Anyway so on Friday decided to take two friends, Nick and MAddie, who we meet two years ago, and also have a Fountaine-Pajot and set off for a “sail”. Didn’t manage to leave until noon as too busy tidying up the boat to go to sea.

Maddie is very good at the “keep everything out of the sun”, says she is leading the future trend. My daughter Izi totally agrees with his dress code as her skin is as prone to sunburn as Maddie’s!!

We were all very keen to go . Left the marina, had a swim straight away as the yacht floated away on the current – a steady 0.5kt and calm.

Wind came in very light 5kts so up go the number 1 and the main and we toddle off at 2 kts!! Under sail we reached a maximum of 4 kts and after lunch and some consideration we decided that if we wanted to reach our destination before dark and on Saturday we would motor sail – typical Mediterranean.

We arrived at Isola do Capo Passero on the SE corner of Sicily around 7pm. Quite a few boats still around but as normal most left for the night and only three larger boats stayed.

Next day we had a slow start, late breakfast and swim, then decided we really needed to walk to the Torre before the hordes of people arrived. It was just so nice to be anchored out again that you did not feel like moving.

Anyway off for the hike over the island.

To the north is a tonnara, dating to the thirteenth century, now abandoned and where you can still see a number of large rusty anchors used to attach heavy nets to the bottom of the sea that led to the tuna “death chambers” in the caves in the cliffs.

In the center of the island is populated by dwarf palms which have been newly classified as a protected species.

The main structure is the 16th century fortress of Charles V, that was probably built on something that already existed and that occupied the highest part of Capo Passero. It was built to protect against pirates and has a square plan and stands, elevated, to 22 meters high. Atop this structure is a lighthouse. The entranceway faces the sea and not the land and the crest at the entrance is almost worn off.

There are very few exterior windows but a large central courtyard can be ween through the grated door. The Madonna and Baby are on the plinth.

After walking up cross country we found the path down.

I then swam back to the yacht via the caves in the cliffs. Many tiny fish (1cm-5cm) but no large ones. It was great to have a good swim.

Then, unfortunately it was time to leave. as all breeze of 5kts had come up and we wet off to sail home. Several hours and several tacks later the after a nice breeze of 10 kts and speed of around 5 kts but already 7pm we decided that reverting to motoring the rest of the way to make it before 10 back at Marina do Ragusa.

we arrived with 15minutes to spare and so got the help and a great welcome back from the ormeggiatori. Feels like we belong here!!

A lovely weekend and great to be out of the marina.

Note: This is out of sequence but blogs relating to the period in Marina do Ragusa follow shortly as will some videos when I have them sorted!!

Very hazy, sultry warm conditions. Sunday arrival 39 deg C.

We immediately noticed that many of the roads between Catania and Marina di Ragusa have been re-sealed and many more windmills have been erected on the hills.

We arrived Sunday night and a huge amount of traffic leaving Marina di Ragusa heading north after a beautiful weekend. The town was full but almost everyone is Italian very few from other countries.

Lovely fresh fruit- nectarines, apricots, peaches, watermelons, rockmelons,. Gorgeous sweet tomatoes, cheese, prosciutto, and daily fresh bread.

Afternoon siestas and streets full of people in the evenings just wandering around.

Most people we talk to have been fully vaccinated. Italy with a population of 60m has vaccinated 49+m and achieving 540,000 per day. Sicily has 5m people and 3.9m vaccine doses have been administered.

The boatyard is looking much tidier https://www.cmrcantierenavale.com/. Unfortunately, as expected, most of the yacht work is only partially complete. Which is not unusual but disappointing. Over the last eighteen months the problem with Covid has meant that not only were there complete lockdowns but also many staff have been missing at various times. The other not unexpected issue was that the boat was filthy- mostly – the usual Saharan red dust.

The tender has had the tubes replaced and the engine fixed but the transom is not. Also, the squabs need replacing and tube covers extended. It looks unloved.

The alterations for the bunk rooms project had been done well but not finished and the squab for the new bunk had not arrived. As discovered later all the screws are zinc and not stainless and Hew had to spend a whole day of week three changing them.

The skin fittings were still being replaced this week. The new 3D printer at the boatyard has proved very handy. When some covers did not fit a modified replacement was printed.

