Adventures of Thésée: Egadi Islands and beyond

Thursday 30th July.... LINDA - There were lots of massive jellyfish swimming around the boat when we got up. The water was flat calm so i expect you get a better view of things when it's like that, in fact we could just about see the bottom which is unusual for harbour water. The jellyfish must have been at least 15 inches long.... they gave us quite a display, just look at these....

Then a big cargo ship arrived, so it was all interesting stuff to watch.

At 11am our 48 hours anchoring allowance was almost up. We raised the hook and departed Trapani harbour, after radioing Port Patrol on VHF 10 to thank them for their hospitality and to advise our departure. It was only 12 miles south west to our next adventure which was Isola Favignana... one of the Egadi Islands. I don't really know how to pronounce Favignana, but i think i heard a local say 'Faveeeennnya', so that's what i shall say from now on. Faveeeeeennya.

These islands are yet another Marine Reserve. They call it AMP - Area Marine Preservation. You can anchor but also there are a number of buoy fields to choose from. Both options are fee payable so we all chose to take a buoy at Marasola, which is on the south side of the island. We knew we would be able to get ashore here, so it was a safe option. On arrival we found almost all of the buoys empty so we had a choice. They looked very substantial and a good distance from each other. You pay the patrol guys when they come round and for two nights it was 63 euros. A very reasonable price we thought.

En route - this private island

Isola Formica

Boat with a mast right at the front

and a big big mainsail

I'm sure Dean would know its official description

Arriving at Isola Favignana

Arabic features

It was yet another windy afternoon but we did have to walk the dogs, so some of us went ashore as conveniently there was a beach bar too. So we had to give it a try. When we sat down a cat decided to join us and sat on our bench for the whole time. I think he was trying to wind Oscar dog up really. We had a bit of a shock when it come to paying the bill. 30 euros for a bottle of Chardonnay and one beer.

Teasing Oscar

Before we got the bill

Back to the boats

Friday 31st July.... LINDA - As usual on day one of a new destination we have to have a good look around and so we walked for about 20 minutes to the north of the island where the main town is. It was a lovely walk even though it was along the fairly busy country lane. It almost felt like home as we walked past fields full of hay bales.

A lovely calm morning in the anchorage

Arriving ashore with all three dinghies

The hay bales

Entering the town

Pink blooms

Red blooms

So we arrived at the harbour first, to found our friends Windarra anchored right in the middle of the small bay near the marina.

Then to the main square where it was very busy with tourists like us. So we stopped for a coffee/juice and the most delicious fresh croissant. Phil and Cris caught up with us not long after as they had a dinghy issue to sort out.

Afterwards we had a bit of a look around the shops and then headed back to the boats. It was very hot by this time and Saffy had a carry all the way. We think we might get her a pushchair.

This is the small local marina by our anchorage

Saffy and Oscar exhausted and shading themselves

under the old fishing boats

Dean and I decided to take me dinghy training this afternoon, so we explored a couple of the local bays which were quite nice, but we think our spot is better so we are staying here again tonight.

Beautiful here during my dinghy training

and here too

Mid afternoon Phil went to try and help someone who was having trouble picking up a buoy and afterwards his outboard wouldn't start and he was rowing. Luckily Ant spotted what was going on and went to the rescue, as there was a stiff breeze. At the same time another boat was having trouble picking up a buoy so Ant went to help threading the line for them. So Ant is today's hero. The trouble is the buoys don't have a small pick up line like the ones back home. There is just a loop at the top and if you have a big boat you cannot possibly reach down far enough to thread the line through.

Our buoy

And late afternoon we organised G&T's on Thesee, but we didn't have any T so they all had to bring their own. Dean gave a demonstration to Phil & Cris showing how our super boat hook works.

