Mor Toad / Moy Toad

Cefalu

Mor Toad / Moy Toad

David and Jocelyn Fawcett

Sun 24 Sep 2017 18:04

38:02.26N
14:00.77E

A beautiful morning on Saturday when we left Mondello but little wind so we motored past Palermo - saw several ferries going in. We are intending to visit Palermo for a few days but land based at the end of this trip . The coast is very mountainous all the way along and everything was slightly hazy. It was also quite eerie as apart from the two ferries we saw no one else out. After about 3 hours the wind picked up and we were able to sail - great to turn the engine off and get rid of the noise and a very calm sail the rest of the way to Cefalu.

Mountainous scenery all the way but we were too far away to make out any detail on the land. Approaching Cefalu you see a large lump of rock in front of you ( the guide book says a fearsome crag called La Rocco with the medieval town spread out below and the twin towers of a cathedral built in 1131 by Roger 11 . Another long sandy beach and bay and we weren't sure where to anchor but judged the 300 m from the shoreline and sort of placed ourselves in the middle.

Having anchored successfully and having been at sea for 6 plus hours we put the dinghy in the water and went ashore to wander the streets and visit a Gelateria. It was a lovely place though pretty busy and we had our ice cream , had an explore down lots of different narrow streets, the statuary walk along the beach and then back to the boat for supper.

Making fishing net lampshades
Medieval public washing / laundry facilities

Moy Toad at anchor

This morning we woke up to quite grey skies - so different from the previous few days. We had several cups of tea and realised getting darker and beginning to rain, then thunder and lightening and the seas got up and a squall set in 'big time'! It only lasted about an hour but quite dramatic and the anchor dragged ( or so we thought) so just a little concerned we were heading toward the shore.

Eventually it calmed down and we decided we'd move the boat round to the other side of the crag where there was another bay to anchor in or a marina. When David went to raise the anchor he realised that all the chain was out plus a long length of rope too not all of it as some was tangled up Ina knot below deck. ( moral of the story always put the snubbing line on) This took some sorting out and time to bring all the chain in but he managed and we motored round to the other side. Still quite windy we realised the bay too small to anchor in if another squall comes along so we came into the marina. Plus side we can fill the water tanks, do the washing as have electricity but we really do not like marinas and this one is fairly basic and falling apart .

Petrol pumps Ok if want a can but difficult if want to fill a boat.

So once we'd done a few jobs we walked into the town round the crag to visit the cathedral and as the guide books say the altar is magnificent - all mosaics. We then had lunch in the square warm pleasant who would have known at 7.30am we had been in the middle of a squall ( plus side the boat got a good wash and negative I didn't get a swim) .

We then explored a few more streets and found our way to the path that supposedly took you to the top of the crag and the Temple of Diane. We walked a fair way up and then there was a gate which was 'chiuso' so sadly we couldn't get right on top but still quite a good view back into the bay.

So a walk back to the boat, a few postcards bought, a few more jobs done and the washing finished and tomorrow we set off for the Aeolian Islands about 40-50 miles to the north/ north east of where we are now depending on which one we decide to visit first. So I will report back In a few days