37:43.87N 15:12.46E

20 June 2011

While at Siracusa marina a large cruise ship/wind jammer came in.  While I am not a fan of these I was very impressed with the handling of the ship to reverse it around and back into the small cruise ship berth with no tugs assisting.  Once berthed it is a great place for the passengers to disembark and see the town without having too far to go.  Of course several tour busses were lined up to get them to the old Greek ruins and other places.

The harbor police had a tough time keeping all the local pleasure boater from getting in the way but they were very stern and effective in their directions to shoo off the gawkers.

Okay, now time to go.  Winds were fine and the harbor was fairly settled.  However once outside the waves were huge and the winds provided no help.  One quick conference with all the people on board, Pat and myself, said that another night in Siracusa harbor is worse than the 3 meters seas so we continued.

Progress was slow at first.  The entrance to the Siracusa harbor is well known for peaking waves and this held true.  As we motored north at a creeping rate of 2-3 knots we eventually cleared the biggest chop.  Looking up at breaking waves is never a good thing.  Luckily the boat is well founded and rides over them.  A few slaps of the hull when the wave had no bottom but not bad.

After a few hours the wave diminished some and we could actually sit out on deck a little.

Approaching Riposto the waves built again as we rounded the corner toward the marina.  Surprisingly to me was a schooner anchored off the marina just pounding into the waves while at anchor.  It was there a few days and obviously the crew was incredibly tough or drunk.  Waves breaking over the bow at anchor is not what I like.

Once inside Riposto marina (Marina dell Mt Etna) we were given a berth to the north side.  This was the best berth we had so far.  No fishing boat diesel fumes while they run their generators or no over testosterone dingy dock assistants zooming around.

Riposto is like home to us.  Having been here three times we know most of what we need to know.  The markets and shop owners are friends, mechanics help us and the town is not a tourist place.  Big pleasure boats come in and the crew always seem to be friendly.  Our Agent and his staff are helpful and collected all the spare parts we requested.  The local chandleries are not huge but they seem to have what I need.  One carries a huge supply of bolts and nuts that I have never seen before since Newark, New Jersey.  A 120 mm long, 12 mm diameter bolt with 100 mm clean without threads in stainless was available.

Nothing really new to show pictures about since this was really a stopover to head further north.