Change of Plan

Wednesday 23rd September... LINDA - The weather is our boss yet again, and after waiting for a couple of suitable days to get back the 100 miles to Licata, this morning's weather check wasn't looking great. No wind, swell on the beam. That makes for a rolly 100 mile (20 hour) journey. The forecast for the weekend is strong north westerlies and big swell. We sat for what must have been two hours discussing our best options. We were in Favignana harbour on a pontoon concession and it seemed a fair choice to sit out the weather, but we weren't entirely happy with that. Trying to think outside of the box, we got into some communications with friends of ours Fiona & Nigel on Winsome to see where they were as we knew they had gone north a few days ago. They told us they were in a lovely marina/town called San Vito lo Capo just 5 hours north of here. We sailed past San Vito lo Capo back in July but never went into the harbour. So after some googling at how protected the marina was, it looked just the job. Decision finally made at about 11am, and off we went heading north. 

Passing the lighthouse at San Vito lo Capo

The harbour is behind it, in the bay

Fiona and Nigel were there to greet us and give us a run-down on the place. We had a quick roam about the immediate area and it looks fabulous. Apart from the protection here, there are huge beautiful sandy beaches & turquoise sea areas for swimming, 

On our walkabout 

Looking at the lighthouse from the other side now

Standing on the big breakwater

Now looking down into the marina

Wonderful view of the mountains

In the marina walking Saffy

So after a quick dinner onboard the four of us walked into town to a bar that Nigel has fell in love with. Two bottles of his favourite Sauvignon Blanc later we got back to the boat for a very good night's sleep.

The town is buzzing, absolutely loads of lovely restaurants (pizzerias i guess) and shops. We can see why they love it here already.

Thursday 24th September... LINDA - We toyed for a short while with idea of carrying on to Palermo today, but we are so happy with this place we didn't toy for too long before deciding to stay. We have a big headland and a big breakwater to protect us from the swell. On the boat we started getting things put away and we also gave the freezer and fridge a spring (autumn) clean. Both are not performing well and always frost up quickly. Dean found a tear in the fridge door seal, and the freezer door seal was in need of some TLC too. So most of the afternoon was spent doing makeshift repairs to both whilst he gets some new seals ordered. He also deflated the paddleboard. We have been having issues with the paddleboard as the two hand holds have basically disintegrated, and we are in communication with the company to replace the board, but as always it's not going smoothly.

Dean has been looking for a large dive cylinder since we left Gaeta. There are 3 dive centres right here in the marina and one of them apparantly have some for sale, so he's spoken to the guys there. Progress ongoing over the weekend on that story. Everywhere we've been this year Dean has been trying to find one so this is really great news. 

We both walked into town late afternoon to the supermarket and a couple of other shops, and didn't get back until 7.30pm (no, we hadn't even been in a bar!). 

Friday 25th September... LINDA - The wind got up a little about 4am from the south, but the mistral hasn't started yet. First thing we did was take the bimini down, carefully removing the section with the solar panels. Dean spent a lot of time and effort reconstructing the bimini for this exact reason and this is the first time we've needed to remove it. It worked perfectly. Dean spends hours..... no, weeks, and more researching and thinking things through and preparing a plan.

We've attached more lines to the pontoon, tied things up, and put things away, and we are happy that Thesee is ready for the windy weekend. 

The next photos were taken this morning when Dean went for a swim in what feels like our own personal swimming pool. 

A lovely spot

There he goes

I'll be getting in again at this rate!

Saturday 26th September... LINDA - Well I was expecting to be up all night with the wind forecast, but incredibly it was 6am before my eyes were open. I haven't had such a good sleep for days. It was calm though and in fact not much wind at all overnight. However, it had started to build, and we walked to the breakwater to have a look what was going on. Oh my word, it was a scary sea out there.

Large waves off the headland

A close up of the angry sea

Even more of a close up...nasty

Huge waves breaking out there

Now looking back into the marina we could see how well protected we were as it was virtually flat. 