The demo

Thesee's dinghy park

Saturday 1st August... LINDA - Another day, another destination for the Adventures of Thésée. There was a boat on one of the buoys that arrived yesterday. Quite distinctive as it's an Oyster 53 (the same as Bora La) so it deserves a second look. Well would you believe it, we realised that we had met/shared a lovely anchorage with this boat back in the Spanish Rias two years ago. We wondered whether they knew it was us too, and indeed when they passed by in their dinghy they gave us a big wave. How uncanny to be in the same spot as each other two years on.

Here it is.... Sandpiper

We need to move on and start making our way to Licata, so today we travelled 25 miles or so to Mazara del Vallo. Arriving at 7pm we anchored behind the breakwater, picking our spot carefully as there was a lot of weed and depths of around 2 to 4 metres. We just about had time to get the dogs ashore before dark, so we only got a quick look around. It was a bustling Saturday night, so much so that the very large beach disco (and loud DJ) went on until 3am, and our departure Sunday is 6am...

Before we left the anchorage at Favignana

on a busy saturday lunchtime

Big ferry pollution

Arrival at Mazara del Vallo

Dean exploring a monument....something to do with King Roger II

Do you remember we saw his tomb in Palermo cathedral?

Oh, and huge coy carp in the fountain too

Allsorts of Liquorice on sale here

Looks delicious

Is there more than one Spiderman then?

Thesee anchored behind the breakwater

Shattered but still time for a toast to celebrate the memory

of my lovely mumsy who would have been 100 TODAY, wow

💖 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM 💖

Sunday 2nd August... LINDA - I'm rather behind with the blogging. It's now Tuesday 4th as i'm writing this, reason being we were on a mission to reach Licata by Monday because in fact almost 600 miles away in the Gulf of Lion it's now blowing a hoolie. This affects the whole of the Western Med according to the wind direction. Sometimes it blows east across to Genoa in Italy, sometimes it blows through the Bonifacio Strait between Corsica and Sardinia and onto the coast near Rome, and sometimes it blows south east passing the Balearic Islands and continues all the way on to the south coast of Sicily. We knew it was coming our way because we are constantly checking the weather forecasts and calculating where and when we need to get out of the way.

There aren't many if any decent marinas down this coast and as we are thinking of wintering in Licata this year we thought it would be a good place to sit out the wind for a few days and check out the place. So we had to be in Licata by Monday lunchtime for shelter.

So Sunday morning we left Mazara at 6am as planned. The sun was just peeping over the horizon as we left for a 6 hour trip to Sciacca. We had to be in Sciacca for midday to avoid the afternoon wind gusts of around 25 kph.

We had been intending to go into the marina for the night, but when we called they wouldn't give us a price, they just said 'don't worry we'll tell you when you arrive, it's not a shocker!'. Well that rang alarm bells straight away. Instead we found the anchorage off the beach fairly well protected from the worst of the gusts and white horses, so after some deliberation with the rest of the gang we all sat it out at anchor. It's not very nice when you're sitting there looking out at the turbulent sea wondering what you're doing there, so i always go downstairs and keep myself busy to take my mind off what's going on outside. It works a treat. In fact the boat was so steady and stable i almost forgot where i was. Dean on the other hand decided he was going to set up his new anchor snubber line as a test. What's he like???

The new snubber line

The line goes through the fairleads on either side

instead of over the bow roller

...and then back to the cleat

We did manage to get Saffy ashore about 8pm in the end after it all died down somewhat, then it was straight to bed for a very early start next day 3am.

Monday 3rd August.... LINDA - Amazingly again we were all (Thesee, Impavidus, Eternite) up and raising the anchor at 3am. Bora La had gone direct to Licata overnight non stop. Today's 50 mile 9/10 hour journey was to be in Licata by midday/1pm, again to beat the strong afternoon winds. We all edged our way out of the anchorage. Sciacca is a big trawler port and we had to be aware of them leaving at that time in the morning, and we did indeed come across one leaving but we had seen him on the AIS so it wasn't a problem and we three boats were in constant radio contact with each other to advise any issues.

