Julia

Siracusa

May 23 - Island Spirit Catamarans are few and far between in the Med so when we found one sitting at the marina in Siracusa we were excited!  We ended up enjoying a great dinner with the owners while discussing our much loved catamarans.  The following morning, King and Bill piled luggage in the dinghy and headed to the train station. Within minutes the Coast Guardia began moving through the anchorage.  Everyone that had previously been enjoying their morning coffee in the cockpit scurried below decks, including me!  Our German flagged neighbors were signaled to show their faces by a loud siren as two CG boats circled him. Boat papers and passports please....actually, not sure what they asked for since this is a Schengen country and Germans are also part of Schengen. But not only were papers exchanged but this week yachts have seen hefty fines of €350 for not announcing their arrival with the Port Captain and anchoring where told. I continued to lurk below as the CG patrol boats moved from one sailing yacht to the next.  In the middle of this, our new friends on SY Iola, an Island Spirit 400, cruised through the anchorage toward us to shout goodbyes before they left Siracusa for Licata on Sicily's southern coast.  The game was up.  No more peaking out the ports, I had to go out to wave goodbye!  Afterward,  I quickly moved inside to pull together the paperwork the Coast Guard was likely to need, registration, insurance papers, our Constituto (paperwork given to us when we entered the country) and passports.  I then returned to the back deck with my coffee to await their arrival. It wasn't long before the patrol boat left the yacht behind us and cruised by.  I smiled and waved.....they smiled and waved back and headed for the yacht ahead of us.......go figure. 

Bill heads off for the train station via the Ostinato taxi

Bill has left. It's always like sending a child off to college when he leaves.  You love the new space the empty room provides but you miss the fun that they bring along....and the fact that they wash the dinner dishes!!  He decided to do the train/train on ferry/train ride to Rome where he could catch a Delta flight home to Florida. The same trip we did with Lazy Tern last October. The idea of the train riding on a ferry is always too good to miss. Although King was POSITIVE there was a dining car, I decided to pack him a snack bag....our usual assortment of junk food, peanuts, cookies (King's beloved Oreos), fruit and a sandwich.  Of course, there was no dining car and apparently even the snack bar on the ferry was closed so the poor guy didn't have much to sustain him till he reached Napoli almost 12 hours later. The worst part was, although I had packed some food, I neglected to include anything to drink!  Oh well.....he survived and made it to Rome a bit dehydrated but in one piece. 

Seeing Siracusa through Julia's eyes

May 29 - Our beautiful, bright, sweet Julia arrived as planned!!  We had moved from the anchorage to the marina for a few days to make seeing the sights and enjoying the city a bit easier. For Julia's first night we did a quick dinner on the boat......Italian, of course, followed by walk through old Siracusa after sunset. The lights always make the old city magical. Julia's excitement was contagious and made us both realize we have become a bit blasé about all the wonderful sites we have had the good fortune to visit.  The next morning we would do the same walk in daylight and visit the largest Greek amphitheater in Sicily. 

May 30 - We began our trek toward the Archaeological Park at 1600, a full 2 1/2 hours before the theater was scheduled to open. The play, Alcestis by Euripides, was first performed in Athens in 438 BC.  Now that's a run!  It was open seating night and we were told good seats would come to those that arrived early.  Our 1630 arrival was met by hundreds of people who must have made it a day long experience.  King scoped out the three gate options and picked the middle with no idea where it led. The crowd was not well trained with how to stand in line.  Lots of slipping toward a better position going on. It was a multi-generational crowd with a surprising lean toward early 20 somethings. Nice. At 1700 on the dot, the gates opened and the crowd immediately began to sprint up the hill to the amphitheater to claim their seats. Getting into the spirit, Julia, Kingsley and I ran with the crowd. Our reward was a mid section view just off to the left of center stage. Perfect! But to be honest there weren't too many bad seats in the place. The Greeks knew what they were doing. After congratulating ourselves for coming early for good seat, we then baked in the hot, unforgiving sun until 18:45......but it was so worth it!

Alcestis by Euripides first performed in 438 BC

Spectacular night earned a standing ovation by the standing room only crowd

May 31 - up early to drive to Taormino to visit Sicily's 2nd largest Greek amphitheater.  No Greek theatre production this time but with Etna as your back drop its really not necessary!  The weather was picture perfect and the lack of crowds along with lots of shopping opportunities and the best Gellato I have had to date, made the meandering stroll up the hill go quickly. On the way home, King decided it would be a great opportunity to drive to Riposto to check out the marina there. We did a quick "drive by" and then headed back out of town. A missed turn found us on a side street to do a quick turn around. As we pulled about, a car came from our right and slowed down to a crawl while King, moving ever so slowly, rolled into the space occupied by the other car's driver's door. At first, I thought we had tapped so lightly that we had dodged a bullet.....but no.  The glass from the drivers side window suddenly cracked into a gazillion pieces and then tinkled onto the ground ....and the driver.  We all sat stupid for a minute and then jumped out to check on injuries.  The driver's leg was bleeding but his wife quickly gave him a tissue and dismissed it with a flip of the hand and a " it is nothing". Using Google Translate, we exchanged info and chatted to friends of the owners of the other car who popped by to see what was happening. At the end of the event, we all hugged and drove away. If only all car accidents could be so civil. 