Dean had a small job for today, giving the small Transcool air blower a good clean out and service. When we bought it we were hoping it would help keep the boat cool, but it's only really any good for keeping Saffy cool. That's fine by us, and she likes it too.

Here's the Transcool in bits

This evening Fiona and Nigel came over and the guys picked up a takeaway pizza for dinner. More wind due tomorrow..... Let's hope that will be the end of it and we can start planning our journey back to Licata once more.

Sunday 27th September.... LINDA - Today was the windiest day we've had and it did blow a fair bit especially the gusts. Hence we didn't go out except to walk the dog. Getting on and off the boat is not too much of a problem. The wind is from the south so we are getting blown away from the pontoon but the passarelle is just the right length. 

I felt a bit stressed out today because first i tried to make pineapple upside down cake but half way through i realised i didn't have any baking powder and vanilla essence (you can't buy these in Italy!) and then i added milk instead of juice so it was a bit of a disaster. Then all this messing about put me behind with the dinner and it ended up being late when it all came together. So not a very good day really. And i can't remember what else happened.

Monday 28th September... LINDA - A much calmer day today but still lots of dark clouds looming over us and the sea state still up. We had a morning walk along the road to the lighthouse and then back along the lovely seafront and beach, stopping for coffee in a hotel bar. This resort is lovely, I said to Dean i would be well pleased if i had booked to come on holiday here. 

On Saturday we had been to look at the diving cylinders for sale. They were ok but after some considerations Dean decided that they weren't good enough so he thinks he will try and buy a new one instead. 

At the lighthouse

A dead end so we did an about turn

Now the paths leading to the beach

Still blowy

A haven for the local cats

What a great idea

The amazing beach

No swimming allowed today though

So what did Dean do with himself today? Even though it was breezy he decided to do his teak oiling, the toe-rails and handrails. As well as this he adjusted the temperature gauge on the water heater. It's much better now. The water gets so hot it is literally scalding if you're not careful, but now it's much more acceptable.

And after 4 windy days we don't have a lot left of the Black Country flag. The red is just about hanging on by a thread!

See

Tuesday 29th September...Dean Well sorry not a lot to say today and no photo's. We've been weather watching everyday, twice or three times each day. The sea today has been quite big but is forecast to calm a little tomorrow and although there is very little wind we will head back west towards the Egadi islands, or somewhere near that area. The thought is that we might be able to sail back down to Licata on Thursday night so arrive some time on Friday. There is another blow coming to the north west tip of Sicily over the weekend and although it's not as bad as the last we want to be well out of the way before it comes. So today we went to the supermarket and stocked up with a few bits n bobs, the butchers (macellaio) too. We then walked back up to town and put the washing in the launderette (lavanderia) while we went for some lunch. Once back on the boat I took all the wind damage preventer things down and we put the bimini back up, filled the water tanks and had a quick wipe over everywhere. So we're ready to go first thing. more photo's tomorrow I promise.

Wednesday 30th September... LINDA - 9am and we were on the 'road' if you know what i mean. As we left the harbour i noticed a statue on the end of the breakwater and wondered why we had not walked to it over the last week. I don't know who it is but i thought it would make a good photo so i grabbed the camera at short notice whilst Dean was getting the fenders in and put away.

Who is it?

We motored to Favigna passing some towers and cardinals on the way again. This is the third time we've travelled this route!

Scogli Porcelli

A yellow special marker at the corner of a marine reserve

which surrounds two private islands... Isolotto Maraone, and Isolotto Formica

By 1pm we were anchored in the harbour at Favignana. As you know, we've been here a few times now but not anchored before, and it was pretty shallow. Later on our friends on Winsome arrived and they took a berth on the quay.

View of Thesee from the beach

Here comes Winsome

Vessel Finder website showing our location

Saffy had a couple of walks ashore and then we settled down for the evening watching a number of boats arriving for the night. I don't usually take night photos as they never come out any good, but this view from the boat was too good to miss. It's the Tuna Museum with its three very prominent chimneys. Two of which are actually leaning. 

Leaning towers of Favignana?

