Just Tied Up In Navarino Bay
June 14th, 2013 | 
Author: Current Position: 36°55.08'N, 21°41.97'E
Distance sailed since last post: 0 nautical miles
After a great day visiting Olympia yesterday, we took advantage of some wind and had a brisk sail down here, but ended with three hours motoring as the wind disapeared.
We are tied up in a small free marina (up for sale by the Greek government as part of the austerity measures).
More news to follow.
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Peleponese coast of Greece
Current Position: 36°55.09'N, 21°41.96'E
Distance sailed since last post: 131 nautical miles
Noel has you all up to date on our travels minus some photos that were not organized yet.
And don’t ask me what I do all day…because part of it is organizing photos and updating you. I even resize them all so they don’t take too much of your time to download!!!
The rest of the other time, well…..searching places to go, and the winds to get you there and when. Arriving in new places and searching out what to do there, where to buy your groceries and your cooking gas, boat parts or fuel and water, cooking cleaning and more cleaning and of course, visiting beautiful places.
Ahhh, the laundry that has to be done! Thank goodness we are now wearing less since the weather warmed up. I mostly hand wash because you don’t see any laundromats around unless you really search for a few hours and by then I have already washed and dried and put away. In the meantime while laundry is drying out in the “crazy winds,” I have to babysit It. Yes, we once lost a bed sheet that took off from the line while unattended, as we were busy having a drink at the neighbour’s. Now I sit there, I mean I lie there tanning my assets, while watching the clothes blow in the wind. One hour to dry and no ironing needed. It’s tough, but somebody has to do it! (Noel is too busy on the computer trying to avoid the “crazy winds” for our next passage). We look at the weather and a plan the strategy to escape……. sometimes not really wanting to leave quite yet the beauty and peacefulness of these places, but there is so much more out there!!!!!
After Olympia we set of to Pylos arriving just before sunset. Nice little resort town with a big and lively town square and water front restaurants and Tavernas.
Arriving at Pylos. Entrance through Navarino Bay (no, not the little arch!).
We hiked up to the castle and admired the beautiful views all around. Navarino Bay is surrounded by many beautiful turquoise beaches. This is the famous horse shoe beach called Voidokilia beach.
After reading about the old battles and monuments around this Bay, we took the dinghy and paid a visit through these beautiful clear waters. The monuments are set along the sea and some just a little ways up the hill.
Many of the monuments in honor of the soldiers of the different countries involved in that war
Through our hike we scrambled up onto this huge cave
We really enjoyed our stay here. and as always we find Greeks to be very friendly and respectful.
The next morning we set off early. I have to always take a picture of sunrise because we never see many. LOL. We enjoy sleeping in.
On our way to Diros caves. After hearing they are such a popular spot, we wanted to get there morning before the tour boats arrived
Entrance to the caves along here. We anchored just in front of the little beach and dinghy ashore. Perfect timing. Few tourists around but not so busy
We took a tour in a punt through miles of passageways lined with stalactites. It was an amazing ride through it all.
I was able to get a couple of photos before the guide told me “no flash” well no flash…photos didn’t turn out!
We spent a couple of hours here at the Caves and we were en route to Elafonisos, our next stop
Elafonisos beach. It was a huge horseshoe bay full of magical anchorages. These 2 beaches are backed by sand dunes and very busy in the summer, but luckily for us, a bit early in the season ,and there were only a few locals around and a few yachts.
Beach by night. The people from the yacht next to us were out at the beach with barbeque and drinks
A beautiful yacht joined us for the evening. we were the only 2 yachts there, the ones you see on the photo are on a different anchorage. After a long walk through the sand dunes we left our anchorage into the town for better internet connection. And that’s when the “crazy winds” got us. No need to comment on that, because Noel did that already. May I add that I now know I can do it! i handled that helm pretty well, and even when I saw 49.5 knots of wind, and surprisingly I was so calm! No problem, the boat was handling it very well.
