We had an excellent night’s sleep with a steady
boat and no noise. But we have
slept in a bit too long, so when we leave, it is nearly 9:30. At first I don’t think much about that
because Richard said at first the Siracusa was only 15 miles away. However once he started to seriously
plot it, the distance went to 25 and finally 30 miles! It is all a bit difficult because the
chip in our plotter does not cover this part of the Sicilian coast. So he is working from charts downloaded
to my I-Pad, and paper charts. He
has even got out his Portland plotter, which only a few days ago he said he
hadn’t used in years!
So it is a long day at sea. We don’t even pretend to sail
today. Richard hasn’t even undone
the sail cover! There is little
wind and even when the wind gets up to 6 knots in the afternoon, it is on the
nose. But it is a nice day and we
have a pleasant trip. We stop for
some lunch, but that is a bit of an ersatz affair because we are basically out
of food. I had hoped to make some
toast and serve it with the last of my long life jar of pate, but the bread has
gone mouldy. I find some toasts
that I use for canapés and we have the pate on that. We will have to find fresh food soon.
So we make it to Siracusa. Richard’s plotting turns out to be on
the spot. We are a bit shocked to
find large rocks in the entrance to the harbour that are not marked at
all! It is clear and we can see
the water breaking over them, but what would happen in the dark, or in bad
visibility, heaven only knows. Another
Costa Concordia in the making? We
find the marina which has been recommended and it is in a lovely spot right in
the heart of the old city on the island.
We get a very nice berth well inside the harbour. It all looks delightful. This is a very beautiful city. When we have settled in our berth we
are delighted to see two other Southerlys. One has no one on it, but the other does and we say
hello. They tell us the bad
news. Southerly has gone bust
again and this time it is the end of the marque. I am very sad about that.
We decide to walk into town to see if we can buy
some food and maybe ice to make drinks.
We find a little supermarket, but it does not have much in it. Richard does manage to buy a bottle of
champagne for my birthday tomorrow, and some ice. We will either have to have pasta again on board or eat
out. Richard says that my birthday
making me 68 marks my truly being old.
I already knew that. The
other day when we were mooring up in Lipari, an elderly American on a charter
boat was watching us and was heard so say “the little old lady is doing all the
work”. So I think that is
definitive proof that I am officially old!
After a walk around the town and a coffee
granita, right opposite the Greek Temple to Apollo, I start to feel very
tired. We go back to the
boat. I don’t feel like cooking so
in the end we go along the waterfront and have a pizza. It is pleasant enough. We meet a Norwegian couple and have a
nice chat. It is fun to be somewhere
so international.
So back to the boat and soon off to bed.
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