Editors note:

When we returned the car the rental manager asked how it had happened and immediately became suspicious.  He explained that there was a scam going where some people forced an accident to collect the insurance.  At first King thought this not impossible but then he remembered the driver did not want to call the police and had stopped directly in front of us when there no reason to do it.  In fact he should have sped out of the way and had the time to do it.  So maybe not so civil.

Taormino with Etna sitting silently in the background

June 1 - Since we no longer own a car our coverage when we rent is always a bit iffy...but not enough to make us pay for extra insurance.....except for Ireland and a few other countries where the insurance provided through credit cards say "no way".  In any case, this was our first time to learn how this would work.  Happy to report that Itailian laws require rental companies to insure their cars for libility. Our only costs are for the rental vehicle which, thankfully, was minimal.  A sigh of relief all around Ostinato.

The water was still cold in May so full suitup

For our last night at the dock Julia had a hot date while we had dinner with Luda and Dave on Bobcat. Afterwards we strolled the Old Town one last time while Julia danced the Tango in the town square.  Next morning, we returned to the anchorage where King could give Ostinato's bottom a much needed scrub. After 2 hrs in a wet suit in the chilly water any thoughts of King going back to shore evaporated.....much to the disappointment of Julia's new friend.

June 2 - June 6 

A group groan was heard throughout Ostinato as the alarm went off at 0400. The destination was Rociella which would take us up the east coast of Sicily to Italy's toe.  While the wind was from the south it was light and required the motor to remain on most of the trip to enable us to arrive before dark. Apparently we made better time than anticipated as our arrival was at 1700 ( and why did we get up so early?) giving us time to catch our breath before we fell into bed to prepare to do it all over again the following morning. It was a nice surprise when we slipped out of the marina the next morning to find that Luda and Dave on Bob Cat had joined caught up with us in our trek north to Gallipoli. The winds were up and down but we were able to get a bit of real sailing under our belts. Julia has had a tough time with seasickness.  The medication, of course made her terribly sleepy but she was a trooper and took her 2 hour watches.   During our stops at ports along the way, Julia's Italian has grown rapidly.  She told us she was not surprised that with our pronunciation no one could understand our attempts to speak the language and we gladly let her take on the roll of ship's translator.  From Rociella, to Crotone where we anchored off the beach, to the fisherman's quay in Gallipoli  to check out of Italy, and then, finally, to the anchorage in Santa Maria di Leuca located on the heel of Italy's boot in 4 days.  Lucky for us, the wind was from the NW making the anchorage in Leuca quiet as we prepared to cross the Aegean to Albania the next morning. No idea what we would find for internet connections in Albania so everyone spent time responding to emails and making a few Skype calls. 

June 7 - Greece!
Plans are like the wind, they change. Weather reports had indicated the NW winds would continue, making a direct sail to our destination of Vlore, Albania possible. It was not to be. A mile off shore we radioed Bob Cat, which had left the anchorage an hour earlier, that we would be joining them in Nisis Othoni, Greece.  We would wait there until winds would allow us to move north. It was a good decision. Winds intensified throughout the day with gusts in the low 30s. Lucky for us, it was a short day.  We arrived on the small Greek island at 1300 where we anchored next to Bob Cat on the southern side in clear calm waters.  By evening the tiny anchorage was filled. We celebrated our arrival with a glass, or two, of Prosecco on Bob Cat and then slipped into the island for a lovely Greek dinner ashore. Absolutely nothing better than a Greek salad in Greece!

June 8 -14   Albania

The wind laid down overnight as predicted and Ostinato slid out of the anchorage at 0600 heading north to our next port, Vlore, Albania. This trip accomplished two things. It allowed us to see a country not open to tourism until the 1990s, making it a bit off the beaten path, and to restart the clock on VAT which can be charged on foreign yachts staying in the EU over 18 months (20%!).  While Albania looks more to the west and the European Union these days a few things continue to be tied up in bureaucratic procedures....Albania is not a sailing country. It boasts of only one tourist marina in the entire country, no chartering companies, and fuel must be hand delivered. A yacht can check in at only 5 harbors and must repeat the process as you move from harbor to harbor.  The charges, about €60-80 for a 12 meter boat, is charged at each port making the ordeal an expensive one should you wish to explore the coast. For us, we cleared in at Vlore and then moved 5 miles south to the tourist marina in Orikum. When it came time to depart, while the marina manager tried to intercede for us, we were required to return to Vlore to check out again. 

Those small buildings are bunkers that still line Albania's coast line.

Mountains surrounded the marina

No one answered our calls on the radio as King guided Ostinato into the marina but I finally saw the guy on the quay frantically waving for our attention to let us know where to tie up. Besides the bad news of no lazy lines to assist with the required med mooring, we managed to tie up using the anchor without embarrassing ourselves. Julia was thrilled to see they had showers that were located directly behind Ostinato's berth and after checking us in, King returned with wifi codes and a rental car!  Wahoo!