This was our last stop in the Peleponese coast. We are now en route to Milos, which is in the Cyclades. Next post!
Tags: Olympia, Greece
Current Position: 37°38.61'N, 21°37.76'E
A welcome to Katakolo, the main port for visiting Olympia.
As we were arriving in Katakolo late afternoon. That day they had 3 cruise ships in. After a crazy med mooring again on the town quay it was time for a sun downer, and watch the busy docks with the people all getting back to their ship.
The harbour and waterfront street. After the liberation war, in 1821, the place flourished from the 1830’s to 1860’s and the area experienced wealth. Katakolo was also home to a Raisin Treatment and Packaging Factory. Raisins were the main cultivation and here at this port is where the warehouses were to store them and to be exported mainly to England and France. Today they live only from tourism. Cruise ships line up to get into buses and train running to Olympia as the main attraction.
Our boat can be seen here. The one with the tallest mast in the town quay.
The shopping street behind all the restaurants in the waterfront. Busy on the days that cruise ships are in, but otherwise is very quiet
picturesque little village. We really enjoyed the stop over.
Young man came to our boat when we arrived and told us he had a nice variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. He told me to take the stairs up the hill from the main street. I told him I would go the next day. Since there is only one street, not a problem to find. But as I keep going and going up this long flight of stairs with some amazing views I ended up in this cute place and cute old man and wife and no Exit.
I really thought I was at the wrong place because I was expecting some kind of a fruit stand. Well… The couple were very friendly and he spoke some English. I was trying to tell him what I wanted to buy and if I was a the right place and he kept saying how much you want??? And then the young man showed up….it was the son. They made me sit down right at this table with some wine and olives, while the son packed away all these vegetables and fruits from their garden, including olives, olive oil, eggs till I couldn’t carry anymore. What a beautiful spot !!!
The doors on the right are rooms that he rents out for 22 euros a night. With his broken English he told me he visited Vancouver Seattle and many of the States, he worked on a ship more than 30 years ago.
Welcome to Olympia!
It was here more than 2500 years ago that the first Olympics were held.
The games began in 776 BC to honour Zeus. Pelops, the king of the Peloponnese was, according to mythology, their founder. The athletes that competed had to be “true-born” free Greek men. Women were not allowed to watch. We overheard a tour guide telling some students that women competed as well, 1 month before the men, not “true born” free, but with a short dress that was angled from one shoulder over the chest on the chest showing one breast. But who watched??? The men !!!!
The winners were crowned with an olive brunch that grew in front of the Temple of Zeus.
The temple at the center was, of course, the focal point of the whole area. The temple was like all the other temples in ancient Greece, like those at Selinunte and Agrigento in Sicily. But THIS one had a HUGE statute of Zeus at one end. The statue is gone, but this picture shows it. By huge, I mean HUGE – 12 meters tall, made of ivory and gold. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Side tracking a bit…….. above is another example of why we don’t have many pictures of us together. Each time we ask someone to take a picture of us…they don’t get it!!!! Why would he have all the dirt in the foreground, and then cut off the top of the monument? And this was his second attempt! We won’t even show you the first one.We have now realized the best tactic is to ask a person who has the biggest camera. They usually know how to frame a good picture. But we don’t always see them near by
ok..ok…we can take our own with camera on timer, but you cant do it in these crowded areas, you’re lucky if you can get in front of the monument without screaming at people to get out of the way!!!! And you have to take turns.
Here is the Gymnasium. A rectangular building with a large yard. Here the athletes practiced running and other events such as the javelin, the discus etc.
The site named Altis, meaning also (grove) is enclosed by a wall and inside are many temples and sanctuaries, auxiliary buildings, priests’ houses, baths, the areas for the preparation of the athletes, guest houses along with other buildings. It was a beautiful walk trough the Ancient Park surrounded by olive trees, oaks and many other trees.