Thursday 1st October... LINDA - We're off! We're taking the chance to get back to Licata whilst the weather is fair and semi-favourable. It was even a full moon and the forecast was for clear skies overnight. A non-stop journey of 100 miles from here to our winter berth in Licata, and after the job of making sure Saffy was well peed twice, we departed Favignana at midday. 

We had calculated an estimated journey time of 20-24 hours making sure we arrived at Licata sometime during daylight. Saffy was either going to have to cross her legs or if we were lucky... do the dreaded peeing on the boat.

The wind filled in after about an hour and a half, and from then on we had a cracking sail for the next 10 hours until just before midnight. Averaging around 6.5 knots. By this time we were half way there and about 8 miles off the coast passing Sciacca. At that point we had to start motoring because our speed had dropped to 1.9 knots. The full moon was doing a great job lighting up the way.

Time to start motoring

Note: We are 2 hours ahead of the shown UTC time

This was our track along the south Sicilian coast

Another dodgy night-time shot 

of the full moon

So we took it in turns to try and rest overnight with about 90 minute watches. From about 3am onwards we could see a large lightning storm way off in the distance. It lasted until daybreak, and then as the sun rose and we were just 2 hours away from arrival we could see a massive dark cloud that seemed to be over Licata and mist surrounding the shore and mountains. We slowed down giving us time to think, hoping it would pass, and headed towards a nearby anchorage with the intention of waiting there a while. In the end we decided not to anchor but to carry on, because the sun rose and the big cloud seemed to disperse giving us a better view of what to expect. 

The (lightning) cloud

Sea state building

By the time we reached Licata everything was clear except still a fair amount of mist on the hills. We had had a great journey but the last two hours had spoiled it. What a way to end our 2020 sailing season.

See that mist on the hills

as we enter the marina

Thesee's winter home

And now as i am writing this, it is now Friday 2nd October. All three sailors have caught up on some sleep. Dean has started sorting out the boat and we are pleased to say that Saffy did indeed PEE ON THE BOAT.  Three cheers for SAFFY DOG, hip hip hooray.

So that brings our 2020 summer sailing season to a close. The figures have been calculated and here are the facts.... We had...

1 free transito berth

9 nights on buoys

52 nights in marinas

60 nights at anchor

So anchorages win this year.... another HOORAY

We shall now revert to weekly blogs again throughout the winter instead of daily blogs. The problem is which night of the week to write it, because there is a lot of entertainment and get togethers here in Licata, so maybe we shall try and write it on a Thursday. Lets see how that goes.

A BIG THANKYOU for being such enthusiastic Thésée Followers, and for all of your blog comments and emails throughout the year. We hope that you have enjoyed following our adventures and especially Dean's push ups around the Aeolian Islands.

Egadi Revisited

 Monday 14th September... LINDA - 

So here we are again in the lovely Egadi Islands. A nice colourful array of boats in the buoy field this morning. Thesee on the left, the red boat is German, and the white boat...well i'm not sure... But a beautiful peaceful morning to wake up to, not too hot either. 

Dean asked at the dive hut whether they would rent him a dive cylinder for the day so he can carry on scrubbing the hull. They said no, so he's back to his snorkel. The water here is so clear and warm, apparantly 26 degrees, and a lot of fish...so i won't be going in then.

The small boat harbour near the dive hut

Bird on a hot tin roof

Cat on a hot concrete wall

Our friends Fiona and Nigel on Winsome came back from the other island and moored next to us this afternoon. Late afternoon we had yet another big squall preceded with winds of about 30 knots. Dean was in the water scrubbing at the time, but came out just before as he could see the white horses building. It was rough for about 30 minutes then started calming and then the rain came and lasted a couple of hours. After it had all passed, Fiona and Nigel came over for a drink for a couple of hours and we drank wine and got to know each other. They are from the Southampton area and have a Discovery 55 yacht... Nice.