The crew was off the boat and into the car before 9 the next morning in search for an ATM to get a bit Lek (Albanian

Where the H' are we Gladys?

 currency) and our first destination, the Greek ruins of Apollonia.  The trip was guided by Gladys our Google GPS who apparently was quite surprised to find herself in Albania where she had no clue how to get around.  After leading us onto a farm road meant for tractors, we finally came to a group decision that she could no longer be trusted. At one point, Julia and I would pile out of the car in hopes of giving it a bit more clearance as she passed over huge boulders.  King bravely navigated holes in the road that could swallow a Volkswagen van. After an hour of slowly making our way across the farm, an older German bicyclist, complete with spandex and helmet came toward us.  We stopped to see if he really, really intended to go that way or if he possibly had his Gladys's cousin.  He gratefully turned around and began peddling back in the direction from whence he came.....making better time than the car.  No thanks to Gladys, we did eventually reach the site....just in time for the museum to close for siesta.  Oh well.  Lucky for us, even though we had no Lek, Euros were accepted at the entrance and the ruins remained open for us to stroll about.  King found a sign by a steep stairway that indicated if you were up for the climb you would reach a restaurant.  He was even willing to climb up first to see if it was actually open.....the man was desperate for food and drink!  The food was great and cheap, the views spectacular and we were invited to join in a party and take a stab at doing traditional Albanian folk dancing.  Truly one of the highlights of our time in Albania.

Julia was first to join in the dancing but soon all 3 of us joined the fun.

The Monastery door

Our next stop was the Greek Monastery, Ardenica, that had been left for ruin during Albania's communist period as an atheist state.  King decided to skip this one and proceeded to take an nap in the car (too much dancing) while Julia and I climbed the hill.....there's always a hill!.... We were met at the top by a large wooden door in the stone wall that surrounded the monastery.  There were no signs giving hours or even to indicate that we were in the right place.  I tried the door....it didn't budge.  I knocked.....no response.  I peered through a small hole in the wood .....no people around.  We turned to leave when suddenly the door creaked open and a little man beckoned us in without making a sound.  While he spoke no English he gave us a personal tour of the sanctuary, telling us, sometimes by pantomime, at times only using one word, about each of the frescoes that adorned the walls and led us through tiny rooms used by the priests. The beauty was breath taking and his efforts to ensure we understood what we were seeing put me close to tears. As we entered we were told no cameras. Soon, he was taking pictures of Julia with her camera. I was allowed a few shots.......A perfect day. The following morning took us on a long drive to the UNESCO city of Barat and its 13th century citadel. While we didn't find ourselves transversing any farms, even the roads that were paved were in a sad state. And we let Gladys do it again..... sending two hours out of the way jeopardizing our ability to get the car back the marina on time.  I think poor King, who had done all the driving, was glad we only had the car for 2 days.

The tiny archeology museum
included a few WOW items

We were back to walking and buses for our final trip which took us into the near by city of Vlore. We got a lift in by the Marina manager who showed us where to catch a volkswagon size bus (a la the Dominican Republic) for our return. Our day started at the Museum of Independence. We were met with a 20 something, serious faced women who seemed less than thrilled at our arrival. After tickets and change was provided....she had to go to a nearby restaurant...she guided us inside and magically became our animated tour guide. A one woman show. It took a bit but by the 3rd room she had warmed to us and it was obvious she truly loved sharing the story of her county's revolution. She shared she had met other cruisers, Merv and Judy on Thorang La the month before and was amazed that we knew them also and that they had recommended we stop at the museum. After that, we were family. At one point, other people began to gather in the courtyard seeking entrance. When we offered that we could finish out the visit on our own she quickly dismissed the idea....."they can wait!"  We spent the rest of the day wandering about Vlore, checking out tiny museums and park statues. Julia, who is a language major, bought books in Albanian, including a copy of one of its earliest written works. The day was finished with a stop for gelato, of course, and then we caught the bus back to the marina......for which we were charged double the going rate.  The joys of tourism.

 
It would still be another day before we could leave Albania. Storms hit the coastal region with a blow. Thunder and lightening lit up the skies and the rains were finally enough to get rid of the dirt that settles on deck in the Med. A good day to play dominoes!  Julia won - this grandchild cannot lose.
The weather finally cleared and so it was back to our 0600 alarms. No need to hurry however, the authorities in Vlore will not be on duty until 0730. Our agent was at the dock waiting for us and made it a quick and relatively painless exit. By 0800 we were heading west. Destination:  Otranto Italy.


June 14-17 - Otranto, Italy - The trip back across the Adriatic was uneventful. We arrived in the

We hiked 3 miles only to find MTV

anchorage at 1600 and began the preparations to check-in to Italy once again. The marina was full (only 6 slips) but the anchorage provided good protection so we camped out a few days waiting until the winds would allow us to move south. The old town is small but filled with shops, churches to explore and multiple gelato stands that must be sampled. After we had visited every shop and walked around the castle several times, we took a 3 mile hike to what the signage indicated were caves.....we would know it better as a sink hole. The setting was quite arresting and a music video being taped while we were there gave it a bit of a twist. The Festival of Lights started on our last night in Otranto. What a surprise to see our singer from the video doing Italian folk music for the evening.