The Palaestra. A square building with an open courtyard and rooms all around it where they housed visitors and also athletes trained here for wrestling, boxing and jumping.
The 5th century A.D. baths. They even had in-wall heating. You can tell they were post-Roman rather than Greek, as they are built from bricks, not giant stones.
A vaulted passage way into the Stadium.
The Ancient Stadium where the Olympics took place. It has a track 212.5m long by 28.5m wide. It could fit up to 45,000 spectators, although it had no seats, they just sit on the grass all around in the embankment
A walk into the Ancient Museum
The Museum has an amazing display of the finds from the archaeological site. From bronze cauldrons to equipment of the soldiers for offense and defense, metal objects, pottery, beautifully painted terracotta, tools used for everything……all the stuff you find in Museums and more.
The most impressive are the all the Statues.
You think he’s phoning for help??? After all, the guy next to him just lost his head!
These are some of the most famous sculptures from the Temple of Zeus. In the middle stands the marble bull representing power. Reminds me of bull running in the Azores – all the people around the outside, and a bull running loose in the middle!
The famous statue of Hermes. Perfect polish of the Parian marble, is regarded one of the finest works of art of the Late Classical period. The statue has a gate around it. I stood in front, away from the statue posing for a photo and got whistled away by the guard. Not allowed!
Nike. This Masterpiece was a votive offering to Zeus. It’s over 2 m high and it stood in his Temple as well.
Surfing Waves at 15 Knots and Drifting at 2 Knots
Current Position: 38°57.87'N, 20°45.69'E
Distance sailed since last post: 350 nautical miles
We decided to grab the weather and leave Malta on Sunday, at lunchtime. We will get back to Malta to visit Valetta another time.
We set off with a Force 6 wind on our port quarter. Over time the wind built up to a Force 7 with 2 meter waves. With one reef in the main (and later on, two), we were surfing down the waves at up to 15knots! It was so smooth – all you heard was a whooshing noise, all you could see were stars and some phosphorescence dancing in our wake.
Then the wave would pass, the boat would slow down, and before too long we caught another wave, this time reaching 12 or 13 knots. It was pretty wild!
In 12 hours we had done 93 nautical miles. If only we could have kept it up, we might have even broken 200 miles in a day.
But then at half past midnight, the wind disappeared. Gone.
One hour we did 8 miles. The next just 4. And then we were drifting along at about 2 knots, with barely 3 kts of wind. Not even enough to put up the spinnaker.
Over the next 12 hours we managed 40 nautical miles – and that only because we motored some of the way.
Gradually the wind built up again. We put up the spinnaker, and soon were stomping along at 5-6kts again until, once again, the wind disappeared and we were back to drifting and a bit of motoring through the night.
Then the wind picked up again, giving us a steady 17 kts (Force 5) for the final hundred miles but then, of course, dropped at the end, leaving us to motor into into Preveza at half past three on the third night, for a total trip time of 63 hours covering 347 nautical miles, and overall average of 5.5 knots, with about 8 hours of motoring in total.
And so we are back in Ionian Greece. We liked it here, so it will be good to chill out, do some windsurfing, and gradually work our way south and around the Peleponese and into the Aegean.
And the good news? The water is actually a bit warmer here – 23 deg. And finally it is warm! Today we were in the town with just T-shirts on. Maybe, just maybe, the water and the weather will finally be warm enough for swimming soon. We are so fed up of these cold winds – having to wear sweaters and jackets all the time. Not what we signed up for! The Greeks tell us that it has been unusually cold here all winter too.
Pictures are on there way – oh, and I also added more info to our Home Improvements page.
Surfing Waves at 15 Knots and Drifting at 2 Knots
We decided to grab the weather and leave Malta on Sunday, at lunchtime. We will get back to Malta to visit Valetta another time.
