia!  No damage to rental car, the plane was on time and Ostinato was waiting.....close to where we had left her.

Ziggy Cafe was just down from our B&B and the A'nica Ristorante in Palermo.
We visited in honor of our sweet kitty Ziggy.  It's still closed.  Would buy the sign if I knew who to ask.  

Trish at the helm on Rob Roy

You seriously want me to go all the way up there?!!

The inside court of the Nuragic Palace.  Each door led to a hallway that took you to another part of the structure.

Wash day thankfully comes with instructions in multiple languages.  6€ wash, 6€ dry.

This is Iris.  My birthday present!!!!  
We borrowed her from our niece and nephew when we were in Portland last Dec and I feel in love with her.  

Now we just need to figure out how to get it home!  

Tunisia Drive-by

March 22
After a wonderful winter in the US, it was finally time to load our bags, stuffed with our favorite foods and boat parts, and head for the airport.  Although we tried multiple options to snag a business class seat, it was not to be.  Sometimes happiness is just getting on the plane.  We headed to London to reunite with David and Wendy on Amusant, friends who we traveled with several years ago on the Rhine and Danube into the Black Sea.  They are now back in our favorite wintering place, St. Katharine's Marina in London, and graciously invited us to stay aboard Amusant a couple of days as we passed through.

Lunch time concerts are a
favorite treat in London

In two short days we managed to pack in a stroll through Boroughs Market, stand in line for "day of tickets" to see Kinky Boots, attend a lunch time piano concert.  David and Liz from "Lazy Tern" soon joined the St. Katharine's reunion for the afternoon and then whisked us back to their lovely home in Bury St. Edmunds.  We caught up on news in a thankfully slower gear before it was suddenly time to depart again, this time back to Sicily and Ostinato.

April - Before we could depart MdR, Ostinato needed to have her saildrives replaced.  In Kingsley fashion, he had gathered enough research on the topic to produce a doctoral thesis.  An early plan was to bring back 2 saildrives in our luggage.  You can imagine my relief when that was abandoned.

RIP
King had thought about bring a 
new one back in his suitcase!

It was finally settled that we would buy new Italian Twin Dics Technodrive's from Nani who is located in France, who would ship them to England, who would sell them to us.  Would they drop ship directly.....of course not!  Now that was settled, the next job was to find a yard to haul us out and do the work.  A list of potential mechanics and yards required a spreadsheet.  First we checked MdR.  Yes, they could do it May 8 but King was not pleased with their plan of attack.....something about cutting a hole where there hadn't been one before sent him off the deep end.  It was time for a "road trip"!  Riposto, Porta Palo, Licata.  Each had its own issues...Riposto was expensive, Porta Palo had a rail that had never taken out a catamaran.....we did not cherish the thrill of being the first.....Licata had 2 yards, one had a good mechanic but Ostinato was too big for their lift.  The other had the big lift but not so good a mechanic.  There was no "just right" option.  But in the Italian way, one of them asked us why we didn't haul out in MdR.  When King shared that he was not pleased with their plan of attack, he was given the name of a mechanic that could come to MdR to do the job for us.  In the 4 days it took us to complete our road trip and meet with the new mechanic, the haul out date slid from May 8 to May 22........

Lots of parties on the docks

Lots of goodbyes... 

The 1st of 8 hatch covers!

While we waited our turn, we managed to keep busy.  King with his never ending list of boat jobs, while I pulled out the sewing machine from deep storage to create new winch and hatch covers.   As always, about half way through I began saying "what was I thinking?  I don't sew!"  but King always came to the rescue, giving the appropriate oooos and aaahhs required to get the project finished.  Well actually, Helen, on Dakini, got tired of hearing me whine and came to my rescue by finishing the last two covers.  Thank you Helen!  Birthday parties, goodbye dinners and boat jumbles also kept us occupied as the marina slowly emptied.  Each day, another
2 or 3 yachts departed for the summer.  Saying goodbye to friends we had made over the last 2 years that we would likely never see again was tough.  For us, it was looking like early June before we would start our summer cruise.

Happy 72 King!

May 23 - The haul out, only a day late, went smooth.  While out of the water, we stayed aboard

Ouchie

Paikea Mist, a beautiful 53 ft Beneteau Oceanis, whose owners graciously let us stay aboard while they returned to Vancouver.  The generosity of other sailors is so overwhelming.  We have so much to pay forward. To our amazement, the new saildrives were installed in 2 days (11 hours)! No drama. Paint was then slapped on Ostinato's bottom and she was back in the water ahead of schedule.  No drama......well, I forgot to mention that the ladder fell away from Ostinato as King was beginning to get off.  He landed on his hand which proceeded to swell up like a basketball.