The Old Town was decorated for the Light Festival in Otranto

The winds finally moved a bit to the east and we decided to go for it.  Julia's time was running out and we wanted to get her a bit closer to southern Italy for her next stop, Pompeii.  The destination was Crotone which would take us across the arch to the toe.  Unfortunately, the seas were still a bit confused.  Julia was looking a bit green so all agreed to cut the day short.  We would stop again in the anchorage Santa Maria di Leuca where we had left Italy just a week before.  The sloppy seas moved around into the anchorage so unfortunately, stopping provided only minor relief.  Only a Dominoes challenge coaxed Julia out of bed.  We hauled anchor again early the next morning with hopes the forecasted N winds would arrive soon. What we had was a smorgasbord.....no wind, to wind on the nose, to 30 knots on the beam to 15 on our stern and then all around again.  And did I mention the rain?  Julia stayed in her cabin most of the day.  King and I dug out our fowlies and made the best of another day of "that's not what was forecasted"!  We arrived safe in Crotone 8 hours later and were soon greeted by the crew of Dakini, neighbors from Marina di Ragusa.  Waiting for weather is always more fun with friends.




How is it that sweet Julia's time is already over?  Surely she just arrived.  We ate dinner on the open air roof of a local restaurant with music floating up from the bar across the street for our final night to celebrate my birthday and Father's Day.  There is something about the first time your granddaughter takes you out for dinner that is wonderful and sad at the same time.  Can she really be that grown up!?  Next morning there was not a taxi in site so she threw her backpack on her back for our 2 mile walk to the train station.  With promises to text us when she arrived in Pompeii, when she left Pompeii, when she arrived in Rome and when she departed Rome for Madrid where she will begin her summer job, we watched the 1 car train rumble down the tracks.  

That smile has captured our hearts since the day she was born

Greek ruins in Apollonia

The "caves" in Otronto

That's all folks!

Bringing Back the Fanny Pack

May 5

The much awaited weather window finally arrived this morning allowing us to join the congo line of sailboats departing Marina Di Ragusa.  Ostinato's destination, south, to Malta. While the winds had

stopped howling, the seas had yet to catch up with the idea resulting in a sloshy roll that lasted the entire 8 hour trip and laid me horizontal for much of that time. Neighbor and friend Bill had arrived the day before so King had plenty of willing hands should they be needed. It would be a stretch to call this a shake down cruise since what wind there was was on the nose and the sails never saw the light of day.  At 1700 sharp we were anchored in the Blue Lagoon at the western end of Malta enjoying an adult beverage while we soaked up the golden hued landscape and crystal blue waters surrounding us. We were finally off the docks!

Our first anchorage of the 2016 season....The Blue Lagoon

May 6

While Malta is part of the EU it still requires vessels entering its waters to check in so King had us hauling the anchor up bright and early and heading toward the island of Gozo. Apparently it was too early for some members of the crew because the little grey cells had not fully ignighted.  Things like how to tie a proper knot was just not ready to surface.  As we headed toward the dock the first fender fell off and began swimming toward freedom.   Not to worry, King circled around and said crew plucked it out of the water with perfection. Fenders were quickly moved to the opposite side, per the Big Guy's request and with loud grumbling from the crew due to the little notice and being cut no slack as he zeroed in on the dock from the other direction...just as we touched, another fender jumped off the boat.....and its lines quickly wrapped the prop.  The Big Guy was not amused. Off he stomped toward Check-in, grumbling something about digging out his diving gear. Now we were all in snarky moods.  

Unidentified crew
practicing his knots

The little grey cells must of been dormant on other yachts this morning as well as divers arrived on the dock behind us within minutes of King's grumbling request to get the diving gear.  Mask, snorkel, fins ....the diver was in and out in less than a minute. My eyes never left the little operation and as soon as he was out of the water I began my pleaB for help.  After a quick conference with a buddy we got the verdict....."YES!" He would dive for us...€40. Ouch....unnamed crew quickly decided it was well worth it to keep King out of the cold water. ....and not have to listen to him moan all morning. A thumbs up put the diver in the water and under the boat in a flash. 15 sec later he surfaced with the prized fender....a little worse for wear but aren't we all....as quickly as the diver had arrived, he was gone, pulling himself back out of the water on the opposite dock to wrap himself in warm towels. When asked how to get them the money we were told "it is nothing, no charge".  Welcome to Malta!   Off to Valletta we sailed.  While some got reacquainted with their knots. 

