Sailing with Moondance : October 2016

Monday, 24 October 2016

Taormina to Siracusa - Siracusa A City Of Secrets Including the birthplace of Archimedes where amongst other things he invented his screw,

Siracusa is a beautiful old city with many charms. Certainly worth a visit if you are in the vicinity. We have decided to leave Moondance here for the winter for a variety of positive reasons. We are enjoying the ambience of the waterfront. Walking Ortiga - the old part of the city with its fascinating narrow streets, fountains, piazzas, and all. Visiting the Greek and Roman theatres, the cathedral Archimedes Fountain etc.

Peter and Nikki left to pursue property purchase in Malta. We will catch up with them again in a couple of weeks

Refugees. We have seen some evidence of refugees during our travels. In Samos there were many abandoned lifejackets at a point where there is only a mile between Turkey and Greece (EU), In Sicily the Guardia Costeria operate large vessels and in Cantania we were stopped from walking on the wharves as the authorities were processing African refugees. A bus load of refugees passed us.

Music It is rather surreal to be sitting on the waterfront listening to Lordes "Loyal" and Crowded House singing in Italian

Mt Etna with cheesecutter

Boil up at Cantiara

Archimedes Fountain Siracusa

Street scene Siracusa

Lunch at a restaurant in Siracusa, 5 small "hamburgers" E7.50

Church with no roof

Waterfront Siracusa

View from Moondance - Town Quay Siracusa

Thursday, 20 October 2016

On to Sicily and A night at the Opera (for those who know me - not a Marx brothers film)

We completed work on Moondance in Corfu - engine back together and Solar Bracket fitted. Peter and Nikki Zabell arrived from Australia to join us for the rest of our time in the Mediterranean. We left the marina heading for a small island north of Corfu when the battery alarm sounded so we called in to Kassiopi - a small town in the North of Corfu. The combination of solar + engine charging was the culprit so after fitting a cutoff switch to the solar panel, we were on our way overnight to Italy.
For the first time in a while we were sailing. Very efficiently and arrived at Porto La Castella at 11 am the next morning, tired but safe. The marina was basic - no hot water etc etc and charged 25euros for the pleasure. we had a walk around the town in the evening and were treated to a fireworks display from a vantage point above a restaurant complex. The fireworks were exploding impressively above our head.
Sailing down the Southern Italian Coast the next day we arrived at Porto Delle Grazie, a pleasant enough stop with an interesting shifting sand bar entrance which we negotiated easily. A long day saw us leave in the dark following our track in. There was about 60 miles to Taormina Sicily achieved by a combination of sailing and motoring. This included crossing the Messina Strait - our first encounter with currents for a while. We arrived safely in the bay (Mazzaro at the foot of Taormina) anchored amongst laid moorings and tied to an offshore rock.
Since then we have visited Taormina by Finicula (actually a cable car) and enjoyed the sights including a trip to Castel Mola - a village perched on the top of a hill, and a nearby town of Naxos. Of course an Italian/Sicilian dinner of pasta at an outdoor restaurant preceded an evening at the Italian Opera. A wonderful evening and we felt privileged to be entertained and having drinks on a balcony overlooking a magnificent old town and bay.

Sunrise

Mt Etna

Pillars of Hercules?

Castelmola

Anchorage Mazzaro

Taormina

Castelmola

Mozzara

Saturday, 8 October 2016

Scenes from Corfu

Kontokali village

Georges chicken shack

Georges Chicken Shack

View from the bathroom window

Sunday, 2 October 2016

Caught in Corfu

It was easy enough locating Panos. A google search showed he was a marine electrician/mechanic operating from Manduki. So, I got on a bus to Manduki (on the way in to Corfu town) Walked down the road indicated on the map and came across a wood workshop. No Panos. The owner of the workshop phoned directory service and I was given an address in Corfu town. On the bus, the driver dropped me at the top of a street and said “down there”. So I walked “down there” asked a shop owner where the address I had written down was. He pointed across the road to no. 54 – the door to multiple apartments was being cleaned by a young lady I had passed minutes before, so I approached her and said I was looking for Claudia (Panos’ wife) It was her and she said Panos now had a workshop at Kontokali village – by Pipilas Restaurant – exactly where I had started the journey. Got the bus back to the marina and located Panos – he remembered me, so after all that an adventure and a roundabout way of doing things.

Panos looked at the batteries – confirmed their demise – they were boiling and smelled of sulphur. He installed 3 new AGM house batteries. While Panos had access to a workshop, I decided to get the heat exchanger fixed properly (it had a temporary repair in Siros), the alternator upgraded with a 3 step charger, the starter motor checked and an oil change. All this was completed efficiently and the charging systems (including solar) checked and all OK. During checking Panos noticed a small leak in the diesel injector pump so that is now in Athens along with the injectors.

That is where we are now – still in Corfu. While none of the extra work was terminal, it had to be done sometime and I would prefer it was done with Panos’ supervision.

In the meantime we have had time to explore Corfu island by bus – going North to Sidari one day and paleokastrtitsa another. Sidari was full of English enjoying their short break. Paleo was a delight. We swam in the clear water, lazed on sunbeds and walked to the monastery. We also explored Corfu town which is just as I remembered it. I got lost several times but Raewyn never complained about all the walking. Never told her I was lost.

Yesterday (Saturday) we took a day excursion to Sarande – Albania. 1.5hour ferry ride, then a guided bus tour to an ancient Venetian/Ottoman/Roman site – Butrint, buffet lunch at a good restaurant and back to Sarande. Our first experience of a guided bus tour this trip. Easy – just act like sheep. Picked up from the marina and dropped back there at the end of the day. Seriously though we enjoyed the whole day and the guide was very knowledgeable. A great tour and a tiring day.