Ragusa

We have now returned home to the UK where we will be until the end of February, I have sent Kevin back to work while I spend a few weeks at my daughters house and then move back up to Derby where I will be house sitting for a friend.

When the time came to leave ragusa we were really sad to go, for one the weather had been great, enabling us to continue swimming in the sea right up to the week we left, we had also got into doing Sabashi a form of Ti Chi on the beach in the morning after our morning walk and hope to continue doing this on our return.

The day after we arrived in Ragusa the wind and rain forecasted eventually hit, unfortunately for us we had gone out to get a few essential provisions, mainly beer and wine. The rain came down in torrents, it was like someone just kept throwing bucket after bucket of water over us we were drenched. The rain was so bad that the roads became rivers and steps turned into water falls, and we were walking ankle deep in water.

When we got back to the boat we had left the front hatch open to the bow cabin and on inspection the mattress was soaking so there was no sleeping in there that night or the next, we had to make do with the couches in the saloon area, mind you Kevin said he had the best night sleep in ages.

During the first week we started to tackle the many chores we had to do before going home, so both sails were taken down, as we are planning on having a new headsail we stored the old one and sent the main for cleaning and some maintenance work.

After a week in Ragusa we had an email from Helen and Marcel on Dakini asking if we would like to join them for a few days in Malta and then sail back with them, we quickly checked out ferry times and replied saying yes thank you.

We set of for Malta on 16^th October, when we left the marina it was early but warm and not a ripple on the water, by the time we got to Pazollo where we were to catch the ferry it was blowing force 7/8 creating quite a good sea swell, I was just glad we were not making the crossing on Miss Lilly. Whilst boarding the ferry we notice a large coast guard vessel with a very large number of refugees aboard, all being taken off one by one, searched, photographed and then loaded onto a waiting bus. Whilst we had heard news reports relating to the numbers of asylum seekers trying to enter Sicily, some of which died in the process I don’t think we fully recognised the enormity of the problem until we saw it with our own eyes.

The crossing to Malta was uneventful if slightly rocky at times, some people looked as if they had had one to many as they moved around the first level deck. We managed to get a couple of seats right at the front of the boat ensuring we would have a great view as we entered Malta Grand harbour, and we certainly weren’t disappointed.

Malta Grand Harbour

Once we arrived in Malta we had to find in which marina Helen and Marcel were moored in and then find our way there, thank goodness for the iPad and GPS. When we arrived at the marina, all the boats were swaying and rolling nicely whilst attached to the pontoon, I don’t think I have been on a boat that has moved about so much whilst being moored up, I certainly would not like to winter there.

The following day we set of in the hire care to explore a bit of the island, much of Malta feels like a concrete jungle and we had to drive a good way before we came to any open spaces, however we did come across some lovely old buildings and churches.

Later that day we were joined by Helens boss Adrian and his partner Caroline, who were staying until the Sunday. On the Saturday the Rolex Middle Sea race was due to take place, and so on the Friday Kevin and I spent our time trying to identify the best vantage spot, even taking advice from the race organisers. With best vantage spot identified (lower Baroque Gardens as we could see the start and the boats exiting the harbour) we were determined to be there early to ensure we got the best view, after arriving in Valletta we found a nice spot to have breakfast and then headed over to the lower Baroque gardens only to be told we needed an invitation to get in, so all our endeavours the day before had been for nothing. Undeterred we made our way along the city wall and found another vantage spot where we could see the start of the race but not the boats leaving the harbour.

I have to say I was like a big kid in a sweetie shop, Alex Thompson was taking part on Hugo Boss and having seen pictures of the boats I couldn’t wait to see it for real. There were several categories and so several starts, just before each start the yachts taking part edged their way to the start line trying hard not to go over it before the cannon went off, it was all very exciting and nail biting at times.

Rolex Middle Sea Race

Eventually it was time for the last category and there was Hugo Boss in all its glory, it made my day.

Alex Thompson in Hugo Boss

For lunch we went to a small restaurant in a side street called Ambrosia and had one of the best meals ever, it was a good job Adrian had booked a table otherwise we would not have got in it was that popular people were being turned away.

