TELL-TALES
Rod Heikell's very informal site on sailing around bits of the world and an eclectic collection of things nautical or nearly so.
Skylax blog SICILY 2007 
09 October 07
Just before we left Trapani a huge floating crane and all sorts of tugs, tenders and workboats were gathered into a corner of the harbour over several days. A big salvage operation was underway and we were curious as to what was on the bottom.
Turned out to be one of the hydrofoils that run between Trapani and the Egadi Islands just offshore. It had a big hole where the front starboard foil should be, another hole forward in the hull, and the superstructure on the top was badly crushed. I have no idea what happened but it must have been at speed for that sort of damage.
Skylax in the Ionian
29th Sept 2007
Yesterday we finally managed to snap the bit of elastic holding us to Levkas and sailed down towards Sivota for an early morning departure. Or so we thought. After the incident with the radar and the torn genny in the Ionian Regatta, Robby at CYS just had to trot out the old homily about things happening in threes. Sure enough when the wind went light off Nidri I turned the key to start the engine and nada, nothing happened. True to my missed vocation as a car thief I got hold of a screwdriver and with a lot of sparks connected the main power to the ignition solenoid wire and bingo, the engine started.
At the time we were drifting around in circles and a charter boat chugged up to us. ‘Gee, what sort of boat is that’, one of the Americans on board called out, ‘she sure is beautiful’. Sure, I thought to myself, but she would be more beautiful if the bloody engine started.
We spent a quiet night in Vlikho, that hurricane hole of an anchorage down past a bottleneck entrance from Nidri. A still night, faint sounds from the tavernas ashore, a few dinghies puttering back and forth to boats, a caique out laying a bottom net, stars overhead. It feels sweetly nostalgic.
We were up at 0730 and had breakfast underway as we motored down the Meganisi Channel in the early morning calm. There is a light mist over the mainland hills. A few caiques are collecting their bottom nets and long-lines. It seems like the elastic tying us to Levkas might finally part.
Motoring out into the Ionian there is a two metre plus ground swell from the strong southerlies of the last few days. It makes for an uncomfortable start on 250 magnetic to Siracusa. The wind direction needle is describing 360 degree circles. ‘Shall we head up a bit’ Lu asks, ‘get a bit of wind in the mainsail’. Nope, when in doubt head for where you are going.
By afternoon a solid NW 4-5 has kicked in and Skylax heels on a close reach at 7-8 knots. Mole, the autopilot, (well he lives in a dark damp place in the lazarette), is in charge. We are going to Sicily.
30th September 2007
One hour in the Ionian Sea
37deg41’.80N 017deg28’.13E to 37deg38’.09N 017deg21’.06E
1030 to 1130
Brown ground dove hitching a ride
Polystyrene slab
Blue plastic carrier bag
Small plastic bit
Ship on horizon to the S
Line of plastic detergent bottles (marking long-lines?)
Small bit of painted wood
At night a big old waning moon comes up illuminating the eastern horizon with a watery yellow colour. Starry sky. The NW wind lasted through the night until midday today, then slowly died and clocked N-NNE. Slow sailing and in the late afternoon we turn the engine on (with my magic jump lead wire Lu has found for me).
So what do those clouds mean?
01-10-07
Slow sailing with the wind on the quarter. Then in the early morning it dies. Lu calls me up at 0900 to say the boat is caught on a line, maybe it is around the prop. We cut it loose and all is OK. Earlier she had negotiated a huge mess of floating net, probably part of a drift net that had been chopped up by a ship. Drift nets are a menace at night, not just to yachts, but to all the creatures that dwell in the sea: dolphins, small whales, sun fish, and of course the intended victims, tuna and swordfish. Several years ago the government banned them, but relented after the fishermen blockaded the Strait of Messina.
Several yachts in the distance look as if they headed for Malta. And with the fresh NW we have made good time and are heading for Licata.
Clocks back one hour.
Off Pozzalo we get a plastic bag around the prop. Out of gear. Little burst of astern. Lucky … the bag pops out the back.
It is lumpy for the last 50 miles to Licata. We sail hard on the wind a bit, motor a bit, sail some more, and arrive just before midnight. We anchor in the basin on the east after some delicate work getting through the new sheltering breakwaters, part of which are underwater and marked only by small buoys. This is probably the last time we will anchor here as work is underway turning it into a huge 1500 berth marina with apartments and a ‘nautical’ village ashore. The brochure talks about the feng shui of the place, though I’m not sure what that means.
Anchored where the new marina will be in Licata
02-10-07
We get a good nights sleep and set off for Sciacca the next day, motoring much of the way in a thankfully flatter sea.
The south side of Sicily is not a bad way to come late in the season. The winds are generally OK and it is reasonably warm, at least T-shirts and shorts in the day time. The coast is beautiful, there are enough secure harbours and anchorages to tuck into, and the people are friendly souls.
Gentle cruising south side of Sicily en route to Sciacca
03-10-07
we set off early for Trapani. A bit of motoring and a bit of sailing. I promise Lu a slap-up meal and a marina/pontoon berth in Trapani. As it turns out there are none available, or at least none that we could get. The Lega Navale YC has no-one on it and the only other pontoon with a berth is pretty exposed to all the wash from the fishing boats hurtling in and out. So we go on one of the nice new and free moorings outside the Lega Navale put down for the Americas Cup.
Free moorings in Trapani a short dinghy ride from town
We are weather-bound here with strong NW and west winds for the best part of a week. Still Trapani has it’s charms, a lot of them, and we eat out, wander around the streets, take a trip to Erice on the cable-car, and do some boat jobs. Lu fixes the solenoid connection so now wonder of wonders the engine starts with the key.
Trapani. Nice place to be weather bound in.
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