Finishing all the work we had, both planned and unplanned, we headed out of Portorosa marina for a quiet little anchorage under the cliffs, and sheltered by the sandbar of Tindari. A short distance. We enjoyed the breeze and cool of the anchorage after being in the marina for 2 weeks.
Leaving Tindari we were making good progress to our as yet undetermined destination when the oil pressure alarm went off. Having had a recent elective engine service we sailed back to the marina.We contacted our neighbor Stefano who contacted Carmelo the mechanic. He was to meet us at the dock on arrival, or at least within one hour of 4pm. Well, no show and we had to pay a further nights stay.
Carmelo's helper showed up at about midday the next day and found a loose oil filter. Carmelo turned up, replaced the filter, oil, and cleaned up. With an apology we were on our way again. Headed for the Straits of Messina. At Cala S Antonio near the head of the Cape, there was an inviting looking ancorage so we stopped for the night off the beach, under Costello de Milazzo (another Castle with years of history - worth Googling) All was well onboard with the work done at the marina.
Costello de Milazzo and Anchorage
Next day we sallied forth to see where we would get. A big day to the beginning of the Straits passing the swordfish grounds. Carrying on dodging ferries in the Strait we got a breeze on the beam and were making good progress when the wind shifted aft, then from the other side due to the short distance between the land mass of Italy and Sicily. Ferries did not help with the gybe, but we carried on and eventually reached Taormina anchorage. A big day for us this year.
Mt Etna from Taormina anchorage
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