MESSINA STRAIGHT
The morning had come to enter the Messina Straight. The small water way that separates mainland Italy from Sicily. This is a major shipping route into the Med for every sort of water craft. Looking at a map of the straights it shows lanes and roundabouts just like a road map so the expectation is that it will be very busy and then throw in the tidal movement in a narrow waterway and the wind that can also funnel through, there was the possibility of a challenging time. Whether we were lucky or whether it's been made into a "legend" style experience or not our trip down the infamous Messina Straight was pretty straight forward.
We entered on the Sicilian side and then around a third of the way down crossed to the Italian side. We did have to concede ground to a rather large ferry and keep our wits about us with ferries crossing from Italy to Sicily but other than that it was fine.
We did spot one of the strange looking Swordfish boats that have a ridiculously high tower above the boat and a matching extension out the front. The fisherman sits out the front of the boat and apparently the skipper sits on the tower. We didn't get close enough to see clearly but check out the photo from our English friends who sent us their picture of one they saw.
The remainder of the day was good as the wind started blowing and we were able to sail for a few hours. Then within the space of 5 mins and on an open stretch of water - the wind just stopped. It was the strangest thing.
Here is a little story about the anchorage that night.
Stropolo
It wasn’t a big anchorage, it didn’t have a quaint village to admire from the boat, there were no restaurants or shops, but it did have beautiful clear, warm water and really interesting hills behind the houses. The thing that made it memorable, all be it for the wrong reasons were the dogs!
The beach was all full of probably the 50 or so people that lived in the village and I think most of them must have left their dogs at home. The dogs were not happy. The chorus of barking went on into the evening and just as we were having a giggle after a particularly long bout of barking, a bloody rooster chimed in with his thoughts on the situation. It was a “had to be there” moment but it did make us laugh.
We entered on the Sicilian side and then around a third of the way down crossed to the Italian side. We did have to concede ground to a rather large ferry and keep our wits about us with ferries crossing from Italy to Sicily but other than that it was fine.
We did spot one of the strange looking Swordfish boats that have a ridiculously high tower above the boat and a matching extension out the front. The fisherman sits out the front of the boat and apparently the skipper sits on the tower. We didn't get close enough to see clearly but check out the photo from our English friends who sent us their picture of one they saw.
The remainder of the day was good as the wind started blowing and we were able to sail for a few hours. Then within the space of 5 mins and on an open stretch of water - the wind just stopped. It was the strangest thing.
Here is a little story about the anchorage that night.
Stropolo
It wasn’t a big anchorage, it didn’t have a quaint village to admire from the boat, there were no restaurants or shops, but it did have beautiful clear, warm water and really interesting hills behind the houses. The thing that made it memorable, all be it for the wrong reasons were the dogs!
The beach was all full of probably the 50 or so people that lived in the village and I think most of them must have left their dogs at home. The dogs were not happy. The chorus of barking went on into the evening and just as we were having a giggle after a particularly long bout of barking, a bloody rooster chimed in with his thoughts on the situation. It was a “had to be there” moment but it did make us laugh.