We knew the weather was coming but we needed to get as far as possible as we have lingered too long in Sicily. After a brief stop in Porto Empedocle, we made it to Mazara del Vallo and prepped the boat for some high winds. When the wind arrived our wind instruments clocked it as high as 50 knots, this was while to weather stations were showing 25 knot winds. Oops... wrong again! We were reassured though as the marina workers were busy as can be walking the docks and making sure all boats were secure. At one point, they knocked on our boat and gave us an extra lazy line to attach. So... in all, we had six lines for the bow of the boat and three for the stern. It was bouncy, but we were secure.
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| Porto Empedocle |
Porto Empedocle is just a fishing port... yet holds an important place in history. In July of 1943, Porto Empedocle was the site of the landing of Allied forces in Sicily (one of the sites). The Axis troops were taken by surprise as the landing took place in horrible weather, but the Allied forces pulled it off. Two months later the Allied troops had control of all of Sicily. It was the beginning of the fall of Mussolini. And now in 2023, for the good folks of Porto Empedocle seeing an American sailboat show up in their harbour was quite surprising. One person asked us, "how did you get here"? We replied, "well, we sailed here, of course". Needless to say there were lots of stares and picture taking by the locals.
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| Interesting bench in Porto Empedocle |
Its a very nice little town which we enjoyed, even though it was just a short stopover. I had a chance to practice my Italian and get yelled at by crazy Sicilian men who had a hard time understanding my Italian😳. More practice required!!
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| Pup is ready to get off the fishing boat after a long day |
Once we had Talaria secured in Mazara del Vallo and it was clear that the weather was not going to allow us to sail for a few days we made the decision to take a road trip. The fact that we lingered too long in southern Sicily combined with the weather delay forces us to adjust our sailing plans. Sadly, you are only allowed to stay in the EU for 90 out of 180 days. From day one in the EU it is a race against the "Schengen" clock. And it is a long way from Montenegro to Gibraltar!
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| Mazara del Vallo |
We put together some plans for a few days in Venice, Pisa and Florence as it was now clear that we would not make it up the western coast of Italy as far as Rome. Initially, that was to be our staging ground for visiting that part of Italy. Instead, we will make the trip by train and plane.
The very good folks at Mazara del Vallo agreed to keep a close eye on Talaria for us. Being a very small marina we felt completely comfortable that they would indeed watch things closely. The fellow on the boat across spoke good English and was nice enough to give us a ride to the bus stop. First a bus to Palermo and then a short flight to Venice to start our little excursion.
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| Mazara del Vallo |
The very good folks at Mazara del Vallo agreed to keep a close eye on Talaria for us. Being a very small marina we felt completely comfortable that they would indeed watch things closely. The fellow on the boat across spoke good English and was nice enough to give us a ride to the bus stop. First a bus to Palermo and then a short flight to Venice to start our little excursion.
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| Mazara del Vallo |
The weather has kept us from sailing and also from spending much time looking around Mazara del Vallo. We plan to spend a bit of time in the town when we return from our road trip. And then its on to Trapani and likely on to Sardinia from there. Plans are still evolving!
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| One of the many churches in Mazara del Vallo |
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