The weather still hadn't settled so we decided to look for a tie up that would allow us to explore Malta without worrying about dragging from hither to yon. There was, however, no room for the wide girl on our arrival. With King's typical "ostinato" he finally found a spot on a dock that was still in the process of being built. While it didn't provide a lot of protection from the NW, it kept us in one place. Here we bobbed, jerked and swayed for a week while we explored every major tourist attraction on Malta. When not being entertained, we explored the supermarkets and multiple marine stores.  I spent an entire afternoon in the Gala Supermarket. They had Pam spray!  If you had told me 10 years ago I could get giddy about Pam .....It's so often the little things.  I was so excited, I text messaged King!

The dock Ostinato was tied to was marginal but the view of Valletta was first rate!

Inside the gates of Valletta

May 13
The winds have turned full circle back to the NE so it was time to move to the southern coast. We enjoyed a sweet sleigh ride to Marsaxlokk where we creeped in as far as we dared and anchored in 10 feet of swimming pool clear water.  Minutes after we got the anchor down, SY Maltese Falcon sailed into the anchorage.  Mario and Lillian are Canadian but are from Malta originally and a wealth of information on what to do in Malta.  We later found several other MdR alumni in the market. Apparently the place to be.

Marsaxlokk town quay and Saturday market

The trading of burgees at the Royal Malta YC
(King modeling his fanny pack)

From Marsaxlokk we continued our bus riding exploration....sightseeing, shopping and sampling the local dishes. On Sunday, Marsaxlokk has a huge market which we fully explored from one end to another.  As usual, we bought way too much fruit, strawberries, peaches, white grapes (seedless yeepee).  Fortunately, something we never tire of.  And did I mention the tomatoes and beautiful asparagus?  MMmmmm.  Besides fruits and veggies, King also purchased a fanny pack.  It matches Bills.  I explained to them both that fanny packs had gone out of fashion in the 90s.  When that didn't work, I reminded King of his "man bag" that he had purchased on the Rhine (never to see the light of day) but there was simply no changing his mind.

Our last day was spent roaming around Valletta.  Besides last minute shopping, we had a destination, the Royal Malta Yacht Club, where we hoped to exchange our ABYC burgee for one of theirs.  It was a successful trip!


The bus trip to and from Marsaxlokk takes close to 45 minutes and today the return bus was late....Not just late but VERY late.  The crowd was not a happy bunch.  The time came and went that would allow us to use our 2 hour ticket.  Along with others, I complained to the "guy in the green vest" and was assured he would tell the driver so there would be no additional charge.  1 1/2 hours later the bus arrived and was stormed by a mob daring the driver to leave the bus.  The "man in the green vest" was of course nowhere to be seen.  The driver did not take issue with my claim for a free a free ride....nor anyone else's for that matter.  Off we rumbled, swaying and bouncing along.  About 20 minutes into the trip the stop buzzer started going off.  The driver would pull over but no one would get off.  This went on for another 10 minutes getting more insistent as time passed.  Finally, the driver stopped the bus in the middle of the road and exploded out of his tiny cabin in the front, screaming "who's pressing the button?!"  The passengers, ranging in age from 15 to 80, all sat in shocked silence.  After searching each passenger's face in hopes of uncovering the guilty party, he turned to go back to his seat.  Halfway there .....buzzzzzzz.  He swung around in rage, hair standing on end, spittal flying from his mouth.  He stomped down the aisle eyeing each passenger and pushing the buttons on one side, then the other as he moved to the back of the bus.  Each one providing the expected snappy buzz.  No one breathed.  At the last row of seats, he turned, defeated, head bowed, shoulders slumped, as he quietly made his was back to the drivers seat.  The next stop was ours.....I'll be damn if I was gonna push that button.  Thankfully, there was a large crowd waiting at our Marsaxlokk stop.......probably really angry because they had been waiting for over 2 hours for the bus......poor driver.  There were plenty of seats for them because the rest of bus load decided they had enough and all piled out.

It was such an ordeal we decided to eat on shore tonight.  "Yea" cooks night off!  I ordered the special

at the local waterfront restaurant. It started with fish soup which smelled lovely but upon close inspection, I'll be darned if I could find any fish in it. The meal was a steal for €12 so I felt a bit silly complaining....especially after the "free" bus ride but it was quickly remedied with a new bowl and 2 healthy pieces of fish....along with a main course of calamari, grouper, octopus, fries and salad.  yumm.   

May 18

The Blue Grotto has the bluest waters we have ever seen

The weather forecasts have been entertaining but lack any consistent information that you might use for planning. Our planned Friday crossing has been moved  to tomorrow.....and the winds are shifting to the south. Back around the island we go. We are all excited as Bill gets to practice his fender tying.  He go a C.  Nothing fell overboard....but me fears he is not practicing as much as he claims.  We traveled along the south coast heading west with the wind on our nose....checked out at Gozo and then moved to the north coast traveling east....and the wind was on our nose!  That's just mean.  

We finally put the anchor down in St. Peter's Bay. The bay is full of hundreds of empty buoys.  The problem is you have no idea what size boat they will hold so we carefully anchored in between them.  It ended up being a rolly, uncomfortable night.

