SV Ostinato: Sleeping in a Disco

Note: As I began writing the 2017 Blog, I realize my last blog of the 2016 sailing season was never published.......so here it is!

July 26 - We turned north again, heading to Scario, which rewarded us with a festival and concert that

Summer festivals along the coast
bring out big crowds of all ages

was pleasantly over before midnight. The fireworks display was the best we have seen this summer. The fact that the display was being launched directly in front of Ostinato had a bit to do with that. We anchored just right of the entrance to the marina where, after the celebration, we were able to enjoy a well deserved sleep in calm waters. From Scario, we turned back to the south looking for interesting short days where we could anchor and enjoy a swim. No rush. Some were much better than others. Isola di Dino was too deep so we settled on a spot off San Nicola Arcella, tucked in with the fishing boats. The next anchorage was Centraro. It had a Lidel grocery which is always an adventure. We set off for the mile hike but was soon offered a ride by a man handing out cards for his restaurant. King asked "how much" for the ride and was told "no charge, no charge"....and he would give us a ride back! Cool....we understood, of course, that we would eat in his restaurant that night in exchange. We loaded up on more than we could otherwise carry including a replacement for "Litlle Bill" our power washer and sure enough, he was waiting for us in the parking lot as we emerged.....what a sweet man....later we cleaned up and dinghied back to shore for dinner.

The place was empty at 2000 but that didn't surprise us. We tend to eat early when we go ashore. The food was marginal but it didn't matter. We were still basking in how nice it was to be offered a ride. Toward the end of dinner, the "sweet man" bought a 8 oz jar of tuna to the table. His son had caught the tuna and they had "canned" it.....and we could purchase for €20. hmmmm "No grazie". Dessert? "No grazie"....just the check. When produced, King tried to pay with credit card..."machine broken". King then whipped out a €50 bill. The "sweet man" produced a 5 as change for the €30 dinner bill. King had smaller bills and gave him the exact change. This was apparently not how "the sweet man" had envisioned the night would go. He now demanded that we pay him for the ride to the grocery. It was not how we had envisioned the night either. King gave him €5 and we left the restaurant feeling sad that all of that good will we had felt had evaporated so quickly.

These guys are huge!

Off to Vibo Valentia the next morning. From Vibo we hoped to catch a train further south to travel back to Reggio Calabria to see the Bronze Worriers that we had missed on the way north. We arrived late so decided to anchor outside for the first night and then enter the marina early the following morning for two nights. There was little wind to keep us cool and an uncomfortable roll crept into the anchorage after dark making us regret our decision. We both really appreciated tying up and plugging in the next morning. Air Conditioning!! The marina is run by a Canadian who helped us locate necessary supplies and assisted us with catching the train to visit the museum with the Bronze Warriors......which were truly awesome.

August 1 - It is the beginning of vacation time in Italy! While the anchorages and marinas have been

We poked our nose in the marina at Tindari
but didn't go ashore

crowded on weekends, we are told that's about to change as all of Italy goes on vacation for the month of August. Yikes! Tropea was our last stop on the Italian mainland. I had looked forward to exploring the village sitting atop the hill. No wind but a significant roll made the anchorage uncomfortable. Bad enough that even launching the dingy was out of the question. I didn't squawk too much because I really wasn't sure I was up to walking up the 200 steps up to reach the city in the intense heat.

The winds continued to be mild so we decided instead of jumping to the west side of Sicily we would cross the mouth of the Messina Straits and cruise its northern coast. Stops included the industrial city of Milazzo and then to Tindari where we anchored below a hilltop monestary. A motor sail west to Capo D'Orlando the following day where we planned to anchor just outside a marina that was under construction was perfect. We arrived early and spent a tranquil day enjoying the solitude and the clear, cool waters. That is until about 1700 when the Coasta Guardia arrived to tell us anchoring was prohibited in the area. Best laid plans. Anchor up and off to Sante Agata where we luckily found space in the anchorage just as the

Anchorage in Cefalu

sun fell below the horizon.

And then.... another up and early day to Cefalu to spend a few days exploring the ancient city. We had again planned to tie up in the marina on our 2nd day but watching boats in the marina pull and lunge on their lines gave us flashbacks of Sapri. No thanks. We did pay to tie up the dinghy so we didn't have to drag it up on the beach but even that was frightening, requiring you to leap from the dingy and lunge for a pole at the end of the dock. Walking down the dock was like a navigating a balance beam in a hurricane. It took a lot of nerve for the marina to charge for the experience. Saying this, the anchorage was not perfect. We had 2 boats arrive who were bound and determined to anchor next to each other. This resulted in one of them being within a couple of feet of us. On the second day, we moved.....and so did he. Again STILL way too close. Sometimes you just give up and live with it.

August 6 - We strolled through the pretty little town to visit its Byzantine church. Our timing was

Cefalu is known for its 12th century cathedral with 2 towers

perfect! Just as we arrived in the main square a marching band....complete with majorettes, ages 4 - 10, was preparing to parade through Cefalu's narrow streets. They marched past our position in front of the cathedral and through the large ancient doors of the Cloister.......we followed. Here they received a blessing from a priest who magically appeared onto a balcony. Once properly blessed, everyone marched back out and up and down the winding streets throughout Cefalu, never quite out of ear shot. The town's summer festival had begun! We didn't know quite what that might mean until we learned that a nightclub was just behind the small anchorage. At midnight we both sat bolt upright in bed as the music began. The only thing I can say is the DJ was really great. I just wish it hadn't felt like he was on our boat!

Who knew my cat Ziggy owned
a cafe in Sicily!