We set off with a Force 6 wind on our port quarter. Over time the wind built up to a Force 7 with 2 meter waves. With one reef in the main (and later on, two), we were surfing down the waves at up to 15knots! It was so smooth – all you heard was a whooshing noise, all you could see were stars and some phosphorescence dancing in our wake.
Then the wave would pass, the boat would slow down, and before too long we caught another wave, this time reaching 12 or 13 knots. It was pretty wild!
In 12 hours we had done 93 nautical miles. If only we could have kept it up, we might have even broken 200 miles in a day.
But then at half past midnight, the wind disappeared. Gone.
One hour we did 8 miles. The next just 4. And then we were drifting along at about 2 knots, with barely 3 kts of wind. Not even enough to put up the spinnaker.
Over the next 12 hours we managed 40 nautical miles – and that only because we motored some of the way.
Gradually the wind built up again. We put up the spinnaker, and soon were stomping along at 5-6kts again until, once again, the wind disappeared and we were back to drifting and a bit of motoring through the night.
Then the wind picked up again, giving us a steady 17 kts (Force 5) for the final hundred miles but then, of course, dropped at the end, leaving us to motor into into Preveza at half past three on the third night, for a total trip time of 63 hours covering 347 nautical miles, and overall average of 5.5 knots, with about 8 hours of motoring in total.
And so we are back in Ionian Greece. We liked it here, so it will be good to chill out, do some windsurfing, and gradually work our way south and around the Peleponese and into the Aegean.
And the good news? The water is actually a bit warmer here – 23 deg. And finally it is warm! Today we were in the town with just T-shirts on. Maybe, just maybe, the water and the weather will finally be warm enough for swimming soon. We are so fed up of these cold winds – having to wear sweaters and jackets all the time. Not what we signed up for! The Greeks tell us that it has been unusually cold here all winter too.
Pictures are on there way – oh, and I also added more info to our Home Improvements page.
Arrived in Malta!
Current Position: 35°54.41'N, 14°30.48'E
Distance sailed since last post: 179 nautical miles
Once we escaped from Port de Peche, we then did a 3-day tour of the south, including the Sahara Desert, with 7 other sailors, previously of Marina di Ragusa. We will do a full post on that, with pictures, in due course.
Then we picked up our outside table (late, again) and some upholstery, (also a day overdue), and departed for Malta.
We had a fast reach across, averaging 7kts to arrive 26 hours later at Mgarra, in Gozo. We anchored just outside the harbour, checked in with customs, and then took a taxi for a quick tour of the Citadel, and the Ggigantija Temples – the oldest stone structures in the world, older even than Stonehenge and the Pyramids by several hundreds of years. On getting back, we moved East a mile to get away from the busy harbour entrance and settled down for the night.
Today we then did a circumnavigation of Gozo, calling in at Dwerja bay and the Blue Window (a rock bridge).
We looked in at the Blue Lagoon, but it looked a bit busy, so we then moved south to St. Paul’s bay. There we managed to snag some free internet, and downloaded the weather.
Unfortunately the winds are due to disappear during the week, and then change direction. That means that if we want to get to Greece, we need to be going now, or risk getting stuck in Malta for an indefinite time. Since what we have seen of Malta so far is not that inspiring, we decided to up anchor and move down to Valetta, with the plan of setting off for Greece by Monday morning.
We went into Sliema creek and have tied up against the wall, just under a sign that says no unauthorised moorings. Well, we will risk it for the night.
Again I managed to snag some free internet, so here I am updating things. However, no pictures yet. They will follow 🙂
Tunisia
Current Position: 33°52.06'N, 8°35.48'E
Wow. Time flies. I cant believe it has been a month since we arrived in Tunisia. We spent a bit more time there than expected because of the work being done on the boat. But we got away and couldn’t wait to explore more of the country, especially the South.We have moved on spending a couple days in Malta and are now in Greece sitting in a pretty little Bay in a small fishing village.
Our first stop in Tunisia was Kelibia,the northern end. We tied up along Paul and Gabby who we met in Marina di Ragusa. It was nice to meet up with them.