May 19
Up at 7 with plans to move back around to Marsaxlokk.  The weather continues to be weird with the forecast being more wishful thinking than anything near reality.  The good news was we did not have any mooring balls underneath us so once the anchor was up, King, with Bill and me on the bow pointing out floating mooring lines, weaved his way back out of the harbour.  We headed east but after one last look at the weather forecast, it was decided that maybe it was time to jump back to Siracusa, Sicily.  The winds should be light and by afternoon "forecasted" to back around to the south.  Sounded good.  As if we needed any encouragement, a text message arrived from Namir one of the yachts we sailed with across the Atlantic.  "Where are you?"  They were sitting in Portopalo.....A quick course adjustment and Portopalo here we come!

Its always special to see Joanie and Bob.  We came across the Atlantic together and met in the Azores,  again in Turkey and now Sicily. Like us, they are headed west again.

The market was full of fish.....

.....and fruit!

The boys

The boats of  Marsaxlokk 

Acting Your Age

We turned the clocks forward an hour before crawling into bed last night.  Not only did we gain an hour of much needed daylight but the morning was transformed from rainy and cold to sunny and.....well, cool. You could feel the marina come to life. Decks were being scrubbed and sails were dragged out from their winter storage to flutter in the wind as they were hoisted up the main halyard.  Everyone wanted to be outside today. Talk magically turned from what are your plans for the winter to where are you heading this summer.  

Sue pretending she knows how to sew 

Spring fever has settled in on Ostinato too. King is in high gear, prioritizing jobs on his never ending jobs list. The sewing machine seems to be permanently ensconced on the back deck to keep up with the jobs King keeps inventing for me.  Sewing does not come to me naturally. I knew this early in life when my 1st sewing project in Jr High Home Ec, a mandatory gathered skirt, fell apart immediately upon its completion (no one wore those anyway!).  Sewing is so far down my list of things to do that it has taken me 3 years to start a shade cloth for the plexiglass port over the helm. If not for our neighbor, Helen on Dakini, it would still be just a thought. Even so, in the time it took me to complete that job Helen created two mainsail bags and was working on dinghy chaps. Somehow she manages not to laugh at me (out loud) and cheerleads me on. 

Our winter sailing break always goes by way too quickly and this year our time in Marina di Ragusa, was no different.  When we arrived at MdR our first task was to apply for our Italian residency permits. We were a bit frantic as we only had 8 days to file our paperwork after arriving in the

Getting fingerprinted for our residency permit

country and we had consumed 6 of them battling headwinds and rain sailing down Italy's east coast to reach our new winter home in southern Sicily. Lucky for us, there were a few sailors at the marina that had gone through the process before us who kindly laid out the multiple steps necessary to reach success.  Almost a month after submitting our paperwork, we made our first trip to Questura (i.e police headquarters) which was a bit intimidating. We arrived 15 minutes before our appointment with Silvia, from the Marina, as our translator. Waiting outside the locked fence we chatted with people from all over the Mediterranean who were also hoping to become new Italian residents. Our appointment time came and went. Twenty minutes later a uniformed man unlocked the gate and the crowd surged forward. He called each name that would be permitted to enter.  We had already decided if one got called we would drag the other along but there was no problem; each of our names was call one after the other. Once inside, you waited again. While there was a large lighted number system, it didn't work so we sat. Our Italian was limited to boungiorno and arrivrderci....counting was still on the horizon so bringing Silvia along to know when our number was called immediately becaome a very good move.  Finally, we moved up to the window and watched the man on the other side thumb through our documents.  He asked a few questions which Silvia handled with ease, took our thumb prints and pronounced we were  "OK".  Our next stop, fingerprints and pictures, was completed that afternoon. A month later we received a text message to return to the Questura to pick up our residency permit.

The crews of Lazy Tern and Ostinato do
 selfies on the "train/ferry" to Naples

Train rides the ferry from
Sicily to Italian coast

Thankfully, we arrived early enough in the fall to be able to do some great "land cruising" in amazing places like Naples and Pompeii with David and Liz on Lazy Tern.  Getting there was half the fun, bus to train, train rolled onto ferry and then rolled off and became a train again and finally a wild taxi ride to our hotel.  A fabulous experience but we ended the trip on a down note after we boarded a crowded train and pickpockets did everything but turn poor King upside down and shake him.  New phone, earbuds and billfold disappeared without him feeling so much as a tug.  Of course, this is the same man that can be standing on top of my feet and not notice so they really didn't need to be that talented.  With great reluctance, King has finally gone back to wearing a money belt when we travel.

Bodies capture the horror of the eruption of Vesuvius

Oh my!  that's what a  calzone
 is suppose to taste like!