August 8 - A motor sail this morning got us to Palermo where we had made reservations at the Yacht Club. The wind was blowing 15 k across our starboard side but King nailed the med mooring. Easy, peasy ......the way it always is at the end of the season. Palermo held plenty of treasures and the marina was well situated. After a 5 minute walk we stumbled onto the free tourist bus that dropped you off at the major sites. We became its best customer for the 2 days we spent exploring the city. My favorite find was the Ziggy Music Cafe. I'm sure it must be named after my sweet cat Ziggy who waits patiently for my return at home.

Ok, there really were some better sites than the Ziggy Cafe to be seen in Palermo and the nearby town of Monreale where the stunning Palatine Chapel is located. Here's just a sampling.

King stood in line in Ericefor sweets to take home

a gondola ride takes you to
ancient Erice

August 10 - The lack of wind continued as we motored further west. However, once we rounded the NW tip of the island, we were hit head on with 15 knots and a lively chop. Thankfully, our destination, Trapani, was only 15 nm to the south. Reservations had been made ahead at Vento di Maestrale and the dingy met us as we entered the breakwater to guide us in. While not quite as well done as the marina in Miseno, the marineros hopped aboard making it easy enough. The plan, stroll the town the first night, bus to Segesta to see the ruins early the next day and then off to the Egadi Islands in the afternoon.

It was not to be. We did indeed stroll the town and had our obligatory gelato. The following morning we hopped on the free bus and made it to the station.....but soon learned the hard way there are 3 bus stations in Trapani and, of course, we were not at the one that would take us to Segesta. We arrived at the right place 10 minutes after the Segesta bus had departed.....and just in time for the marina to call to tell us they needed to move our boat. Did we really get up at 6 a.m. for this? Back to the marina. We had decided instead of moving we would leave since check out was 2:00 which would not give us enough time to make the trip tomorrow. However, when the marina heard what happened they offered to let us stay late the next day at no extra charge......and that's what we did. So the day wasn't a complete wash, after we moved the boat, we made our way by cable car up to the top of Mt San Giuliano where the ancient Greek site of Erice sits at its summit. Stunning!

King thinks the "best seats in the house"
could use a bit of padding

Up again at the crack of dawn and this time we made the bus with time to spare. King and I, along with one other couple, made the hour long bus ride to Segesta, arriving at its gates before opening time. We had the place to ourselves.....hiking up the steep hill for way too long to visit the amphitheater and a few other sites that have been unearthed. While not the most elaborate site we have seen, the location was indeed stunning, sitting at the top lush rolling hills that seem to go forever. The Temple of Diana was located back down the hill and, thankfully, a much kinder hike. And then we had 2 hours left before the bus would return. Why did we take the early bus?

Our view as we hiked up the hill gave us plenty of excuses to stop and rest

The stage was prepared for a performance later in the evening

We have been communicating with people in Ragusa concerning our Permisso (permit allowing us to stay longer than 3 months) renewal off and on all summer. In an attempt to time our return to Marina di Ragusa our last question was do they use 2 months or 60 days to determine the earliest date of submitting a renewal application. The answer was...Oh, that's just a guide. If you need, you can submit earlier......Not what we wanted to hear since we had tried to do it last May and was told "too early". errrrrrg. And now we are within a week of being 60 days. Oh well. Off to Marina di Ragusa we go.

Egadi Islands, a small island
grouping off of Sicily's west coast

August 12 - No time to go ashore but we wanted to at least do a "drive-by of the Egadi Islands while we were so close.
We left Trapani and headed west for Favignana. The winds were blowing 15-20 knots making a quiet anchorage a bit doubtful but King located a spot, along with 10 other yachts, where we could tuck in for the night. We will be back!

The following morning we raised anchor and began our movement east back toward the southern Sicilian mainland to Sciacca. We attempted to anchor just off the marina but got shooed away by the Costa Guardia even before we got the anchor down. Too late to go much further so we found a spot, the required 300 meters off shore, on the east side of the marina off a small camp ground. It was a surprisingly quiet night considering the openness of the anchorage. The following morning it was on to Licata where King was able to negotiate a deal for a slip for the night. Licata is another live aboard marina in Sicily so we were looking forward to checking her out. It has a mall with a BIG grocery story within feet of the marina!! Whoa! very exciting. Enough to make us want to move from MdR.....nah.

August 15 - Ostinato anchored off the beach in Marina di Ragusa, glad to be back but not quite ready to tie up for the winter. We snuggled into bed about 10 pm only to be awakened by people talking next to the boat.....good grief, did we drag up on the beach?! Minutes later there was a boom that shook the boat! Fireworks! We staggered out to the cockpit to find we were on the front row of MdR's festival fireworks. While we slept, we had been surrounded by boats who came out to enjoy the show. And what a show it was! A perfect ending to the sailing season.

September 22 - Since our return we have been busy with getting our Permissos renewed, (yes we get to stay another year!) preparing Ostinato for winter, a bit of land traveling and reconnecting with sailing friends. The days seem to fly by. Reservations for our return home.....well, at least the Comiso to London part, have been made. With a bit of Buddy Pass luck we will be back in Shell Point by October 18....or there abouts.

"A bit early", those of you that know our routine may be saying. Wellllll...As was part of the original plan, our fabulous house sitters are ready to start their own cruising adventures. I just can't believe its that time already! While we are looking forward to spending this Thanksgiving and Christmas in our own home for the first time since we left four years ago, Martha and Scott will be off making their own sailing memories. They will be sorely missed by King and I who have depended on them for so much but even more so by our kitties, Ziggy and MK, who they have lovingly cared for as their own. Bon Voyage!