Dean taking the plunge

Our visitor's arrival, by dinghy

Followed by a super sunset 

Tuesday 15th September... LINDA - Saffy's Big Day Out !! What an adventure we all had today walking into the town (like we did last time we were here). It's a super 20 minute walk, along the road but still lovely. Saffy can't do 20 minute walks these days, so Dean bestowed a new form of transport upon her.

Trolley dog

Thanks Dad x

This is great Dad

Trolley Dog did indeed work a real treat and Saffy sat there quite happily looking at the goings on as she was wheeled into town, being smiled at by all the cyclists and passers by.

Once in town we headed straight for the quayside to check out costs for mooring for a couple of days next week. We have an anchoring/buoys permit which lasts until next Sunday evening, so after that we will probably go on the quay if we're happy to stay longer. 

At the harbour, near the Tuna museum

La Darsena mooring pontoon

The main square

and another piazza here

Looking for a lunch stop

We had already stopped for a nice coffee and croissant in the main square and after a walk about tried to find a place for lunch but as always, i didn't like the look of anything they had to offer so we carried on and went back to the beach. Here there was a quaint beach bar so we had a beer and a nice glass of vino bianco. Liquid lunch.

Zooming in on the grand hilltop castle

Happy Lunchtime Drinky

10 euros but worth it i think

...with views like this

Even though Saffy got wheeled all the way back she was still shattered and promptly took herself off to bed on her puppy pad.

Good Girl

Dean carried on with his hull scraping and then tonight we accepted a dinner invitation from Fiona and Nigel on Winsome, so that was yet another lovely evening spent together. And yes, no more nasty weather today, things are definately looking up.

Wednesday 16th September... LINDA - First thing that happened today was Dean finding a big moth having a rest on our deck lines.

Crafty stowaway

It was time to move on to another island north of here called Levanzo, it's one of the Egadi Islands so our weekly permit still covers us for buoys and anchoring. Before we left the shores of Favignana we popped into a small bay on the south east of the island called Cala Azzurra. We took a buoy for an hour or so, put the kettle on, and indulged in elevenses. With a lovely sandy seabed the water was a gorgeous clear blue. Too much for Dean to resist and in he went with his hull scraper.

A favourite swim stop for the tourist boats

Hey, you're supposed to be hull scraping!

About to get to work...

...whilst i picture the scenery

Moving on we turned north and up along the east coast where there are more buoys but it's very open. However, still lovely blue sea and cave escavations in the rocks.

So onwards for a quick hop across to Isola di Levanzo and yet another buoy field for tonight's stop.

Almost there

Wasn't expecting to see a pyramid today??

Here come the ferries

It's just a small fishing village

By late afternoon all the buoys were taken and the latecomers all had to anchor. There were 11 boats here in total in our bay called Cala Freddo. We had to dinghy around the small headland to get ashore on the quay for a Saffy walk, where we met a cat that was the spitting image of our late Tibby, bless.

Minding out for ferries on our dinghy dash

Tibby's double

Can i take you home please?

Not a lot here but some nice decor

and a good pathway

Painted tiles depicting Levanzo

It's just a tiny fishing harbour with a quay for the ferries. What amazed us so much was that the water in the harbour was crystal clear.... very unusual for a fishing harbour.

Looking down from the pathway

Waterside bar

Notice the clear water

Rusty old boat crane

Still in use i might add

Thursday 17th September... LINDA - Another day spent in Levanzo today beginning with a very short trolley dog ramble around the bay.

Painted tiles depicting the old times

Tuna nets north of Favignana

Bit of a bumpy ride for Saffy

Lovely clear blue patches of water

Short stop to take in the scenery

Of course, Thesee gets in the picture

Ooh a better blue patch photo here

Not sure what or who's this building is but it's quite grand

On the way back, painted fish souvenir hangers

An elderly couple stopped to chat as we were taking the scenery stop. They were Italians living in Milan but have a summer home here on Levanzo, i think. Anyway, they loved Saffy dog..... everybody does.

One more photo from today is of the cemetary which you can see on the shore from where Thesee is moored. 

