Sicily - Night sail

Sans Peur
Grete & Fred Vithen
Thu 29 Sep 2016 16:19
37 49 63N 15 16 39E Taormina, Sicily at anchor 29-30 Sept

Yes!
After 37 + 102 Nm we crossed the Strait of Messina to Sicily.
The first part, "Champagne sailing" was easy. Then anchored in Catanzaro studying Italian weather forecast we realised that it was better to take off and head for Sicily directly before the wind would end up in our nose again.
This night we tried 3 hour watches. In theory a good choice ... but the swell made it almost impossible to sleep although we where sailing at about 7 knots. At sunrise we reached Messina. Nice sunny weather. 
Approaching Sicily / Taormina from the see was a spectacular sight. 
There is a another 140 Nm to go before our winter mooring in Licata, Sicily.
Tomorrow we will head for Syracusa and the town guay Looking forward, charming town, We been there before.
Crossing the Strait of Messina. This cargo ship is loaded with just bananas ... hard to imagine that.
Wow!
​This is just to illustrate the impact of the swell in this area.