A few weeks later it was on to Rome, Florence and Venice thanks to €15 Ryanair flights that made it impossible to resist.  Each city had its own very special charm.  In Florence, we were able to sit with obstructed views in front of Michelangelo's statue of David and explored the Uffizi to find Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.  No crowds, no lines and at the end of each day we returned to our room to find a tray sitting on our bed with a note and a special wine inviting us to rest from our hard day of sightseeing before dinner.  Our B&B in Venice gave us the key to their sister hotel's roof top which had a refrigerator full of prosecco and a view of Venice at sunset that made you want to stay forever.  The roof top became a nightly ritual.  In Rome, we rented an apartment just on the edge of the tourist area that allowed us to become part of an Italian neighborhood, eating with the locals each night.  While it was a most magical of "vacations from our vacation", we awoke on our second day to the news of the tragic massacres in France.  Suddenly, there was a significant increase in police presence at every tourist area and we became much more watchful of our environment.

Our view each night at Sunset in Venice as we enjoyed a bottle...or 2 of prosecco.  A cruise ship is passing by at the top

While there are only a small handful of boats from the US in the Porto Turistico in Marina di Ragusa, Thanksgiving was a marina wide effort.  A local restaurant cooked the turkeys and each boat bought a dish.  I made stuffing  which not only made King happy but also the young American boy visiting his grandparents for the holiday.  We were told he had  bemoaned there would be no stuffing.  Another American boater had scraped up enough cans of cranberry dressing for everyone at each table to have a bite or two.  Perfect!  The room was packed and the food was great.  How special to us to have people from so many other countries celebrate an American holiday.

Shell Point neighbors, Marcia and Carl arrived soon after Thanksgiving and we were off again to explore southern Sicily from The Valley of the Tombs in Agrigento in the west to the ancient city of Siracusa to the east.  As is no surprise to anyone that knows Marcia and Carl, we had a hard time keeping up with them.

Finding the UNESCO logo in Agrigento was a great surprise

December was a mix of day trips exploring Sicily and celebrating the holidays.   Sailors from each country took their turn to share Christmas traditions.  

We joined our Scandinavian neighbors for
the annual candlelit celebration of Santa Lucia in Dec

Christmas was spent with catamaran neighbors on I Dock. Since we didn't have left over turkey from our Thanksgiving dinner, King desperately wanted to cook a turkey so we offered to bring the bird.. At the grocery, King used his handy dandy phone translator for the order..... 8-10 lb.  The butcher said "Si, Si, no problema". Christmas eve we arrived to pick up the bird and the butcher proudly presented a beautiful fat 15 lb turkey. No way that sucker was ever going to fit in our tiny boat oven without some major amputations....don't need those legs.... Whack! off they came, wings...whack, whack!...... There is always something special about Christmas on a boat and this get together was no different. Great food and friendship. We ate till we could no longer move and then we were introduced to a new card game...."F--- the Neighbor".  I think Marcel made that up.  In any case, plans were made before the night ended to meet again for New Years Eve.  

Leo checking for presents under the tree.  

Marina di Ragusa square at Christmas

Ostinato was decked out for the holidays

Last year while we were in Turkey we enjoyed the marina's monthly trip to the symphony so when an opportunity for a musical evening was announced on the morning net, we jumped at the chance.  It

The teatro dei Donnafugata

ended up being a small group of 10 made up of Dutch, Germans, Canadians and Americans. Jack, an 80+ year old sailor from California and the only one that could manage a few words of Italian made all the ticket arrangements.  The venue was in the tiny 18th century teatro dei Donnafugata in Ibla Ragusa.  We squeezed into the hard seats in the back as all of the padded seats overflowed with annual subscribers.  The evening was kicked off by introductions of what was to be played that evening and, we assume since everything was in Italian, a big welcome to The Americanos.....yes, we all became "Americanos".......a round of applause.  King and I attended three more concerts in Ibla and each evening "The Americanos" got a round of applause.  They we all so kind. One night King and I were sitting in plastic chairs that had been situated across the front so a few more could be squeezed in and a man sitting in "front row center" (we will call him the "Godfather") invited us to sit in empty seats beside him.  He spoke no English and we spoke nothing recognizable in Italian so we smiled at each other a lot.  When the ticket holders of the seats arrived, he banished them to the plastic seats!  Which they took without as much as a whimper.

A night at the symphony in Ragusa Ibla

Suddenly, it was mid January and the day had finally arrived to empty the fridge and freezer and dig out the suitcases.  It was time for our annual trip home.   We hitched a ride heading for the Comiso airport to board Ryanair to London.  There we would spend a few days visiting old haunts before continuing back to the States.  Liz and David our St Kats neighbors  and now MdR neighbors (Lazy Tern) picked us up and took us to their new lux flat outside of Cambridge

8 a.m. we were 5th in line for Miss Siagon
 = 4 front row tickets!