June 7 - It's time to go!  A quick trip to Pazzallo to turn in our "Constituto" (sailing permit) and get passports stamped out should of been a piece of cake but our limited Italian resulted in us missing the location of the Carabinieri's office for the passports and then being sent to Ragusa Immigration Office by mistake.  Ragusa Immigration promptly sent our butts back to Pazzallo, this time with better directions,  but the 3 hours of driving back and forth resulted in cranky dispositions and a late rental car return.

The next morning, King decided we should file for our Permissos before leaving Sicily so we hopped the bus to Ragusa.  We got the same guy at the Ragusa post office who has processed our application for the last two years.   This was a big help.  He already knows we are clueless and treats us nice anyway.  And while we expected to get a date to return for fingerprints and interview sometime in October or even November.....the computer had other ideas.  We must return to Ragusa July 5.   Best laid plans.  I think if we had not already checked out we would of simply stayed in MdR to wait.  Oh well.......

If you had told me even the month before that we would be heading to Tunisia we would of laughed at you.  Oh no, not us! Too dangerous. Then suddenly, we had talked ourselves into doing the 2 day jump from MdR to Bizerte, located on the northern tip of Tunisia.  The plan was to stay long enough to check in, get marina receipts to proved Ostinato had been there, thus out of the EU, and then quickly move north to Sardinia.  This would restart our 18 month VAT tax window for Ostinato and save a trip to Morocco later in the season, our only other option.

June 9 - Of course, the forecasted winds are never perfect but we hoped that the light west, on your

We slipped out of Marina Di Ragusa just at sunrise

nose,  winds would veer to the NW once we got further west.  We might even anchor for the night off Sicily and make the 2 overnights trip into only 1 overnight.  Never big on losing sleep, I liked that idea a lot.  The dock lines were pulled aboard and we were off the docks at 5:30 a.m.  We were greeted with a  slight roll but the winds were less than 10 knots.  Ostinato made great time up the coast with her new saildrives and clean bottom.  King kept both engines running in hopes of shaving a few hours off the trip but the 7.5 knots average was still a surprise.  By mid afternoon we were near the Greek ruin filled coast of Argrigento.  King looked at the weather and recalculated arrival time.  It looked like if we turned south we could make Tunisia with only 1 overnight.  It didn't take long for that decision to be made.

Ostinato had a very fast passage.  We enjoyed extensive time over 8 knots

The seas were calm and the moon was full.  For our first overnight of the season it was perfect for those aboard that tend to get seasick.  Lots of ship traffic kept us busy all night and resulted in King getting his time off watch being disturbed a few times but overall, "not too bad" sez the crew that woke him.  Our speed averaged a whopping 7.5 knots., arriving at the docks at 2:30 p.m.  A 33 hour crossing!  The marina is new so not all of the amenities have been completed, including the fuel dock.  No problem, just call a man with a truck.

Ostinato took on 200 liters of fuel by truck

The marina staff worked hard to make us feel comfortable and welcome.  Officials come to your boat, copy information, asked how much alcohol, computers, TVs etc. you have on board and then do a quick look about.  They did not ask us for "presents".  This was a nice surprise.  We read a few days later the government was cracking down on that.

The plan was to simply check in, rest and then leave the following morning but friends who were in Bizerte just before us had done a tour of Tunis.  It would be a shame not to do at least a day of exploring, wouldn't it?  The tour operator arrived right on time at the marina accompanied by his two daughters who both study at universities in Tunis. They would assist interpreting for their father, giving them an opportunity to practice their English.  As a result, not only did we learn about the area, we also talked about the Arab Spring which started in Tunisia, Ramadan and the Paris Accord on climate change.  As it was Ramadan, they could not eat or drink anything and only big hotel restaurants were open during the day so we packed a lunch.  We both felt terribly guilty for digging into our lunch in front of them, but then again, not feeding me would be worse.

The tour took us to Tunis and included the Bardo museum, originally a 15th-century Hafsid palace, Carthage ruins and the blue and white village of Sidi Bou Said.  We saw some of the most beautiful mosaics we have seen anywhere on our travels.  Tunis also has what appears to be a beautifully maintained American cemetery for those that died there in WWI and WWII.  Unfortunately, it was closed on Sunday, the day of our tour.

A Christian church built by the French in Carthage

All of the road signage was in Arabic and English

Roads to Tunis from Bizerte were US Interstate quality

June 12 - As planned, we didn't overstay our welcome.  Just long enough to learn how to say Shukran, thank you in Arabic.  While we never felt threatened, we were always on alert. Our weather window would not last long so both agreed it was time to hoist sails and head north.  Checking out of Tunisia was ......interesting.  The police came aboard for a look around to ensure we didn't have more people than we arrived with and then left with our passports for about an hour.  When they returned, we were informed we must leave immediately and the officer waited on the dock watching while we untied Ostinato and motored out of the marina.  Off to Sardinia!