The cemetary

Every day the mooring staff come round in their rib taking the money and checking off who's paid. We like to watch them knowing they will just tick us off the list having paid up for the week.  There were three boats anchored as all the buoys were full, and as far as we know anchoring is not allowed over night. Sometime around 5pm the anchored boats all left and went into the harbour where they had obviously had permission to tie up to the local moorings. I think Dean wished it could have been us because he loves to just sit, relax, and watch the comings and goings of the fishing boats. 

Friday 18th September... LINDA - It was a lovely sunny morning here in Levanzo. Very calm in the bay. We've had 5 days out of 7 so far and still only done 2 out of 3 islands. We made a decision that it was not calm enough to head across the 10 miles or so to Isola di Maretimmo, and so took an anti-clockwise route around Favignana instead to see the north and west sides. The sea was quite confused in-between the two islands for a while, and we rolled around a fair bit, in fact at one point i had to stop Saffy sliding off the seat. 

First thing this morning

Fishermen setting their nets

They set them in a circle then pull it all back in

You can see the floats

Just after we passed the conspicuous lighthouse on the north west corner of Favignana we popped ourselves into a lovely bay called Cala Grande, dropped the hook, put the kettle on, and settled down to elevenses. Dean had a swim of course. The water was super clear. It wasn't very scenic but all around the waters edge was very rocky and pretty to look at. We were surprised when a helicopter came flying past at low altitude.

The lighthouse

The bay with lots of snorkelling nooks and crannies

The helicopter

We only stayed for an hour or so because tonight's destination was a buoy in another bay called Scindo Passo. We like this particular area very much, it's on the south side of the island. We were the only boat there and had a choice of about 12 buoys. It was very dark at night at the side of the big cliff. In fact the cliff reminded me of the film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'.

The small rocky beach

Here's the 'Close Encounters' cliff

Fantastic variety of rock formations

It's quite spectacular

Saturday 19th September... LINDA - Tonight was our last night on our weekly permit for the buoys. It was real calm when we woke up so we finally made the move to cross to Isola di Marettimo, about a 2 hour journey. Marettimo is a long thin mountainous island, we arrived at Cala Conca, a bay on the southern end and picked up a buoy. Took two attempts this time, apparantly i was driving too fast! 

We had to motor to get there but it was a chance to charge the batteries so we didn't mind. We arrived at midday. The bay is quite spectacular, with a small beach that is impossible to get off and go anywhere. So the idea we had to be able to walk to the town went out of the window. The rock formations are mesmerising and make up for the fact that there is zero phone/internet signal here. 

Thesee in Scindo Passo 

before departure this morning

It was a little rolly on occasions in Marettimo but i think probably the best you could get out here, after all it's the last stop off before the jaunt to Sardinia. The water once again fantastically clear. Dean was in his element and took a lot of underwater photos on the Go Pro camera whilst he was boarding and snorkelling.

Arrival at high sided Cala Conca, Marettimo

Crystal clear blue water

Someone's dinghy went awol 

but they swam for it

Dean on the board

Now where's he off to?

Disappearing behind a rock

Ah that;s better, he's back

and having a laugh with Saffy

Here's the Go Pro camera photos... Dean likes to check what's holding us.

Our floating buoy attached to the submerged buoy

Good connections, rope to chain

The submerged buoy close up

Guess who's bottom this is?

Were you right?

Another good shot near the surface

The submerged buoy is held in the sand

but we're not sure how it's done.

The sandy seabed is perfectly clean

Here's a good shot

Here's a great shot with our swim ladder deployed

In the rocky shallows

Steer clear of this lot

Later on, a very large sailing yacht called 'Squall' (that we've been stalking) came and anchored not far off shore. Out here the nights are very dark and i kind of like having other boats around. There were in fact about another 6 boats with us, which was a good job because Squall left just before sunset (after it seemed that they had only stopped to walk their dog). 

