11th Sept - Meanwhile back in Sicily and 2nd Story of "Tre"

We had a classic "channel crossing" Comino Island (Malta) to SE tip Sicily - 59nm of sunny skies and flat seas, gentle winds, at first just forward of the beam, then just behind - enough to do a steady 5.5-6 knots under sail. Next day a hop up to Siracusa - it has been such a treat to be here and revisit the market. Gastronomy is not one of Malta's charms. The produce back here is fresh and lush and abundant and we have gone overboard on peaches, melons, fish and mussels. A couple more hops up the Sicily coast to Acitrezza during which we passed under a soot cloud from an active Mt Etna. The boat was covered with heavy, black, fine, gritty silicate ash (R says it is not soot, ie carboniferous, now who's being pedantic?). Have swept and washed and swept, but we will be finding black stuff in the nooks and crannies for weeks no doubt!

W has a relative (2nd cousin?) Maria, who lives in Acireale just 3 miles up the coast. We tried to meet up on our way down and failed. So wanted to try again on way up. However, we have had no internet connections for a fortnight (see Tre below!) and no means of communication (no Tel no, etc). We may fail again due to that.

Here Acitrezza is bordered by huge rocks (islets) called the Ciclopi. All the villages starting with "Aci.." here are named after the shepherd Acis who was killed by the Cyclops Polyphemus in a jealous rage over his love for the sea nymph Galatea. The Ciclopi rocks here are black basaltic pillars, and legend has it that they are the rocks hurled at Odysseus by said Polyphemus as he was fleeing the Cyclops' clutches (they ate 6 of his crew). She sounds an angry sort! And so.

2nd Story of Tre. Now back in Italy, we wanted to recharge our Italian sim card for internet access (none to speak of in Malta). Went to Wind / Tre shop in Siracusa, kind Stephanie, working for her uncle there, sorted us out. We had Euro 1.12 credit left so topping up our month's worth with E15 would recharge us. Unlike in UK, it does not happen immediately - you have to wait until after midnight to the following day for it to be activated. Needless to say, it didn't. Back to Stephanie, she phones Tre, there is an error, they have taken E15 for the month we were home in UK and E15 for this recharge.They need to credit us with E15. This will take 72 hours! But we will no longer be here, we say. Stefania takes our UK mobile no and says she will call Tre in 72 hours to make sure activated and then call us. She is very sweet, none of this is her fault, but Italian chaos can sometimes drive you mad!

72 hours later, nothing, but it is Sunday. So maybe tomorrow (a working 72 hours). Tomorrow - nothing, Stefania still trying.

Back to Sicily. We left Acitrezza and had a text from Jenny & Eric (HR36 Marika) who were visiting onboard an Italian friend's 68ft Oyster. They had just left Catania, passing Acitrezza, asking where are we. Just off your port side we said. So had a brief rendez-vous mid-bay with UK friends and fellow HR owners. At same time a VHF call from Silent Wings, Colin and Shirley who helped us out when our depth log failed. They were heading S, we N and passing ships in the day. So we stopped and anchored for a drink, nibbles and a catch up. Small, small world and full of coincidences. Silent Wings will be following our path about 10 days later.

So now back in Taormina Bay, with a Swedish HR for company, who we met in Vulcano in the Aeolian islands in July. They have given us recommendations for our onward journey east. We start our trek northwards and eastwards to Corfu tomorrow - couple of hundred miles to go of Italian Toe and Boot - about 4 "channel crossings" worth. Hope not to still be in this virtual black hole.

ps Still a Tre black hole, 5 days later - they cannot seem to fix