We hicked up to this Fort for some amazing views. Bellow is the Harbour where our home is
Our home is on the center pontoon. You can barely see the red kyak on the side.
Another nice view form the Fort. Tunisia has beautiful beaches of very fine sand
From Kelibia we had a quick sail down to Hammamet, where we anchored right here, just outside the Medina (The brick walls on the right):
When we got back from the yard and into the marina in Monastir we met up with some other boats that we had met in Sicilly. So they too joined us for a 3day adventure into the South of Tunisia. We had so much fun!!!
Bellow are some photos but for more go to the gallery
This is in Douz. We could not pass the chance to ride the camels through the desert and into a camp where we stayed the night. Great dinner in the restaurant, nice sunset and yummy sand blowing into your mouth. ahhh the bon fire going til late evening with the waiters playing and singing….we loved every minute of it!!!
getting all dressed up and ready for the ride
Magical! the ride was about 1.5 hrs through the sand dunes. We were so lucky to have such a calm afternoon .The previous week one man we know from a Brasilian boat got caught there in a sand storm. No fun……..
We visited this beautiful mountain Oasis with many palm trees and natural Springs in Chebika. It has a new and an old village that was destroyed by storms but much is still intact. It was build around this steep gorge and amazing scenery all around. Check out the photo gallery for more photos
Haha…..The palm trees have a lot to offer besides providing shelter, juice, dates and everything else they use palms for!!
Here in Nafta is where we slept the second night. We were picked up at our hotel by horse and carriage to visit another Oasis, the prevoius photo.Here we tasted yummy palm juice, deglet dates and smoked the leaves. I was surprised how much they can actually grow between the palm trees. I saw lettuce, apricots, pomegranate, peaches, tomatoes, potatoes, lots of flowers and more!
Chott El Jerid is a Tunisian name for Salt Lakes. To drive on a newly built road in the middle of the dried up lake was an amazing experience . One can see a variety of colours and mirages. The lakes go on forever. They have filmed many movies along here.
Troglodytes. On the second day we had lunch in this typical Berber house. The houses are cute. This is underground but they all have a large courtyard for brightness and all the rooms around it.
This was part of the set of Star Wars.
Lunch time
As big as a modern football stadium, El Jem accommodated more than 3o thousand spectators. The Roman Amphitheatre is very well preserved, very impressive. The movie Gladiator was filmed here. Imagine the roaring of crowds as they watch gladiators fight against tigers and lions!
Noel and I also took a day trip to the ancient city of Carthage. We took a train ride from Monastir to Tunis and there took another one straight to the Archaeological Parc. The Antonine Thermal baths were built between 145 and 162 A.D. They were destroyed by the Vandals and stayed buried till 1945 when they began the excavation.
These Roman baths are the third largest in the world. The remains of the buildings is the basement where all the installations for running the complex were housed.
Although, the Roman baths are spectacular, we really enjoyed walking through the roman villas that stretched out behind the Baths. I took the photo above in one of the courtyards of one of the Villas from the 3th century. Still some nice well preserved mosaics and you get a pretty good idea from the group of buildings in these gardens, of their urban plan and life styles.
Some of the mosaics at the Carthage Byrsa Museum. It had a big collection displayed from diferent periods in Carthage history: Punic,Roman, Paleochristian, Byzantine and Arab. The display included, Ivory, ceramics, glassware, terracotta, and also jewlery.
While walking through the new part of town in Carthage, I was surprised to see my country flag. perching atop the park like settings. It was the Portuguese Embassy surrounded by beautiful gardens. From there, we moved on…..
From Carthage we took a taxi just a few km away to the picturesque and touristic village of Sidi Bou Said. It is perched on top of the cliffs overlooking the bay of Tunis
We walked through the cobbled narrow and winding streets with many shops selling their crafts and souvenirs. Apparently here many stars have dined in Bon Vue Restaurant!
