Sicily - July 30 to August 15, 2002

We left Cagliari on July 29 for an overnight passage to the north coast of Sicily. We had various plans of what our itinerary on Sicily should be. Initially we planned to skip all stops on the north coast, and head directly for Isla Vulcano, the closest "all-weather" anchorage we could find near the Strait of Messina. This meant a 2-3 day trip, which we had been hoping to avoid.

Then we were told about Porto Rosso, a new marina on the coast of Sicily. So we called them for an availability and price check. Well. They quoted us €260 … for one night! After picking up the cell phone from the cabin floor, we told them we wouldn't be staying with them. So back to Square One.

Then another couple told us about San Vito lo Capo, right on the north west tip of the island. They said it was not to be missed, and they also gave us another couple of anchorages along the way towards the Strait.

So when we left on the 29th from Calgiari, we were planning an overnight sail. And so it turned out to be. Except that we motored the whole way - no wind at all. The sea was flatter than we had ever seen it.

When we arrived at San Vito lo Capo it was early in the afternoon of the 30th, and it was idyllic. The sea was turquoise, the water completely clear, the depths about 5 meters, and there was lots of room to anchor. The bay was about a mile wide, and had a huge beach all round. We dropped our anchor and dove right in for a swim.

We decided then and there that we would be staying for a while.

The weather was for the most part beautiful, though wind direction and strength were often different from the forecasts. One night we were wakened up by a wind shift of about 180º, with the wind blowing from the land at about 25 knots. And the wind was HOT - just like it had come from the desert. We checked the temperature, and it showed 29ºC. This happened on another couple of nights while we were there - very unusual!

The town of San Vito lo Capo is a tourist mecca, but the whole thing is quite tastefully done. The people were very friendly, and we were glad that we stopped.

We did discover that Toucan Tango was quite a draw for the many tourists who visited the beach. People swam over, came via pedalo, kayaked over, and sailed by. In each case, they stared, looked around, occasionally said hello, and sometimes even swam underneath the boat. We eventually got used to it … sort of.

The one challenge that we did have involved our anchor ball. This was our new toy - a self-levelling buoy that marks where our anchor sits. Unfortunately everyone who saw it figured it was fair game. So the pedalo-ers, kayakers, swimmers and even some dinghies, all tried at one time or another to tie onto it! We had to learn the Italian version of "Hands Off!, Please!".

While in San Vito, we met a very nice couple Riet and Dick, on Feeling Free. They had the cutest dog, Lino, that they had rescued from abandonment and abuse. We had a great evening comparing cruising stories.

However, after more than a week of relaxing, we knew we had to get going, hard though it may be. We were waiting for winds from a westerly direction before leaving. Well, finally those winds arrived, so on August 9th we struck out for points east.

Capo San Vito's magnificent peak	Dick and Reit, from Feeling Free	Toucan Tango at anchor near the beach of San Vito

We began our easterly migration across the north coast of Sicily after a prime example of Italian weather forecasting. The Italian weather on VHF Channel 68 indicated a westerly force 4, which was quite ideal for our eastbound course from San Vito.

However, the wind blew lightly, then more strongly, from the East most of the day. We had considered staying near Palermo, in AquaSanta, near Palermo, but at €200 per night, we decided to go a bit further, and stop in Porticello. There was an anchorage just outside the very small harbour, and we anchored in thick mud - good holding, and reasonable protection from the variable, not strong winds. It was certainly nothing to write home about though, and we left early the next morning, headed for Cefalu.

Again, we were headed by winds of a direction contrary to that predicted. But it wasn't far, and we reached Cefalu town in good time. There was an anchorage out in front of the town, but it was very exposed, and we decided we weren't interested. We continued past the point (Daphne), and tucked in behind the breakwater quite thankfully.

We were surprised and pleased to find Nouvelle Vie, another Catana that we had met in 2001 at Canet, anchored there too. We had a good evening with Mintou and Alain, comparing notes on our cruising year.

They left shortly afterwards, but we stayed almost a week, waiting for favourable wind directions. It was a very pleasant time, although the sewer outfall which is right next to the harbour made some mornings pretty ripe. Also there was a very loud bar/disco right near the harbour, so we had to use earplugs pretty freely.

Nevertheless, the town was very interesting, and had some great touristy things to do. Good shopping/provisioning, and again, very happy and pleasant people.

After refuelling and relaxing, we set off on August 14 towards the Strait of Messina, with a planned stop at Capo d'Orlando, a small harbour some 35 miles from the entrance to the Strait.

We arrived in Capo d'Orlando, and found a small harbour, with an even smaller anchorage within. We did get the hook down, but we were practically in the middle of the entrance channel all night. Only when the large ferry came through - at 3 in the morning! - did it seem to be a problem though. And even then, only for him!

We left the harbour at 6 am on August 15, and set our sights on going through the Strait of Messina.