Syracusa, Inclement Weather and Goodbye

Despite the most threatening sky we have ever seen, it is exciting to be back in Syracusa, one of the most lovely towns we have been in. We rush around getting the laundry done and filling up the larder at the local daily market so that we can get some more cruising in.







Taormina north west towards the Straights of Messina is in our sights. We spend the morning tied stern to on the town wall so that we can get our 'stuff' done, but the wind soon builds and we are on a lee shore, so we need to move back to the anchorage again.

There is some interesting small sailboat racing going on and we enjoy watching them as they fly around the harbour in the stiff breeze.




As the afternoon wears on the gale starts to howl and we watch with interest as a ship makes its way into the harbour through the heads.



In the past week the weather has turned cold and very windy at times. We have experienced some very nasty squalls going through the Grand Harbour (Syracusa not Malta) and recorded up to 42 knots as we swing and sail around on our anchor here.

The most astonishing sight is a fisherman continuing on with his work despite the wind!


Karen and Nick's time is running out. Little do we know that this is to be their last night on board.




By lunchtime the next day, Sunday 9 October, the wind has eased a litted so we leave Syracusa Harbour to sail north to Taormina, but soon find ourselves in incredibly adverse weather conditions and sea state. The wind was just tricking us and is back howling with a vengeance. We can see the cliffs of Taormina in the distance, but that is our only glimpse of an anchorage we really wanted to visit, as we turn back to Syracusa Harbour and shelter.

The weather report promises more of the same for the next few days.

So suddenly, their time on board Matelot comes to an end as we all wake up to a cold and gloomy morning on Monday and Nick and Karen decide with our encouragement, to make the most of their last week in Sicily and go overland for some sightseeing.

In a flurry of packing bags, one last lunch of gorgeous juicy sliced tomatoes in basil and olive oil, tricotta, feta, gorgonzola and one other nameless cheese served with fresh bread and prosciutto, and a last minute idiot check, they are off the boat and hurrying to catch the afternoon train to Taormina. Their departure from the boat is a bit unconventional as we touch the bow of the boat to a massive rubber ship's fender on an industrial looking wharf, and they climb over and up, then we reverse away, waving as we go.

Within an hour of their departure the wind stops and the sun comes out so we take the dinghy ashore and explore the supermarket end of town, discovering the best gelato cafe we have come across so far, fish markets and supermarkets in abundance.

The decision is unanimous to duck inside the gelato cafe. Richard has a rum Ba Ba, cut in half, heated then filled with ricotta and limone flavoured gelato, topped with smarties. He is in heaven.



Pippy is a bit more conservative in her choice. We continue to the supermarket, do a bit of a stock up in preparation for our departure for Ragusa then make our way back to Matelot loaded with stuff we didn't know we needed.

Our timing is impeccable and within minutes of climbing aboard Matelot in late afternoon fading light, we are hit by a huge squall, with freezing cold wind but no rain. The sky is absolutely clear and the wind is biting cold, sending the boat skittling around on its anchor and making it hard to stand up inside and cook dinner. We snuggle into bed for an early night. Its a quiet ship.

We are just the two of us again. Another cruising season appears to be drawing to a close a little earlier than we had hoped. We review our options as are not due into Marina di Ragusa until 1 November. However a quick phone call is all it takes to discover that the contract we have at Marina di Ragusa actually started on 1 October, so we can 'go now' if we wish.

The gale appears to be quietening but the sky still growls at us.


Given the weather conditions, that is the decision we make and the early morning of Wednesday 12 October sees us motoring our way southwards down the coast in no wind at all and calm seas. Rounding Cape Passaro, surprise surprise the wind is now on the nose. We follow the 20 metre contour which extends quite a long way out in places and arrive in Marine di Ragusa in good time.

This little guy keeps us company for a while.


The massive breakwater/sea wall is a comforting sight as the coast is very exposed to the south, both east and west. A Marinara in a rib boat meets us and leads us to our berth. The doubtful (or maybe confused?) look on his face should have alerted us. As Richard turns the boat to reverse into the channel between the pontoons he suddenly notices that we are in very shallow water - 2m in fact! That is the limit of what we draw but the depth meter suddenly goes back to 2.3m, so very slowly we continue to follow the rib, when ...Bang! We have hit something very solid! Probably a large concrete mooring block. We are out of there fast and escorted to the next pontoon where we soon have the boat made fast.

We did not really need that adrenaline rush at the end of this day. Soon we are off the boat for a quick walk around the new marina to acclimatise ourselves and locate the facilities..... Despite being modern and new, it is quite a shock to discover that it is a ten minute walk to the nearest shower and toilet block, not just for us, but for everyone. The light is fading and we are suddenly not sure if we have made the right decision. We are here for the next six months and it feels a bit daunting right now.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and we will explore further then. After a few jobs back on the boat, its time for dinner and bed.

Gozo

Lovely, colourful Gozo....Mgarr Harbour.


It is just a short passage north of Malta to the islands of Gozo and Comino. We are very keen to do the quick trip there out of curiosity mainly. The Blue Lagoon is supposed to be lovely and Gozo itself has many interesting ancient sites.

We spot a couple of fishermen having a chat along the way....



...then stop on the way to visit the famous Blue Lagoon on the almost uninhabited island of Comino. The lovely anchorage is unfortunately disturbed by the loud noise of a helicopter nearby but we soon realise that a stretcher is being lifted up the hill towards it and obviously someone is being carted off to hospital.

Buildings on the island of note are a tower built in 1618 to provide protection for those passaging between the islands (presumably from pirates) and a tiny medieval church which is rather unique.

A swim in the crystal clear waters is very welcome in the heat of the day as a storm brews in the near distance.