About an hour out and still dark we found ourselves in sea-fog. I had read about the probability in this area so it wasn't a big surprise and for about an hour we couldn't see each other or anything else. It's in these situations our AIS comes into its own as we can see other boat's positions on the chartplotter (but only if they have an AIS transmitter). We had the radar on as well so that picks up everything around. We're getting quite used to the radar now having used it a number of times.

It's amazing how quickly the hours tick away when you're night sailing because you are constantly checking anything and everything. Whereas during the daytime you just kind of sit there watching for fishing pots. So what felt like no time at all, we were out of the fog and dawn was approaching. We were now in an area where a lot of trawler boats were operating and we all had a bit of a game keeping out of their way. At one point about 6 of them suddenly changed direction and headed off across to our starboard side. We think they must have had a shout about where the fish were.

8am and we were over half way to Licata, the sea was behaving and the small amount of wind coming from all around the compass points, so we were unfortunately motoring. Luckily though we had a knot of tide with us so our speed over the ground was almost 7 knots. We actually approached Licata by about 11.30am, the sea behind us a beautiful blue colour.

Only a couple of miles to go

The blue sea

Harbour entrance

Yay, we all made it to Licata before the Gulf of Lion sends its worst. It's been a tiring three days but like i said we were on a mission. Now relax.

Tuesday 4th August... LINDA - A long good night's sleep catch up but it was so hot in the boat. When we're in a marina the dinghy sits on the deck so we can't open the forward hatches. Poor Saffy with her fur coat was panting away again. She really wasn't interested in morning walkies at all, in fact she's been coughing on and off for about a week. Dean has been talking about getting a portable air con unit for ages now but we've always put it off when it came down to it. Today we finally took the plunge and after walking half an hour to the nearest outlet store we bought one, carting it back through town on the folding sack trolley that we use for shopping. And here it is..... being modelled by the Skipper.

Being the compact version it will fit away nicely in the aft cabin (sorry Ang) and we just move it out into position when needed. It really is quite amazing and so far so good it seems to be working wonders for the temperature. And one of the crew definately approves....

After our exciting morning we got back for a bite to eat (last night's pizza leftovers) and then we took Saffy to the vets in a taxi to see if they could find the reason for her coughing. Seems it's all to do with old age (well she is over 100) but we have a prescription for tablets to help. What an adventurous life she leads.

Wednesday 5th August...Dean Well last night was a bit of a nightmare, Saffy was up all night and wanted to sleep outside so we had to take it in turns to try and sleep in the cockpit with her. As soon as the pharmacy opened I was off to get her prescription and I think she is slightly better now. Once Saffy's tablets had been administered it was time to get stuck into some jobs. Washing was one job to be done, clothes and the boat. After lunch having used some of the water from the aft tank it was time to take a look at the level gauge in the tank. They both play up from time to time and the electronic senders just need a clean inside the tank. The trouble is there very difficult to reach, we measured the length of our arms and Linda won, or lost it depends how you look at it.

Linda trying to reach inside the tank

One of our views in the marina

The place seems to be growing on us so maybe this can be our winter stopover this year.

Thursday 6th August... LINDA - Good news, Saffy is impoving somewhat and we are tricking her into taking her medication by hiding the tablets inside her morning soft chew bone. Aha. Clever sailors two. Not a great deal to write about today. We are still warming to the place, in fact the showers are some of the best we've come across. The office staff are great, marina is well protected from the weather, OK wifi, and there's a real(ish) supermarket within 3 minutes walk from the boat. So all plus points. It hasn't got everything but no-where has, so it's still looking the number one choice for winter at the moment.

The afternoon wind gusts are still kicking in and it looks that way until after the weekend. I think we might pay up for a few more days and stay here until Monday. Ant & Cid's new propellor finally arrived and they managed to get a last minute haul out in the boatyard at about 4.30pm for the night. So the plans are falling into place bit by bit.

