Having passed the mythological Scilla and Charybdis whirlpools without even seeing a ripple, we bypassed Messina as it is pretty ugly and the Marina is reputed to be expensive and uncomfortable. Instead, we went to Reggio Calabria which is our one and only stop on the Italian Mainland.
Reggio is not exactly a tourist resort - the only view was of some concrete flats, a railway station and a motorway. The marina was safe, reasonably priced and friendly with water and electricity provided. We, like Rod Heikel, drank the water and came to no harm.
On Wednesday we went to Riposto which is a good starting point for a trip to Etna. We were hoping for a gentle sail of 25 miles with a nice E4 wind. In the event we had a southerly head wind all the way and after a lovely long tack right across the straight, realised that it would be after dark before we got there and hoisted the iron topsail. Pity! The pilot is not enthusiastic about the place so we weren’t expecting much. In the even it was the best marine we had seen since Trapani. The new breakwater is complete. The shelter is excellent and so is the service and facilities. Water and electricity included and all for €32 (would have been €52 in season). Riposto itself is a nice little town with very good provisions including excellent fish shops and market.
Next day we went up Etna.....
On the Friday we set off for a gentle potter to Acireale. Unfortunately, there was almost no wind and we had no choice but to motor. We got there at 3.00 only to find that the promised moorings and pontoons had gone and the only spaces were taken by fishing boats so we went 10 miles further south to Acitrezza. Mooring was basic but easy - anchor then back up to the high concrete quay and tie up (just like Greece). The harbour was a bit dirty but quite acceptable for a night and nobody turned up for a fee so the price was right!
Saturday was a long hop of 33 miles to Syracuse. As we left the harbour there was a nice tail wind so we put up the Spinnaker only to have the wind die 10 minutes later and not re-appear all day. We had high hopes of Syracuse as the largest Greek city in the ancient world outside Athens and the home of Archimedes. For us it didn’t live up to its promise. The town quay was closed and we anchored with no trouble. Getting the dinghy ashore was a nightmare though. The charted place was now a customs quay and we eventually found some steps right by the police compound and under the bows of a large trawler. There was only ine very rusty ring that already had 4 boats tied to it. We had a long dusty walk into town and found it pleasant but sprawling.
The Cathedral in the piazza was stunning but there was little sign of the ancient Greek heritage other than a decrepit ruin of a temple to Apollo. Perhaps we were unlucky and we never found any tourist information.
We wanted to get to Malta so instead of trying Siracuse on a Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then motored down to Porto Palo on the corner of Sicily ready for the long crossing on Monday. During this voyage we came across several packages floating in the sea. They were very buoyant , about 80*50*30cm and all trussed up in polythene with string. We thought they were flotsam and ignored them. We also thought we spotted a flare a mile away (lots of white smoke, no light) and diverted to see if someone was in trouble. In the event, a RIB (now disappearing over the horizon) had dropped a lighted land firework in the sea and buggered off! Nice joke which wasted ½ an hour for us. It’s just lucky we didn’t call out the coastguard.
Porto Palo is much bigger than I expected from the chart. The eastern harbour is choked with permanent moorings for small boats and the quay is full of huge trawlers. Nevertheless, there is plenty of room to anchor and the holding was good on the third try.
We rose at 0400 and were out of the harbour by 0445 – still dark – as we wanted to finish the 55 miles to Malta before the customs shuts at 1700. We had to maintain 5Knots so we motored at first. The wind came up at 8.30 and we sailed under Spinnaker for a couple of hours till it died again and we motored the rest. On the way, we spotted something that looked as if it might be An inflatable and diverted again. In the event it was another of those packages but coloured grey with orange ends and a sticky-up white number 35. And we started seeing more – lots more. In the end, curiosity got the better of us and we went to pull one out to see what it was – only to find that it had a large sea anchor attached and a long line that disappeared into the depths. It is some kind of deep-water fishing device. Given the number of these things we saw (over 30 in 2 days) ther must be thousands of these things out there in deep water. They seem like a new and very unpleasant hazard for yachtsmen – particularly at night.
From noon we could see Malta approaching. Valetta was an impressive sight as it loomed out of the sunshine! At 1600, we sailed into Msida marina and, having failed to raise them on VHF moored at a private berth to talk to them and clear customs. In the event- the customs office is now closed permanently and we had to go to Valetta next day! We couldn’t stay where we were so we were directed to an awful mooring on the seaward side near the mouth of Sliema creek. There were pickup buoys and rings to tie up to on the quay – but a vicious swell rushed along the quay trying to trap any unwary dinghy underneath a concrete ledge. Very nasty!
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