In the evening we all went out for dinner to a restaurant in the old town of Medina, the old capital of Malta, and the view from the top was spectacular you could see for miles.

The restaurant turned out to be another great find, and although not cheap, surpassed the meal we had at lunch time, the waiters were very attentive and every course was great.

Our time eventually over in Malta we set sail for Ragusa on Dakini our first time sailing on a catamaran, which we managed to sail a good part of the journey with the cruising chute up, we eventually arrived in ragusa at around 1800, a journey of 12 hours.

Our last remaining weeks were earmarked for completing our jobs on Miss Lilly, one of which was to get the water out of one of the back holds, Kevin insisted it was my job as I was the one that had managed to get the water there in the first place, however the size of the hold is quite narrow but deep and having long legs made it impossible for me to bend down far enough for me to complete the task so Kevin had to take over, (the excuses I come up with).

 Bev in a tight spot!

It wasn’t all hard work that last week we still managed to find time for swimming and socialising, and visiting Ragusa itself, which we were not that enamoured with, the town of Ibla is worth visiting though. To get there requires a good walk down numerous steps, too many to count, however you can catch a bus back up but they only run every hour. The town is made up of very narrow streets and has a beautiful cathedral unfortunately we arrived too late to go inside as it shuts for the afternoon, Marcel was very disappointed.

Ibla

With sightseeing over we headed back to the bus stop and Marina Di Ragusa, we were glad we had been to Ragusa and Ibla but didn’t think we would bother again. That night in the marina a Halloween party had been organised, we had already decided we wouldn’t attend, party poopers that we are, but at 17:30 we sat on deck and waited for the children to come round Trick or Treating. We had made sure we had plenty of goodies as we had been told there were up to 15 children in the marina, as it was only seven turned up.

 Not sure who is more frightened?

All too soon it was time to head back home, we made a tearful farewell with Helen and Marcel, and headed off for Comiso airport, it was a good job the marina laid on transport otherwise I don’t think we would ever have found it ourselves. The airport is an old military base on which a new terminal building has been built and though adequate is very sparse in relation to obtaining refreshments, it’s all vending machines, and not a lot of choice, even when it is working.

After arriving in the UK at Stansted airport we were met by my daughter Claire, with whom we are staying with for a short time. February seems a long way off but I am sure the time will fly by and it won’t be long before we are saying goodbye again, this time to our families.

Looking back over the year we still managed to clock up lots of miles even though we had said we would not do so many this year, however I don’t think we would change any of it, all right maybe the storms we got caught out in. We enjoyed the Balearics but I think so far our favourite place is Sardinia, there are so many anchorages to choose from and the ability to get shelter from the wind in any direction is so easy and can be achieved in about an hour. The scenery is great and the locals very friendly it is a place we will certainly visit again and would recommend that thus beautiful island is on any live-a-boards itinery.

Our Present Location: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=36.782755,14.545542&hl=en&sll=36.780967,14.565725&sspn=0.057127,0.117159&doflg=ptk&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=14&t=m&z=14

Last Voyage of the Year

Our journey for this year is nearly over, we spent one day/night in Taormina on the east coast of Sicily due to the inclement weather forecast to descend on us in a few day’s time. We therefore took the opportunity to take the bus up to the village of Taormina high on the hillside.

The village is very touristy without being tacky, the views from the top are spectacular and the narrow streets a hive of activity.

Taormina bay

 In one of the plaza's there were some street musicians and thee seemed to be a party atmosphere all around us. We decided to have a meal out, but as it was early it was difficult to find a restaurant that was open, eventually we found one which looked quite quaint, unfortunately the food wasn't and so we were a little disappointed. We caught the bus back down to the small town at the foot of the cliff and had intended to stop off and have a drink before taking the dingy back to the boat, unfortunately nowhere was open and so we just headed back to the boat.

The following day we set off early for Siracusa which is approximately 30 miles further down the coast. As we left we could clearly see Mount Etna surrounded in a red haze it looked spectacular.