. We had decided ahead of time that we didn't want to be like old fish (3 day smell) so the plan was to spend a couple of days with Liz and David then move on to the Cruising Association headquarters in London to bunk for a few days and then back to Liz and David's till we could find seats on a Delta flight home....or we wore out our welcome, which ever came first.  So, after a few wonderful days of fine wining and dining, we took the train into London.  The CA was a perfect location, enabling  us catch up with friends from Ipswich "the other Ivor" and Denise, stop by our favorite pub for some fish and chips and hit the streets early to continue our tradition of getting up at the crack of dawn to stand in line for "day of tickets". This time for Miss Siagon.   David and Liz joined us for the theatre and also a reunion at St Kats Marina with marina staff and the few liveaboards who are still wintering there. It was nice to catch up with Gus and Helen (Wings) for dinner and quick visits with Wendy (Scooter) and St. Katharine dock resident expert Chris West. Our spot in the central basin was empty which I pointed out to the marina manager hoping he would say "Yes, it's waiting for your return!" but that didn't happen......then, before you knew it,  after ducking helicopters at the theater and wandering the British Museum for the 100th time, we were back at David and Liz's for more pampering. The Buddy Seat gods continued to smile on us and opened up business class for our return home on our first choice departure date.  Hoping that means we get to go back to visit Lazy Tern's land base again.     

We really look forward to our annual visits home.  We cram our schedules full but we never seem to

Best part of going home is 
getting to do your "dad" duty

get to see everyone we want to see. This year we added some long distance travel; King to Oregon to see an eye specialist and family and me to West Virginia to stay with old friends Suzy and Bill and reconnect with Sydnee who I hadn't seen since high school.  How is it she looks the same!?!   Since I've been gone my high school has been made into a condo, my Jr. High is boarded up and my elementary has simply  been vaporized!  The saving grace was that the Midway hotdog stand was still there.....and yes, I had a few.  All of this made our Tallahassee time even more precious. We did manage to cram in a belated Christmas celebration, family birthdays, attended grandchildren's theater (they were the best of course!), take the kitties to their annual vet visit (MK and Zig now run when they see me coming), enjoy lovely dinners with friends and neighbors at Shell Point and were poked and prodded and declared healthy by doctors across the state for another year.  King's  only limitation after treatment for back pain was to "act your age".  Hmmmm .......good luck with that.   All too quickly, it was time to go. How can that be?

Our other actor, George (right)

Julia in a play of sounds only......
gramp's was front row center, of course

The plane loads back to Europe were over flowing. March is spring break and it appears that Europe was this years destination of choice. The further into March, the fewer seats available. We needed to catch a ride back quick. My business class seat was looking extremely unlikely. The plan had been to fly to Rome and then catch Ryanair to Comiso but by the time we reached the airport our names had slid down the standby list to # 12 and 13 for 6 seats and they were over sold in the back!  Yikes. At the ticket counter we changed our destination to Frankfurt.  Still crowded but at least we had a chance we would get on the plane.....and we did yea! and in business!  Thank you to all of those people that changed their tickets at the last minute whoever you are!  It was not without drama, of course.  There is no way for 2 people to gracefully drag 6 suitcases.  It becomes especially daunting when you must catch a bus to change airports.  It helped that each bag had already been hand inspected, piece by piece, and labeled as such by the fine folks at the Tallahassee airport.  We watched as they carefully looked at unusual items in all 6 bags.  At one point, I began offering explanations for why I would be packing a bottle of pickle relish but I just stopped when they pulled out the hooka compressor and still appeared unphased by it all. While I find it hard to believe, apparently, our luggage is just not that strange.....or else they have gotten use to our annual trips home...."oh, it's those people again"...."must be spring".

We arrived back in Marina di Ragusa at 11 p.m., 24 hours after we had departed Tallahassee.  As we parked the rental car the conversation began...."Do you have the gate key?" to my reply  "No, I thought you had it." My only regret is I didn't get a picture of King climbing the fence.......but I do have one of him not acting his age a few days later.

King.....Acting his age?

It's the end of April now and each day our numbers dwindle in the marina as boats depart on their summer adventures.  Last night, after the Tuesday night Happy Hour at the Stella Marina Bar, we joined friends to attend a ukulele concert in a local bar in near the town square.   Yes, I said ukulele  concert!  Now, I'm all prepared for Tiny Tim and Tip To Through the Tulips but what we got was a singer with a voice like Carly Simon singing everything from folk, to rock and roll, to punk. King and I lasted till just after mid night and then decided in was time to wander back to Ostinato cause in a few days we will also be leaving the dock for new adventures.  The plan is to head to Malta, Albania (to restart the 18 month Vat clock) and then cruise the west coast of Italy, along with Sardinia and Corsica.  After that.....well, who knows.  The original plan was to winter in Cartagena but there seems to be efforts at work that will lead us to return to Marina di Ragusa for another year.......only time will tell.

The steps in Caltagirone
known for their ceramics
You can stop and shop on your way up
to catch your breath

Mr Etna from the train to Naples.... 
before she blew

King, cheating in the maze.
Not acting his age.... again.

Trying to find out way out of the stone 
maze at Castello di Donnafugata home of 
retired Mafia boss in TV's Montalbano 

This is Eddie, a boat cat at MdR.

He stops by to say hello and get a pet most mornings.

The art covering the walls in the ruins of Pompeii was amazing

While some of us did a daily walk to get a little exercise, others enjoyed Tia Chi on the beach

The caption sez
KNOW THY SELF

The young girls loved the
Swiss Guards at the Vatican

Rome at night was so worth it .....even in the cold

The backstreets of Venice