The last night of Tunisia we spend with Bronwyn, Grant, Lee, Lesley at a restaurant called Condor. These two couples are heading east, crossing to the caribbean at the end of year, where Garry wished to go till he realised we have alot to learn and do before we can cross.
My meal as always was a fish start and steak main which was amazing, the best meal I had in the last 4 months. Grant suggested some great places to visit going west and the best anchor app to use. This anchor app turns out to be a god send in the shit anchorages we are good at finding.
I made passage meals for the journey and started to stow away belonging that had been left out for 4 months. We switched on Starlink and to our amazement it worked, well done Elon I wonder when you got that switched on in the last 4 months.
We set off at first light, Bronwyn came to our pontoon helped us with our lines and took pictures of us leaving the marina. Cheers Bronwyn.
Its a 30 hour sail to Licata Marina in Sicily, our 2nd over night sail. We got clear of land found some wind and put the sails up, before we knew it we are sailing at 7 knots with no motor.
What a start to the season the sun is shining the wind is blowing in our hair and then just when you think you have escaped Tunisia the coast guard turns up but himself right in front of you so you have no choice but to pull in head sail and stop just so they can one last time say whats your nationality, number of soles on aboard and your last port.
Sunset was around 7pm we had done 10 hours of sailing making good head way at 1/3 of the way across, darkness fell and the wind picked up.
It was garry’s turn to freak out on the night sail found he found the wind to be a little too windy at 18-25 knots but we took the west side of Pantelleria to go around due to that being the leeward side of the island.
After Pantelleria we had to cross the shipping lane and it was still dark, the moon was not helping as it was a waning gibbous moon at 67% which made visibility poor. At 5.45 am the sunrise happened we were still crossing the shipping lane but now able to see the tankers, with 10 hours to go and two thirds of the way completed.
We arrived at arrive at 4pm greeted by Sean and Tex who made us dinner on his boat which was gratefully received as we were exhausted. Sean gave us the low down to where everything was, Tex had already given us the social calender. BBQ on sundays from 1pm, happy hour from 6pm at Blue Skies Bar Friday and Tuesdays.
After a whole day resting to recover from the crossing we ventured out to Lidi to see what i could buy that we could not get in Tunisia. 30 minute trek up a hill Lidi was located, it amazed me that it looked just like the ones at home, identical in fact and set out the same way.
In the afternoon we had a walk to the green channel marker on the edge of marina wall, we came across a caravan which was a home for a lot of cats.
As the days passed by it was nice to have somewhere different to explore and still putting off boat jobs I suggested a walk to Castel Sant’Angelo which is still in the province of Agrigento but if you listened to Garry its miles away.
It stands on the extreme eastern offshoot of the Licata mountain and towers above our marina at 130 metres above sea level.
I kept climbing the flights of stairs whilst Garry followed staying nearly there think of the view.
The bastion was inaugurated in 1640 finally and constitutes a rare example of Baroque Fortress built in Sicily in the 17th century.
The castle has never suffered any attacks of any kind, so still in pretty good knick. The view was amazing from the top you could see both marinas and a large cemetery in front.
In total we climbed 34 flights of stairs 3.68 miles 9475 steps on this walk.
Since returning to the EU Starlink was working and my I Phone completed its first up date for 4 months due to having wifi. One of the apps it loaded was a Fitness app that follows your progress through out the day cheering you along with notifications ……you can still do it ……close your ring. This became a challenge between me and Garry who can close their ring 1st.
With a singing all dancing chandlers in the marina the boat jobs commenced, we also found the most amazing hardware shop combined with a DIY store so was able to buy parts to assemble my shower idea.
We continued attending all happy hours as its our only connection to the peeps, the beers are 3.5 euros with pizzas available from next door for 4.5 euros. This means no cooking for me or washing up for Garry and they deliver to the table.
Our 1st BBQ sunday I turned up with a chocolate cake cooked in the new gas top oven, which went down a storm as I had 3 people ask me for the recipe. They looked disappointed after telling them it was a Tunisian packet mix. Another week i turned up with a nut roast which also went down really well.
We bought a pole in Tunisia for downwind sailing our job was to we fit and install a ropes to hoist it up, down and out. This required Garry going up the mask in a tiny seat attached by a knot i had tied on the halyard that starts from the top of the mask. His life totally in my hands I managed to get him up and down with no problems but I will say its hard work on the arms.
My birthday arrived we had picked a restaurant to eat at that evening, we had not book just turned up at 6pm only to be told they don’t open till 7pm so went to blue skies for a beer then potted back at 6.55pm then only to be told they still not open.
Garry’s there trying to talk to an Italian 2nd generation family restaurant manager about having a beer here till they were ready. It my birthday right i not begging for someone to serve us so I told them not to bother themselves and walked out.
Went back to Blue Skies ordered another pint whilst we googled other restaurant’s in the area, we found a fish restaurant called La Taverna Del Duca 6 mins around the corner finished we our 2nd beers and potter over.
Being the only 2 customers in restaurant we had their undividend attention they got us 2 more beers and we ordered starters and main the food arrived at the same time as our 4th beer which is never a good start to a 2 course meal pissed before you eat but the food was lovely would definetly go back there again.
Easter commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in Sicily it was fascinating as they are very religious and they took to the streets on what we witnessed 3 occasions.
The Virgin Mary’s suffering then the crucifixion and lastly the passing of Jesus where they paraded a coffin around the streets. It was the first time since 2019, the streets were full of Sicilian people all taking part in the proceedings.
We missed the raising from the dead time of Jesus Christ, as we departed to Malta and thats where the stories head to next.
