Marina di Ragusa, Sicily
We are comfortably situated in our winter berth here in Sicily. In fact, we have been here over three weeks. You might wonder why we are blogging so infrequently. Well, I guess we just got lazy now that the cruising season is winding down.
The last time you heard from us we were in Crotone waiting out some big winds, and we spent about three days there. We had a chance to visit the city and it is just the kind of city that I like. It has a proud, ancient history, but is well past its peak in terms of glory. There aren't enough old things still extant to make it a full-blown-UNESCO-tourist-trap, so the crowds aren't there and the citizens are glad that you have come to visit their town, but there is enough faded glory to make it pleasant if you do visit. There are the remnants of the old walled city that have been subsumed by the evolution of the modern one and there are other relics of the past that have you wondering what things looked like when the last stone was laid to complete the structure and wishing for a time-machine. Much of the architecture is uniformly Baroque since much of Italy, it seems, was rebuilt after a series of devastating earthquakes that rocked the Med a few hundred years ago. Many of the cities in Italy are like this: Crotone, Brindisi, Otranto, and Catania, to name a few, and we have enjoyed visiting all of them.
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| Rocella Jonica |
Once the wind let us venture out of the port, we got around the bottom of the toe of Italy to a marina in Roccella Jonica, where again we hid from winds and spent three days. That was the first time that we tied to a dock since leaving Dubrovnik in May. On the southern coast of Italy there are no anchorages to shelter from southerlies, so it is fortunate that Roccella only charges 20 Euros per night.
From Roccella we motored straight to one of our favourite places - Siracusa, Sicily. We spent about a week there strolling through the city and hanging out with our friends on Lazy Bones and Neptune II. While there, I caught a strange bug that was going around that had me purging my innards right when we had a chance for a vigorous sail to our winter port. The next day when I was feeling better we left but the winds had diminished so that we had to motor-sail, again. The problem with coastal sailing where there is a dearth of anchorages is that you must follow a tight schedule if you hope to make port by night fall, so there is no time for leisurely sailing.
Since we have been cruising with our friends we have had a few music sessions on board Lazy Bones. It turns out that Jeff plays guitar (and piano) and Gary plays sax (and recorder) and the two of them have been making music together along the way through the Pacific and into the Med and giving concerts in various venues. Since I own a harmonica (note that I didn't say "play") they kindly let me join in on several occasions. We have given two performances to date, but as yet no recording contracts have been signed.
This marina in Ragusa is a popular wintering spot for cruisers, and there is a vibrant live-aboard community here, with people from around the world with whom to get acquainted. A local organisation arranges excursions and various events, and, along with the lovely marina office staff, also help with any Italian translation and locating of required services.
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| The Talent and the Mermettes |
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| ...and then there's me |
Our winter will be spent on some boat maintenance and improvement jobs, visiting a few interesting places, and being visited by friends. And just having fun. But today it's going to be 24°C and sunny so we will likely go for a swim.
Somebody pass the lotus petals, please.
Branko
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