This is SV Squall

.... it's a biggie

Late walkies, we find megaliths

Nice cove for landing

but nothing else here

 On our way back to Thesee

Some of the rocks

More rocks

Too high to climb

Sunday 20th September... LINDA - I had to give in because I couldn't resist the blue water lagoon any longer, and out came the bikini! Yikes, one step braver than the swimming costume. In I went and it was only 8.30am I might add. Mind you only a quick dip as I am still not very confident in the sea. We hadn't even walked Saffy yet.

Dean had a brilliant idea as we wanted to visit the town about a mile up the coast, but couldn't get over the big rock. We moved just around the headland and took a buoy in Cala Marino. This would be good for tonight's southerly wind too. From here we could easily just dinghy into town instead of walking, and that's just what we did. But first Dean had tried a new method of picking up the buoy and it worked perfectly. Hard to explain but here's the photos. He used our super duper boat hook, but instead of hooking a line through the loop he attached a clip instantly. This meant we were were held and could mess around with the lines afterwards.  

Clever stuff

Step 2

We got to the town (village), it was pleasant enough for a walkabout, but nothing really to rave about. But whilst we were here we bought a few groceries and picked a good coffee stop overlooking the marina. Well just a dodgy pontoon really but surrounded by local fishing  boats. In fact we were a little underwhelmed but it was ok, and we were both pleased that we made the effort to get here.

The Church as always 

centre of attention

Streets (with no litter)

things are looking up

I love the way the homes have their own

painted nameplates

Here's another

Bar in the side streets

So once again, back to Thesee and I took these photos looking towards the town. You can see how mountainous the island is. Apparantly great for hiking, and we can see why.

After some debate we chose to leave and go back to Favignana this afternoon. We had a lovely calm sail back at 4.5 knots. As i said, our week's permit was expiring at 6.30pm today so we went back to Favignana to go in the free anchorage. Dean got in again and finished the hull scrub. He's a happy bunny now.... honest.

Monday 21st September... LINDA - We're planning our route back to Licata but the weather isn't right until about Wednesday or Thursday so we moved to the north of Favignana and onto a pontoon concession in the harbour. Last night we didn't get a lot of sleep due to the boat rocking, and when we reached the pontoon berth i had a good hour and half kip. 

This morning's sunrise 

The sea much calmer now

The ferries come into the port quite regularly, and as we approached one was just leaving and one arriving, so we had to slow down and wait for them to get out of our way! There's a lot fewer tourists around than when we were last here at the end of July, so i can't understand why the ferries are still so regular.

This afternoon we got the bikes out. First time in about a year we reckon. We set off on about a 20 minute ride to Lido Burrone which is a very popular beach and beach bar place. Again with crystal clear blue water. Saffy enjoyed her bike ride. I think it's less bumpy for her on the bike than on the shopping trolley.

View from the beach bar

Ready to set off again

We didn't want to go back yet so we found our way through the country lanes to Cala Rossa on the north of the island. It was quite spectacular because there is a lot of quarrying, and it looks like there was an underground village cut out of stone all around this area in times gone by.

Cala Rossa, yet another lovely bay

Me and Saffy dog enjoying ourselves

Dean trying to plan our route back on his phone

Looking towards the mainland

The underground villages

Can you see the steps?

A fascinating story must lie in these ruins

More steps

Almost back in town... an open air theatre

Tuesday 22nd September... LINDA - Loads of lightning at 5.30am. For about an hour it was flashing at about 5 second intervals, but hardly any thunder at all. Sometimes i didn't even count to two seconds before the next flash.

We tried twice to go to the Tuna museum (the number one attraction in Favignana). First they were closed for their 3 hour lunch. When we went back at 4.30pm it was open but they wouldn't let us in because they said they were only doing tours in Italian today. They asked could we come back tomorrow afternoon? No sorry we can't. Well that's another 12 euros we shall keep in Dean's pocket then instead of spending it. Saying that, we ended up in a bar so i guess no money saved after all.

This is Villa Florio Antiquarium

whatever that means

Back at the harbour once more

Oregano for sale

Not like we buy in the UK

Quite a quaint spices shop

Tomorrow we shall be heading back towards Licata, all being well. 

The next blog post will be called 'Change of Plan'