Due to Brexit, parts from the big UK chandlery stores now not only gather VAT but also the duty and get bogged down in paperwork so all pieces are being sourced via the yard suppliers. Another improvement is the yard now has a dedicated purchaser, Antonio who also runs the 3D printer.

The Victron power monitoring gear and inverters currently undergoing a rethink as too complex for the electronics guys here. The good news is that at least we are getting some information from the new units – the bad news is the starboard battery bank is dead and needs replacing!! Maybe also the alternator.

The rigging needs replacing for insurance before we can cross the Atlantic. Unfortunately, it will take 2-3 weeks for parts, that long without a mast, and cannot be done at MdR until October. Therefore we are rethinking the rigging replacement in terms of where and when.

We had made a deposit for the deck repaint but it has not been started. The deck was repainted by the previous owner but it was a really bad job and the paint is all coming off. We have decided to leave this job until we get back to New Zealand.

On the Water at the Dockyard Week 2

Week 2 The yacht finally went into the water on Thursday and additional work that was not on the original list was also added i.e. more items were not working properly or had failed!!

We moved onboard Saturday. After two weeks ashore it was great to be back again and much much cooler.

Saturday night was a big night for Italy when they beat England for the Euro2020 Cup (delayed from last year) – the whole town was in celebration mode. All the kids were out – cars, motorbikes, electric scooters, and cycles. Electric scooters are a much bigger item here than in New Zealand – more so than electric bikes. The cruiser’s favourite Stella Bar hosted everyone again. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1097285-d6649059-Reviews-Bar_Stella_Marina-Marina_di_Ragusa_Ragusa_Province_of_Ragusa_Sicily.html

Saturday was still a workday for us but the locals get out in all forms of sea craft – traditional or not. Good to be near the water again and see all the activity. The Marina is looking very tidy and nearly completelybooked out for the winter. https://www.portoturisticomarinadiragusa.it/

Earlier in the week, we noticed that all the cockpit roof lights were falling out and needed replacement. Job finished this Sunday.

The stove too had two burners not working and a bad arrangement of burners anyway, with the largest to the rear inner corner. Removal a Sunday evening job.

At the same time, we were listening to all the Italian RIBs coming back to the Marina with their stereos on full bass!! Some of them are so good they can even outdo Gypsy the big launch on the other side. Made us realize that we had not got the stereo going yet. There are quite a few Takacats https://www.takacat.com/ here probably because the boatyard has an agency, but we hadnt seen any before except in New Zealand.

Summary at the end of week two:

Good: lights in cockpit updated, stove updated, living on the yacht, new squabs for dingy, sails and lazy bag on board.

Awaiting: Batteries, belts, pumps, engine impellers, tender finishing

Apologies for the late post but the next to follow shortly.

Italian driving –

Much has been said about this topic but our thoughts are these. Italians:

• always pull over and give room for you to pass
• pass you at double the speed you are doing
• generally ignore all speed limits and all speed cameras
• never indicate even if they have asked you to follow them
• pay attention to the different parking areas marked on the roads in the main towns i.e. non colour, pink, yellow, blue
• park anywhere anyhow if the roads are not marked: nose only, forwards, backwards, in the direction of travel , in the opposite direction, parcelled ion the road

Italian Design

• Being at the beach everyone is very casual and you do not see as much as you do in the towns but every now and then something catches your eye and you think it is really great. Even the simple espresso machine
• 
• Long dresses are in for women here in the summer and they are very elegant, also log wide soft flowing trousers.But then there are also the short dresses and very high heels – sorry I missed the stilettos in this photo
• 

Food

• absolutely prefer fresh and local in all foods
• the tomatoes at this time of year are fabulous as are the aubergines, capsicums and peaches
• they love pizzas
• they love fresh bread and often feel it thoroughly in the supermarket to make sure it is fresh
• sea food is really good if you get it fresh, but when they offer you a plate for fresh fish to chose from, look at the eyes and choose carefully, some are not as fresh as others
• the little family local stores that are not part of a chain are often have a deli and are often better than the supermarkets for fresh fruit, dried meat cut and bread and they have all sorts of items you might need that we would not normally associate with such as store e.g. gas bottles and fittings etc

