1015hrs - Depart Portarosa for Messina straits. Under motor, very light winds. During stop at Portorosa we hired a car and visited the old mountain town of Castroreale.

Salvatore Aragona, local sailmaker recommended by Northsails (Giorgio and Stefano) removed main sail, completed minor repairs and rerigged sail. In addition the engine room door had jammed shut and no way could we open it. That did my head in. Ultimately we had to remove the hinge pins, cut the protruding hinge off with a hacksaw to get enough clearance and remove the door. It turned out I had placed a tool in the tool tidy in a pocket close to the inside handle, resulting in the handle not being able to rotate. We rehung the door using the middle  hinge off three other doors (same hinge type). Will order new hinges when I am in Malta. Lesson is always check that no tool is placed in the inner door tool tidy such that will foul the inner door handle.

Old 15the century village in Sicily, Castroreale.

View north towards Milazzo

Village was deserted at 1430hrs, siesta time

View west from village