Friday 7th August... LINDA - Today Dean did a great morning job of cleaning and polishing all the fenders. It's hard work kneeling on the pontoons as they are made of the same wood that looks like garden decking, so he has to make sure of a soft cushion to kneel on otherwise he ends up with stripy knees. He's still itching from all the mozzie bites he received the other night when he had to sleep outside with Saffy. The things you do for your pets.

I've been doing some research on Malta as there are added complications if you want to take a dog. So that's an ongoing project for me at the moment. Tonight we are all going to a Happy Hour at a bar (the only bar) in the marina, so maybe we'll get to find out more local Licata knowledge.

Saturday 8th August.... LINDA - It was a good night in the bar last night, and we met some yachties who could tell us a bit about the place. We've kind of decided that we shall probably winter here and hopefully get that sorted in the next day or so. Dean and I did another food shopping hoist for heavy stuff like water, pop, juice plus we found they had Cheddar Cheese hiding in their cheese counter. It looks more like Red Leicester but tastes alright.... better than no cheddar at all.

Our cheddary feast after the shopping trip

Sunday 9th August... LINDA - It's Monday now and i'm writing Sunday's blog whilst we are out at sea. We're on a 7 to 8 hour trip so plenty of time to do other things apart from sailing. Since we left the Egadi Islands a week ago we've moved on from the Tyrhennian Sea into what is known as the Sicilian Channel. It separates Sicily from Tunisia with Malta stuck somewhere in the middle along with a few obscure islands like Pantelleria and Lampedusa. I think it's Lampedusa where all the migrant boats head for hoping to be rescued by someone in Europe.

So back to Sunday and Dean did in fact pay a deposit for winter in Licata. That's one less thing to worry about. As far as we know we need to make sure the boat is in an EU marina on Brexit day in order for it to keep its VAT paid status in the EU. Apparantly all the marinas around the med are getting full with winter bookings pretty quickly, obviously all the Brits have the same idea. On Sunday afternoon we were all invited to the cruisers bbq in the marina. There were only about 20 or so of us, with a few different nationalities. After the bbq we joined in with a game that was kind of similar to skittles with different rules though. I can't remember the name but it was Finnish anyway so probably unpronounceable. That's a taster of what's to come for winter i assume.

Monday 10th August... LINDA - On the way to Ragusa today. Now we've sorted out winter berthing we can mooch about along the coastline for a few weeks. We're going to be heading up the east side of Sicily in a few days time looking for anchorages to while away some time. Maybe even a visit to yet another volcano, this time the mighty Mount ETNA. On the cards will be stops at Siracusa and Taormina for sure, so we won't be too far off circumnavigating Siclily..... just like that.

Prezioso gas rig on our journey to Ragusa

Next up, Perla gas rig

...and a quick haircut for Saffy this morning

before we departed Licata

Tuesday 11th August... LINDA - On arrival at Marina di Ragusa yesterday afternoon we were met by a harbour dinghy which we had to follow in. The entrance is so shallow here, they have actually marked a narrow buoyed channel. At one point we only had about half a metre spare below the keel. Safely in, we moored next to the other guys. It's quite a large marina and we are stuck out on probably the farthest away point. So far in fact that the harbour staff pick you up in the dinghy and take you to check in. On the way back you can get a golf cart for part of the way, or to walk is a good 10 minutes or so in the heat.

This morning Dean traipsed around to the laundry room with a bag full of quilt covers, sheets, and pillowcases. These items are too large to get in our own little machine on the boat. After we all met for coffee, I went with a few of the others to have a walk along the promenade. It's quite nice, the beach amazing, with pizzerias here there and everywhere and that's about it. In comparison to Licata, Licata wins on all points so we are all very pleased that we secured our winter berths there the other day. Still, it was good to come and see Marina di Ragusa for ourselves.

A lot of the places along the coast are called Marina this, and Marina that. Like Marina di Ragusa, the main town of Ragusa is a few miles inland, and this here is like its own holiday getaway for the locals. So i have some photos today...