Recylcing, Rubbish and Sewerage

• supermarkets only sell self composting bags or re-useable carry bags
• households have a system of 5 rubbish bins: paper/cardboard, glass, plastic, compostable and finally unsorted(the rest). In the compostable bin you need to put your scraps in compostable bags(only) before they go in the bin and you can buy these from the supermarket. They collected on different days of the week and are all small bins – very efficient
• The bad side is that around the marina the users are not as fastidious and there is always too much rubbish and not collected often enough – results in hot smelly garbage wafting around the area. “Eau di summer”
• The other side that has still not been fixed is the smell of sewerage in some places – old town.
• Marina do Ragusa is luck as there is a huge amount of artesian water that flows into the sea here so despite being so arid there is a fairly steady supply. The sea even feels cold around the beach where is comes out and there is a big outlet in the marina that washes the marina out continuously.

Street Cleaning

• these come through every night and sweep the streets – often with a person on the side walk as well
• but they never pull out any of the weeds which is a great pity as it detracts from the clean streets

Cars

• most are small to get through all the little streets and alleyways, some are very small

Gardens and Public Planting

• very few houses / apartment blocks have good gardens. Mostly just a few plants growing out of bare soil.
• the most common plants in Marina di Ragusa are a mixture of local such as Oleanders and many Fijian red Hibiscus and NZ Pohutukawa  – surprisingly .
• some motorways have Oleanders in the centre strips in colours of white, pink, red and make a very colourful display as you are driving down them
• 

 Heat and siestas and eating

• Everyone still has an afternoon siesta and it is a great idea – too hot to do anything outside in the middle of the day
• Great to be able to eat at 1100pm unlike NZ
• Boat yard is one of the few places that works 8-5 no break.
• The beaches are packed and more volley ball nets have gone up
• 
• 

Differences

• Windmills have multiplied and are seen on every ridge and on the outskirts of lots of towns, but some very hasty days with the dust from the south.
• 
• Solar panels are on most buildings and you can buy electricity programs to suit the amount you generate – some of them are useage limited.
• There has been a lot of work done on the main roads ato be ready for an influx of tourists – the work is still going on.
• 
• Budgy smugglers and shorts are still in for the boys but the girls are now nearly all in thongs!!
• 
• Most people / nearly all are vaccinated
• Masks are everywhere and worn every time you go inside a building or public transport.
• You can get colour coordinated mask to match your dress/shirts etc
• The boat yard has really improved/ modernised and tidied with a 3D printer now as part of the equipment
• Very often the menus are in bar codes on place mats

In Summary – Summer in Marina do Ragusa seems to be going very well, full of Italians with very few overseas people, assisted by a “go local” campaign similar New Zealand which will make up for a long hard lockdown last year.Everyone is hoping there will be no major change – unlike other parts of Europe.

Note: I will add to this page with photos as items pop up.

Departed at 1815L motored most of the way to Syracusa with little to see. Best was sunset passing the Straits of Messina with Etna in the background.

Sunset over Messina Straits and Mt Etna

Arrived Syracuse about 35 hours later at 0615L and anchored then fell asleep for several hours.

Di and Pete went into town to explore while Hew and I went off to get the Costitutio. For a change the office was tidy and organised and only took an hour during which I had to handwrite a crew arrival list which I had already typed out with identical information but not an identical form …..

Then we went back to the boat to sort out a few jobs. All met up and went for a la passeggiata (the evening stroll around town) and then dinner. Lovely evening and a great change from the day we were here last year which was cold and windy. But weather is definitely getting cooler.

Hew feeling cold and colourful

Lovely old buildings that we walked past and we also wandered up the canal in the dingy to look around.

The Paintings on the roof in every room tell a story

Next morning Di and Pete were dropped off to get a rental car and view Sicily before heading to Spain. The steps on the canal were filthy and close by the best hotel in Syracuse – so sad for a tourist town.

We departed for the last leg back to Marina Di Ragusa motor sailing into the wind 15-20kts for the first half then gradually declining wind for the last part.

Capo Murro di Porco

Arrived at 1730 feeling tired and salty. Entry seems even more silted up and now has buoys marking the main channel at the entrance. Cheerful welcome on the radio and parked next to an Australian yacht Katherine owners Lee and Andrew, friends of Rob and Virginia’s.

Quick tidy, early dinner and early night all jobs left for the next day.