It is a short distance across to the island of Gozo and the sheltered harbour of Mgarr where we are able to find a berth in the marina. There are lots of wonderful photoshoot opportunities in and around this small harbour.



However, we are very mindful of the weather. Long range it looks as though there are some gales heading our way, but there is a nice weather window presenting itself on Friday for our return to Sicily. We are uncomfortable with the idea of being forced to stay longer than we want to here due to weather, or in Valetta Harbour which is untenable in a north easterly gale, and marina berths are very expensive and hard to find. Some weeks later, we are to meet up with a boat which does stay on. Their experience is hair-raising and they are lucky to be alive... more about that later.

Unfortunately Richard gets caught up in taking care of the checking out formalities here in Gozo and does not have the opportunity to see anything much ashore. However, Nick, Karen and Pippy hop on to a local bus and take a ride through very old villages into Victoria (Rabat) which is a fascinating experience. By the time we arrive, a black cloud has filled the sky and torrential rain starts to fall. It is short lived though and Gozo leaves a lasting impression of a place Richard and I should revisit given a little more time.

We depart Gozo around 5pm on Thursday and spend the night at anchor on Comino Island.



We can swim ashore in the crystal clear waters to have a drink in the bar... or,



...sit in the cockpit and enjoy the changing colour in the sky to the north west as the sun goes down.



Richard and Pippy are up and have the boat away from the anchorage at 5.30am which means motoring then motor sailing until around 11.30am when we pass Cape Passaro on the south eastern corner of Sicily.



Once the wind comes in the sailing is superb and we fly along, arriving Siracusa in good daylight.

As the sun goes down, so does the wind, but the sky looks ominous. We are about to experience some severe weather...

Malta

Sunday 2 October

Depart Marzamemi 0930. Two gibes and a 5 hour Spinnaker run to Malta - then the wind drops and we motor for the last 20 miles so that we can get into Marsamxett Harbour before darkness falls



We are sure for a while that we are going to get caught in a storm on the way, but it eventually blows away to the west.




Then we sight land just as the sun starts to set....






There is plenty of shipping passing this way - up to 9 huge ships in view at any one time, laden with containers traversing east west or vice versa - a busy channel.




Fortunately there is still plenty of room for us to make passage southwards through the channel without getting in the way of these massive behemoths.


We time our arrival just on dark at 1915 hours - and it is a magnificent experience sailing into Malta at this hour.


We ohh and ahh our way in then search for a berth which is non existent. Eventually we anchor (which is better as is free... in Lazaretto Creek. Dinner on board is spiralled Syracusa sausage served with butter beans in tomato sauce... awful!




The lights of the city are all around us here. Its so magical! This is the view from our cockpit looking north east from Lazaretto Creek back out to sea, with Valetta on the right.

Obviously this is not the place to be caught in a North Easterly gale, so we are mindful of this for the duration of our stay here.

3 October 2011

We are close enough to take the dinghy across to Valetta, park it safely and explore the city.




But before we can do this, Richard is obliged to check us in so must locate customs and port police which are not where the pilot book says they are but he soon finds them in Msida Marina and completes the formalities without any problems. That done and some good provisioning by Nick and Karen and we are free to explore the city.

Suddenly conversing with shop assistants in English is not a problem and Pippy's first stop is for English Tetley tea bags - 200 of them, purchased at the English shop!


The Upper Barrakka Gardens are our first stop... From here we can look down on to Grand Harbour on the other side of Valetta.


It is a gobstopping view! This is just a tiny portion of it, showing the marina.



Then we are off to St John's Co-Cathedral, a magnificent monument to St John the Baptiste and the Knights of St John of the period 1577 when it was built straight after the Great Siege.



The seventeenth century and the new baroque style is typical of the lavish interior decorations of the Cathedral (by Italian artist Mattia Preti) which is mind boggling in its wealth and complexity. Magnificent paintings, statues in bronze and marble, golden walls of guilded angels and floral designs and floors containing hundreds of detailed marble inlaid tombstones.


We spend a long time in here, probably two hours, not sure. There is so much to see, including the famous painting by Caravaggio of the Beheading of St John.



Here is the altar:





Some cold beers are in order at the end of this afternoon of sightseeing:


Then we make our way back through the busy streets to SY Matelot....






4 October 2011

We are still anchored outside the RMYC despite having motored around a little to try to find something more tucked in.




Not to worry, we can swim here and it is very pleasant. By 0900 we are in the middle of an electrical storm with wind tailing us into the shore, with the wind settling down by 1130 when we go ashore again for some more exploring. The enclosed wooden balconies are typical of many buildings in Valetta.




Today we freewheel through the city and around the outer walls to Fort St Elmo, briefly stopping at the Grand Masters Palace,



The Carmelite Church...



St Paul's Cathedral with its stunning embroidered seats and kneelers....










We are keeping a close eye on the weather over the next few days and looking for the right opportunity to make the passage back to Sicily. It is partly because of this and also that we want to see some more of Sicily with Nick and Karen that we have planned only to be here for a few short days. We can see that Friday is going to be the day for us to sail back to Sicily before some rather unsettled fronts start moving in, so decide to spend the remainder of our time having a look at Gozo Island to the north west.

5 October Grand Harbour to Gozo via Comino and the Blue Lagoon

We take a spin around Grand Harbour after departing Marsamxett Harbour.



There is plenty to see...


The Grand Harbour Marina would be a lovely place to stay, but apart from the fact that it is full, it is also very expensive...


The reflections on this lovely still morning are very pretty...


We are chased along by a big ship and have to get out of the way as we exit the harbour...





We realise in hindsight that there is so very much to see in Malta, we will probably want to revisit this country if we can.