I come to an end of Tunisia and my post. Tired of computers. We are not friends, that’s why I am not the One updating! BUT…I leave you with a few photos from Monastir, where we spent the most time in Tunisia. I truly enjoyed the Medina, the scenery, the friendly people the beautiful city and all it had to offer. These photos was pretty much our walk into town from the Marina for all our shopping. It was only a 10 minute walk. Great markets….and the Fish! Yummy fresh tuna was often on the menu. We also enjoyed meeting up with people that we have met along our travels. It was wonderful!!!
One of their many many beautiful Mosques and their large courtyards and prayer rooms.
The much censored Mermaid in a T-shirt.
Monastir. The beach just next to the Marina
Fort El Ribat just above the Marina. A well preserved Fort in a beautiful location and amazing views from there. Many films have been shot there including Life of Brian.
shopping in the Medina
We had a great time in Tunisia, besides being frustrated with the workmanship and all on the boat. It feels great to be back in Greece!!
Last night we were treated to some live music and even some dancing from the waiters at a restaurant on the water front.
We will soon post some pictures from Malta.
Visiting Gozo and Malta
Current Position: 36°2.84'N, 14°16.14'E
After a nice sail from Tunisia, as Noel wrote on the blog while ago, we arrived in Malta on May 31st.
Our first port of call was in this picturesque fishing port of Mgarr, in the beautiful island of Gozo. We anchored just outside the harbour and soon after a young man from the Harbour came and ask if we wanted to go inside for a small fee. We said no thanks but asked where we could leave our dinghy while we went ashore. He said not to leave here or there….because you never know about the fishermen!!! we left the dinghy locked in front of a restaurant and went ashore to visit the town. We stopped at the tourist office and he was behind a glass wall. Gee…is it really that much crime around here? Well…not that we noticed. Our dinghy was still waiting for us as we left it. Tourists are greeted and welcomed ashore by a nice folk group of singers, guitar and accordion players!
Mgarr fishing port, Gozo
We took a taxi to show us a couple of sites inland in the capital city of Victoria. We visited the citadel, nice but not very big. The walls were all of lime stone and the narrow little streets were busy with tourists and shops selling their souvenirs and crafts and their lace, that they are famous for. Beautiful views from there
views from citadel in Victoria,Gozo
Church and square in the citadel
lace making
inside the citadel
The Ggantija Temples, built over a period of several hundred years(3600-3000BC) were the first Maltese prehistorical site to be cleared of earth and debris. The Commandant of the British troops employed convicts from Gozo Prison to do clear the site and paid expenses from his own pocket. The Government took over the land in the 1930’s and in 1949 it was open to public and today is one the most visited cultural attraction in the island. It is the oldest known building in the world – older even than Stonehenge and the pyramids.
Ggantija Temples
(Sorry, not a great picture – I forgot the camera!)
Magnificent views from here, including the famous red sandy beach of Ramla and villages with beautiful Churches and their manicured cultivated land.
Ramla beach
We were back onboard for dinner. A bit of a rocky evening, as the port was busy with ferries full of tourists and locals, making waves for us. The night was very calm.
Next morning we were excited to set off for a circumnavigation of the island. The scenic views were breathtaking! From cliffs to salt pans to small villages, quarry and more!
the beautiful coastline of Gozo with many cliffs and caves
Funghus rock. We drifted around this large circular bay and admired the beauty, with just this one boat as our neighbour.
Azure window along the coast just after fungus rock. It was busy with buses and tourists everywhere. We were happy to have the best views and on our own.
We ended our tour of Gozo and sailed on to mainland. We anchored in St. Paul’s Bay in Malta, poured ourselves a drink, looked around and decided we didn’t like the view. Too developed and busy. Time to move on and get to Valleta, the capital city, before dark.
Fort St. Elmo. Entrance to Sliema creek in Valleta.