The Bardo Museum has the largest collection of Roman mosaics in the world

3rd century mosaic.  Looks a bit Sci-fi

King enjoying a piano concert practice

Sunset as we crossed from Tunisia to Sardinia

June 13 - We arrived in Carloforte at 2pm the following afternoon after a motosail in 5-10 knots on flat seas, under a bright waning moon.  We were met by Trish and Dave, U.S. Virgin Island friends from MdR who had done the Tunisia tax run the week before.  After a welcome Prosecco and exchange of Tunisia stories aboard their beautiful classic wooden yacht, Rob Roy, we crawled back to Ostinato to catch up on some serious missed sleep.  Plenty of time tomorrow to explore.

The walk to the market in Carloforte

The next morning was market day.  I would go to the market with Trish while King would check Ostinato back into Italian waters.  There is no Immigration Office in Carloforte so that would just have to wait.  Thankfully, the authorities are usually relaxed about that for cruisers.

The market fruits and vegetables were lovely.  It took great restraint not to overload.  As I was talking "Where are u"  "Need to go to the ferry NOW"  "CALL ME!"  Finally gave up the electronic plea, he ran to the market to find us, resulting in a mad dash to catch the ferry to Porto Veseme.  In his magical ways King had somehow arranged with the Coasta Guardia to have Immagration Officers meet us to stamp our passports at the Veseme ferry dock.  As we purchased our tickets, Trish ran to the marina to see if Dave also wanted to do the "mad ferry dash".  He did!  Aboard the ferry, we could see them running up the boardwalk.  They jumped aboard just as the dock lines were slipped.
myself out of buying a bushel of the beautiful delicate flat peaches that were piled up in front of me, King was sending me text messages.....

The timing was close to perfect, which was good because the Coast Guardia office in Porto Veseme didn't have a clue to what was happening and kept trying to send us to the ferry ticket office....what else could these Americanos want?  The Immigration Officers led us into the Guardia di Finaza office.  Trish and Dave showed their passports... stamp, stamp.  Ours came out next....whoa,  not so fast.  "you have residency permit"  no need to stamp passporte"  While she was probably correct, we also know that this understanding is not consistent across all immigration officers.  Please, please, stamp our passaporte.  It was only with extensive group whining and with great reluctance that we finally got stamped in.  Whew!  Off to a fabulous lunch and then back on the ferry to return to Carloforte.   By the time we got back on the ferry we were HOT.  This resulted in us changing seats from the front to the back in search of air conditioning that would blow directly on us.  We ended up surrounding some poor man that had thought he might catch a bit of sleep on the ride.  It was not going to happen.  Thirty minutes later we were back in Carloforte and headed for Ostinato.  Thankfully, we had left the air conditioning on!   Minutes after our arrival we realized that my Permisso (residency permit) was missing from our folder.

We rushed back to the ferry.....which left the dock just as we approach!  The ticket office called the ferry for us to see if my Permisso had been found.  Nope.  2 tickets on the next ferry took us back to Porto Veseme.  I was tired and hot, making King, who was in charge of the paperwork, in deep, deep trouble.  Not that it would of been much better if it had been his Permisso that was lost instead of mine but at that point it would of helped.

We retraced each step including searching through the sofa cushions in the Guardia di Finaza.  The poor guy who let us in had not been there earlier so had no clue who we were or why I was tearing through his couch but wisely chose not to get close to the crazed Americano women.  The restaurant was closed so we rang the bell.  We weren't let in to search but we left a card with our email just in case it was found.  To be honest, the man spoke no English and had no clue what the heck we were talking about despite my best pantomimes.

Walking back to the ferry dock, searching the ground as we walked, we began to admit defeat and started discussing contingency plans.  What would happen at our July 5 appointment in Ragusa to renew our Permissos if I didn't have my old one?  We were a couple of sad campers sitting on the Coasta Guardia steps when the ferry finally came into sight.

One last bit of hope raised us to our feet as we saw the name on her bow. It was the Conte, the ferry we had ridden back to Carloforte earlier that afternoon.  We were the first to step aboard and rushed to the passenger lounge where we checked the seats we had used earlier, in the stern first and then the bow.  Nothing.  A ferry employee saw the search and confirmed nothing had been found.

The boy lives!

Both of us finally collapsed in a nearby seat, defeated and exhausted.  King suddenly got up and
walked across to the area we had just searched but looked in the first row instead of the second.  We had both forgotten that we had been seated there also...........and there it was, the size of a credit card, lying on the floor underneath the seat.  King would live another day!

Dave & Trish check the map.  Not sure how we managed to
get lost on an island the size of Shell Point but believe me its possible

WWII lookouts still dot the coastline

breathtaking scenery

The pink flamingos in the Carloforte salt flats were a nice surprise

Cappuccino Art