We have been in Corsica for about 10 days now. It is a very beautiful place with great beaches and anchorages and also a rugged, mountainous and green interior to explore. Like most islands of the Med, Corsica has a long history of conflict and invasion so there are many historic fortifications to explore. We have been joined in Corsica by Amanda's sister Nicola along with Chris, Zoe and Ramsay. They have been staying in nice hotels and where possible we have anchored nearby. This (above), for example, is their hotel in Porto Vecchio. Each day or so they move hotels while we hop along the coast so we can meet up. They have joined us on the boat most days which seems to involve a lot of this activity. And in the evenings a bit of this activity. Today we took a drive into the mountains visiting local villages and then heading for the hills. It is very green and lush here, especially compared to the Greek islands that we have been used to. Our ultimate destination today was a river valley in the hills where there are lots of pools for swimming. The water is very cool but it is so nice to swim in fresh water for a change and feel cool and resfeshed. We spent all afternoon swimming and exploring.
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We ended up only having a couple of days in the Egadi Islands. The forecast was for southerly winds followed by many days of westerlies. We needed to go west so we took advantange of the southerly and shot up overnight to Sardinia, about 140nm. There are lots of these caves carved into the islands. They contain paintings dating back 10,000 years. So now we are in Sardinia. We are making our way north up the east coast. We are meeting Amanda's sister, Nicola, and her family in Corsica in a few days so we are making waves.
We have now left mainland Sicily and are in the Egadi Islands on Sicily's northwest coast. This is the harbour at Favignana, the main town. Before leaving Sicily we got fuel. It cost 30 cents per litre less to go to the petrol station in town than to go to the fuel dock in the harbour. This was our last anchorage in Sicily at a place called San Vito Lo Capo We have done a bit of exploring around Favignana with plenty to see. We will be in these islands for about a week then off to Sardinia.
Cefalu is about half way along the north coast of Sicily. We have been here for a couple of days as it has been windy from the direction we want to go. However it is not a bad spot to wait. The night we arrived they were so pleased to see us they put on a big fireworks display. The town is built right on the waters edge. With lot's of narrow winding streets to explore. Though you do have to be careful as there are lots of dogs in this town and the locals don't seem to worry about picking up after them. The town beach was very crowded, we didn't linger there. This is the main cathedral in the centre of town. My very arty photo of the cathedral. This is the old historic wash house. Apparently it was in use up to the 1950s. And this is the modern version where we spent our Saturday evening eating a pizza from the place next door while our laundry went around. We know how to live it up.
We have arrived. We left Zakynthos, Greece early Sunday morning and arrived about the same time Tuesday morning. 260 nautical miles in 50 hours. A bit slow, not much wind and a lot of motoring. We then decided to keep on going and went up through the strait of Messina seperating Sicily from mainland Italy. We stopped in Milazzo featured in the photo above. Milazzo is overlooked by a huge castle. It seems like most towns in Silicy are. More old historic building than you can shake a stick at. This statue was on the waterfront just near our anchorage. The plaque was in Italian so not sure what he was famous for but my guess is he is a world champion frizbie player. From Milazzo we have done a big day down the cooast to Cefalu. We arrived just as the sun was setting so we shall explore tomorrow and report back.
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October 2019
CategoriesWelcomeCheck out what we have been up to lately. Most of it is even true. |