I had to take a picture of Fort St. Elmo after reading about the Great Siege. It was here that in May 1565 a Turkish fleet of 138 ships and a total of 38 thousand men and lots of artillery arrived and fought the Knights. They fought for most of the summer and there many dead from both sides. The Turks tied the dead bodies of the Knights to crosses and floated them across to the defenders. The Knights retaliated by bombarding the Turks with the heads of their fallen troops. Eventually Sicilly came to rescue. The Turks retreated after loosing 2 thirds of their troops.
Fort St Elm was rebuilt and the Knights prospered, until Napoleon arrived in 1798……
As I sit on the boat I just couldn’t imagine the scenes and what it would look like with 130 ships and 30,ooo men, and the blood….
City of Valleta.
Valleta.
We were planing to stay in Malta for a few days, but when we woke up the next morning |Noel looked at the forecast. We decide to leave that day because we had a pretty good wind in our favor and then it was dying down to no wind at all. We will return to Malta sometime in the future and explore the rest of it. We were sorry to leave so soon. We wanted to get to Greece and do some tourist destinations before it gets too crazy busy with the Summer crowds.
Stay tuned to our next blog post on Olympia. Greece. Love it!
A New Look for Life Part 2
Current Position: 35°45.35'N, 10°50.14'E
Distance sailed since last post: 84 nautical miles
For the past two weeks we have been stuck on the hard in Monastir getting some work done – bottom painting, interior woodwork revarnished, a bit of a repair on the keel, some stainless steel work, and a new table for the salon.
It has been, shall we say, ‘interesting’.
These people seem to have concept of any attention to detail. Course stuff, like painting the bottom, they can do. But sanding down and revarnishing some wood so that it looks good? Hmmm.
How about this? They are going to paint the stripes. So they spend a whole day putting up some masking tape and newspapers so that they can spray it.They then discover it needs some filling and some primer. So they do that. Then the wind blows all night and rips the paper. So then the next day it is another hour or two fixing that.
Finally they do a nice spray-paint job.
Then they remove the masking tape. All done!
Except for where they sprayed beside the masking tape. So they had to remove that – and tidy up the edges on the stripes where the tape didn’t peel off correctly. It took four or five times of us pointing out to them things they had missed before it was finally finished.
And that was only the stripe!
Mind you, the stainless steel work we had done is excellent.
Eventually we got out of there with the boat looking reasonably good, only 5 days longer than expected.
We are now in Monastir Cap Marina. Tomorrow we depart on a 3 day excursion to the desert in the south, along with 7 others, all previously from Marina di Ragusa! It should be fun – I just wish it would warm up! Temperatures are about 20 deg C, with a cool wind blowing, so one is constantly chilly. But maybe that is because we stubbornly continue to wear shorts and T-shirts here in North Africa at the end of May. Twice we have had gales blowing through.
We will put up a post about the touristy stuff here as soon as we can!
Life Part 2 just hauled out. Bottom isn’t too bad, considering it was 2 years since our last haulout. Good ol’ Sea Hawk Island 44 antifouling
Life Part 2 with a new look. The only antifouling available – International Cruiser Uno EU – was black. So we decided it was time to change the boot stripe from dark blue to grey. And while we were at it, we also did the upper stripes, since they too were peeling off. So, a new look!
A new, smaller, table, so that it is easier to get around it. As soon as we can track down some wood veneer, we will inlay a new marquetry picture made by Dad. Oh, and revarnished wood in the background.
Pantelleria: That Self-Adjusting Natural Sauna is Cool (er… Hot)!
Current Position: 36°46.51'N, 11°59.48'E
It is unfortunate that the town of Pantelleria presents such an uninviting face. Totally destroyed in the last war, it was rebuilt in a hurry with concrete blocks. It is clean, certainly, but it wins no points for charm.
As a result, I suspect that many people who stop here on the way between Tunisia and Sicily never take the time to actually explore the island, which is a great shame.