Mount Etna

It was obviously getting to the end of the season as we hardly saw any other sail boats the entire journey.

On arrival in Siracusa we set anchor in the south anchorage and initially decided to stay there for four nights, and take shelter from the storm expected in a couple of days. The anchorage was fairly sheltered but the water was not very clear and so not fit for swimming in. The following day we headed ashore in the dingy which we secured just by the marina, then walked into the centre of the town to get some provisions, the weather was not very good and at one point it started raining and so we decided to head back to the boat and tour the old part of the town the following day.

Back on board we shut all the hatches and spent a leisurely afternoon below decks. The next day we set off back to shore, this time we secured the dingy in the town harbour just under the bridge, however there had been reports of dinghies being stolen from around there and so we just hopped it would still be there when we got back. First task was to deposit the laundry and the laundrette before heading off to the old town.

The old town of Siracusa is again filled with impressive old buildings, very narrow streets, some of which no cars could possibly navigate.

 Old Town of Siracusa

Earlier in the day we had passed a very nice looking pub which we decide we would have lunch at, on arrival we took a table outside, within seconds we were inundated with flies which were driving us mad and so we decided to find somewhere else. We ended up in a small plaza just off the main one by the cathedral and had a pizza, I have to say it was one of the best we had had this year and the price was good to.

Before heading back to the boat we had to wait for the laundry service to open and so we took the opportunity to sit and watch what looked like a game of water polo in canoes commencing but after forty five minutes we came to the conclusion it was just a practice session. The other fascinating thing was watching the small tourist boats navigate under the bridge, passengers had to more or less lie down in the bottom of the boat in order to get under it

After a bit more sight-seeing we headed back to the boat, we decided to head off early in the morning for Ragusa as we felt there was not really any point in staying in Siracusa any longer, this meant another full day as it was 60 miles around the coast. We did however have the option of stopping of at Porto Pollo on route if we wanted.

During our stay in Siracusa we were entertained by a large fish which constantly jumped out of the water, Kevin nicknamed him “Jumping Jack Flash”, we were not sure what type of fish it was but if we were in Scotland we would have said it was a salmon, unfortunately we were not able to get a photo of our energetic fish.

The following day we set off at 04:00, it was still dark and Kevin had to navigate around the shallows and rocks, along with the small fishing boats in order to get out of the bay.

When daylight broke we found we had two stowaways on board in the guise of flying fish, unfortunately they didn’t survive, and so we initiated our first and hopefully the last burial at sea with Kevin as the skipper doing the honours.

The overall journey was quite uneventful, and we did manage to sail about 50 percent of it which was great as this was to be our last sail this year. We arrived in Ragusa mid-afternoon, the entrance to the marina is quite silted up in places and so we had to follow the direct line of the marianaro into our berth, as we entered the channel for our pontoon Kevin informed me that we had nothing under the keel which was a bit scary, however we  managed to secure up without a hitch and were met at our berth by Julie and Dave from Carla Christina, it was great to meet up with them again.

Berthed next to us was a large catamaran owned by an American couple named Rick and Barbara and the berth the other side was empty in readiness for the arrival of Marcel and Helen on Dakini due to arrive in a couple of weeks.

Marina Di Ragusa is situated on the south west coast of Sicily and I have to say is far better than we had been led to believe. The marina is clean and well run and the staff are very friendly, the toilet block is not the twenty minute walk away we had been led to believe, it's more like five minutes. The small village is a short walk and there are sufficient shops to get all you need, the locals are lovely and again very friendly, there is also a lovely beach which is also a short walk away, so all in all we are very pleased with our winter mooring.

Stormy clouds at Marina Di Ragusa

There appears to be a lot going off here, and there is quite a large live-a-board community of varying nationalities and so we are looking forward to meeting up with people, making new friends and attending the various activities before we head back to the UK on the 7th November.

Our Present Position: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=37.062574,15.29151&hl=en&ll=37.057232,15.317602&spn=0.05692,0.117159&sll=37.057232,15.301208&sspn=0.05692,0.149775&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=14&t=m&z=14