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KW24 2001
10.06. - 16.06.2001
Sunday, June 10 2001, and at 10 o'clock we weigh anchor and leave the dreamy
Bay of Tindari.
Fully recovered by a good night's sleep we set course for Cefalú.
Our course takes us along the northern coast of Sicily. On our right we see
the Aeolian Islands, also called the Liparian Islands.
The group of islands lies in-between thick yellowish trails of smoke, covering
quite a few miles, allowing only dim outlines of the islands to be seen.
The trails of smoke are easily explained, since there are two volcanoes here,
who are still active today: the Stromboli and the Gran Cratere on the island
Volcano.
Altogether there are 7 islands: Stromboli, Panarea, Filicudi, Alicudi, Salina,
Lipari and Vulcano, all belonging to the Aeolian Islands.
The archipelago between the Straight of Messina, the Italian mainland, across
to the Aeolian Islands, up to the island Ustica is also called the "Aeolian
Triangle". So to say the Bermuda Triangle of the Mediterranean sea, since,
during certain seasons, there are often strong winds, thunderstorms with squalls
and pouring rains which couldn't be foreseen by looking at the general weather
conditions.
Fortunately we don't experience any of that, but unfortunately there is hardly
any wind at all. So we motor cruise the 54 nm leg to Cefalú.
| Arriving in Cefalú we drop anchor directly below the town, which impresses
us on first sight. The closely packed, high, narrow houses with their little balconies form uncountable alleys, thriving with liveliness. The sound of drums and music rises from the beach. Things are really happening here! So let's go! We put the dingy to water and gondolier Tom rows me across to the old landing place and once again we have solid ground underneath our feet. Wandering through the alleys we also look around for places to shop tomorrow. We already saw the city's landmark from far, but now we're standing right in front of it. |
 |
A beautiful Norman cathedral. Built in 1131 by some King Roger, as a sign
of his gratitude for being saved from shipwreck.
A group of young people is sitting on the huge stairs leading up to the cathedral.
They are making music, entertaining the people on the great square below.
After dinner in a good and cosy restaurant we wander around a little and get
back on board and off into our bunks. After all, we're having an early start
again.
Actually we'd planned on leaving straight for Sardinia, but if the weather-
and wind situation is going to stay as it is, we'll be motor cruising a lot,
which means: we should refuel diesel.
So we head for Capo San Vito. Passing the Gulf of Palermo, with plenty of
wind blowing straight towards us, we arrive in San Vito at 10.30 p.m.
Our peaceful nights are over though: 2:30 am and 25 knots wind get us going.
At 6:00 am we spot a few men on a fishing boat, lying in the harbour. We ask
them if we can moor alongside. An hour later we're moored alongside a trawler,
waiting for the petrol station to open at 9:00 am.
And off to Sardinia!
Our next stop is supposed to be Caliari. That means, we'll be travelling all
night again. Unfortunately the being on guard doesn't work out to well this
time, so tom hardly gets any sleep.
After 36 hours and 170 nm we drop anchor in a bay called Cala Pira and stay
there for the night. The heavy seas make it impossible to enter the Gulf of
Cagliari and therefor to get to Cagliari. Well, then we'll do that tomorrow.
Cala Pira is a beautiful, quiet bay with a small sand beach and lies sufficiently
protected for us to be able to spend the night there.
Thursday morning and it's another 35 nm to Cagliari.
After arriving we moor in the Marina St. Elmo. Only with luck did we get a
berth here.
Going through the logbooks of the past two weeks one could wonder, why we
travelled through the night so often and stopped so seldom. We definitely
could have done more sailing, if we hadn't chosen the direct route, but: we
have an appointment in Cagliari!
Our friends Carola and Alex are coming on board there and will spend the next
two weeks with us. They also had to adjust their plans to be able to already
meet us on Thursday.
Working is planned for Friday. SILVERBLUE gets a big wash, the water tanks
need to be filled and a few little things also need to be attended to.
Domenico with his Ketch "Alex & Co" is our landing stage neighbour. Domenico
spontaneously invites us for lunch. We had very delicious pasta: Pasta Amatriciana.
In the evening the four of us got to a supermarket. We've got a lot of shopping
to do, since we'll need a few supplies for the following weeks.
By the time we're done shopping and putting all the things away it's late
and really time to hit the bunk, since we're off again on Saturday.
Saturday morning, just after 10:00 am we slowly cast off and leave the Marina St. Elmo. We're taking our time setting course towards Capo di Pula. 7 hours later our anchor drops to the bottom of the sea. We'll spend the night here.
Imagine all, that this new week has brought us ... see you again in a week: same time, same place! So long.
