38:14.68N 13:18.23E Cap Gallo off Palermo Sicily
The Snark on The ARC
Ben Little
Fri 28 Aug 2009 11:55
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Hi folks, welcome to the dog watch. It is
2:45am CEST and we have just past Palermo. Pete has just retired to bed
and I am taking over in the game of dodge the fisherman. There is no wind
as there has been all night or around 2 knots on the nose, Pete said
as I took over that it was getting rougher but I think that it just seems that
way at night ( to me as well)
No sooner had I taken the watch than we took out
our first fishing buoy of the trip. I managed to stop the engine in time
to avoid fouling the prop but it took a little while to float free. Not
sure how anyone is supposed to see a string of empty plastic bottles at night
but the rope they were tied to was pretty substantial and I would have thought
the investment warranted a light of some kind. But there you are, no harm
done and I hope the fisherman can find his catch tomorrow.
So the story since my last report. The night
had brought a head wind and we battled that for some time until the calm of dawn
when we found ourselves heading for the Messina straight. We avoided being
swallowed by Charybdis the giant whirlpool and Scilla the 12 footed 6 headed
monster said to inhabit the straight in antiquity. However transit of the
straight was a little unnerving regardless. I am thankful that a
combination of luck and careful planning had us there in broad daylight and
avoiding the height of the tidal flows. Regardless we had 20 Knots
of wind from various angles, several large ships rushing hither and thither and
smaller boats like ours being tossed around in very choppy waters as the tidal
flows began to set in running in against the wind. The water looked
like a giant caldron bubbling up in places and flat calm in others. I am
not surprised it put fear in the hearts of those who crossed it in open boats
with only sails and oars to propel them. Our 54HP Yanmar was more than up
to the job at half revs with the Genoa out doing most of the work. The
biggest stress was finding out where the whirlpools where supposed to be and
then when they were supposed to appear. My son Milo was able to get me the
high and low water at Gibraltar and I was able to work it out from there.
We completed our transit around 3 hours before the peak of the northward current
and therefore missed all the whirlpool fun. Pete tells me that the Odyssey
is a great read and I suppose I shall have to settle for the account therein
when I get home.
The most dangerous aspect of the transit was
probably the danger we presented to the wind surfers who could not see our
fishing line. We almost caught 3 but I fear they got away.
Having planned our night stop at Volcano ( an
island of the north coast) we decided it would be too late to safely
anchor there in the dark. It was a good decision as we were both tired as
we did not sleep during the day due to the Messina straights excitement and
constant checking of tides (and the fact we planned to take an overnight
stop). We stopped instead at Milazzo, free swinging of the marina
right opposite the oil refinery. Millazzo is a seemingly very popular spot
and it is indeed quite an attractive city, but the water is dirty and the view
of the refinery less than special. I am not sure what caused the marina to
be so full and the mooring buoys to be all taken, even though we called ahead
some time. It has to be one of the least pleasant anchorages I have
stopped in. On the plus side we found (after quite some walking) a hidden
but rather good restaurant which made up for the lack of a beautiful sea
view.
So on to today or rather yesterday (now 3:10 am
27th August). In complete contrast to our previous stop Cefalu was a
lovely anchorage, if a little lumpy. If we had being staying the night
there was space in the marina and very friendly staff at the fuel dock
(excepting the fact that the attendant dropped the caps to our jerry can into
the murky water off the jetty (a dead loss). We walked around the towm had
a pizza, picked up some supplies and a fishing rod and reel which we hope will
make it easier to land something to eat.
We have taken on 6x 22 litre Jerry cans of spare
fuel for the leg to Mallorca, accounting for the fact that we need to make time
and the wind will be unreliable (I am confident I will get Pete to his
flight). The debate is whether we will fill up again as we pass the end of
Sicily, though this will result in lost time. I hope the weather report
comes through OK this time so I can plan effectively before we get to decision
time.
Will do my best to report in mid passage to keep a
look out. All is well here so far and looking forward to land fall in
Mallorca some time on Saturday.
Bye for now.
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