Bye bye, Albania

Although we enjoyed Albania, we decided to cross straight from Durres to Siracusa on Sicily. Apparently the south of Albania offers more options for sailing and anchoring, and it would have been great to explore more, but we felt it was high time to head west. We are aiming to be in Gibraltar by end of September after all!

The two-night crossing to Sicily was lovely: wind from behind during the day, motoring over glassy water during the night. Oh but I almost forget the last 4 hours of the trip: a choppy sea came pushing down from the Messina Strait. Although we were quite far south of it, we definitely felt it. It was uncomfortable, nauseating… and stuff went flying about through the boat. You would think we are used to this by now, but I don’t think I ever will be.

Friends’ Reunion

After two nights at sea, we entered the large bay of Siracusa and dropped anchor next to Cascade II, the boat belonging to our friends Bill and Nancy from Marina di Ragusa. It was fantastic to come back to a place that we know and, more importantly, to meet up with friends! We had really missed that in the past 2 months.

We had fun catching up with Bill and Nancy that day, swimming all afternoon and then going out for pizza in town. As usual in Italy, we were the first customers to arrive at 7 pm sharp. The kids enjoyed joking with the chef and his staff in the kitchen. They got to see how our pizzas were made, and received some sneaky pre-dinner treats.

More Friends Arrive

The next morning I was rummaging around on deck, and suddenly heard my name. I saw someone waving to me from a boat that had just dropped anchor nearby. Sailors wave, so I politely waved back. Then I thought, hang on, she knew my name! It turned out it was sail boat Tetamanu, with Jessica and Roy on board. Another reunion with friends from our winter place Marina di Ragusa!

We enjoyed the rest of our time in Siracusa doing what we love best: catching up with friends, eating and drinking together, going to the park, shopping at the fantastic market, and swimming. However, after only 2 nights we decided to sail on again, because we heard that more friends were waiting for us in Malta! Paul and Jessica with their 5 kids on sail boat Mrs. Chippy would be in Malta for another week or so. Since we were planning to go that way next and we really missed these guys, we decided we would leave Sicily ASAP to be able to spend some time together.

Bianca Kindler