Fortunately, when we pulled in to Pantelleria, not only were we greeted by Paul and Gaby of Bella Nova, but they also told us that they had found a car to rent for just 25 euros a day! As you step off your boat in the Porto Vecchio, turn right and follow the harbour all the way around, crossing the Stop sign and heading down the road to the Porto Nuevo. After a little while you will see a smal car rental place on the left. They serve up beaten up Fiat Pandas with minimal paperwork and no concern about the scratches and dents on the body work.
Perfect.
We took one of these little cars and did a total tour of the island. I think we drove every inch of the main roads.
Now, I wonder what that rock is called? Pachyderms come to mind at all?
Once you get into the interior of the island it is beautiful. We drove up to the top of the Grande Montagne, the volcanic peak. We took a walk to a totally natural sauna – a cave half way up the mountain that gets hotter the further in you go. 
Actually it is really a cross between a steam room and a sauna, being a bit too dry for a full steam room, but wetter than most saunas – unless you really ladle on the water. And what is really nice is you can self-adjust its temperature just by moving in or out of the cave, so you can have it as hot as you like!
We also took a dip in one of the three hot springs down by the sea, though at 40 deg C it is slightly cooler than my ideal temperature.
And we had several beautiful walks along nicely maintained paths, admiring the heaps of different wildflowers scattered in profusion everywhere we looked.
The scenery is actually quite varied. Some parts look like Mt. Etna – jumbled heaps of craggy black lava. Others are open flat plains cultivated be tiny grape vines and olive bushes – not trees! These bushes are just a few feet tall, presumably stunted by the regular winds that batter the island. 
The conclusion is reinforced by the walls, such as the one shown above, that are built around single citrus trees to keep them protected!
Much of the landscape is terraced with beautifully made dry-stone walls, using the local black lava and basalt.
The houses, likewise, are of black stone, with dramatically contrasting white roofs that, like in Bermuda, and shaped and whitewashed in order to collect the rainwater. Most of the houses are pretty small, though we are told that several celebrities have properties out here. Quite a few were for sale, so if you want to really get away from it all, this could be your place!
There are only two gasoline stations on the whole island, both in Pantelleria town, so make sure you fill up before you leave town – but in the whole day trip we used only 10 euros of fuel. Oh, and make sure you take enough food and water, as you won’t find any during your tour of the island!
There are also only two harbours that provide any kind of shelter. The one we are in is, of course, the biggest, and can accommodate about 4 yachts alongside the main wall. That is us on the left, followed by Bella Nova, and then a small German yacht that had come from Tunisia.
Around at the other end is Scauri, built so that the island can still receive some supplies when the main harbour is inaccessible – again a testament to the kind of weather this place gets, especially in the winter. You could get a couple of yachts into Scauri, but you have to be totally ready before you come in!
Well, after a beautiful tour of the island, we figured we had pretty much seen what there is to see, so this morning we set off in moderate winds for a beam reach across to Kelibia, Tunisia, some 40nm away. As I write this we are about a third of the way there, and doing a pleasant 6kts in pretty calm seas. And the sun is shining. What can one say?
Update: The wind picked up and we arrived in Tunisia in great time. Here we are, and now we have internet!
Great Reach Across to Pantelleria
Current Position: 36°49.97'N, 11°56.57'E
Distance sailed since last post: 81 nautical miles
We left Porto Empedocle at 19:30 and had a great sail across in winds varying from 10kts to 25kts, mostly a broad reach, before finally having to motor the last two hours.
We arrived in Porto Vecchio on the North Coast of Pantelleria at 11am only to find Paul and Gabby from Marina di Ragusa waiting on the dock to take our lines!
Tomorrow they leave for Tunisia, and we take over their 25 euro a day car to do a quick tour of the island- including the hot springs and natural sauna. It will be good to explore here, though the town itself will never win any architectural awards!
We will update with photos as soon as we can!