Day 434 to 427: 21st to 24th August 2018 - Cefalu and Palermo

Tuesday 21st August: Last day in Capo d'Orlando

The day started with the usual school, lunch, and then Esmé and I headed to the onsite Spar supermarket to stock up with food for the following few days. The plan was to head West along the Sicilian coast to Cefalu which was reported to be a lovely safe anchorage. There we would stay for 2 or 3 nights before heading into Palermo Saturday night to avoid incoming strong winds.

I messaged Tiffany on Wildest Dreams to let her know our plans. They currently don't have any mobile communications so are relying on free wifi from cafes and bars so I didn't expect a response straight away but was dismayed to get a message back saying that they had been hit by lightning on Monday morning which had knocked out their plotter, autopilot and wind instruments. They said that they would join us in Cefalu and so we were looking forward to catching up so that we could put our heads together and come up with a plan. They also asked us to book them into Palermo too for the same dates as us.

After dinner AJ asked if we could go for a walk to the beach and at this point I realised that we had been here 3 days and I hadn't even been out of the marina.... not that there is any real reason to as the town is miles away and the beach is nothing to write home about, but still, a walk seemed like a good idea.

We meandered over and enjoyed a peaceful hour watching the sun set while the kids climbed. on the sea wall.

We then headed back to the marina for ice cream (Esme's treat for finishing her maths book) and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the evening marina, such a strange place where some of the shops only open between 6pm and midnight.

Wednesday 22nd August: Catching up with Wildest Dreams in Cefalu

Pretty much a long and boring motor after filling up with diesel. There are definitely storms around and we were acutely aware of the cloud formations filling the sky, however we avoided them and arrived at delightful Cefalu, a wonderfully protected harbour with plenty of space to anchor next to beautiful rocks and ruins.

There was a little swell and plenty of other boats arriving so we decided against a swim but put the swing up for the first time in a while which the kids really enjoyed!

I had prepared a curry in the thermal cooker to share with our friends on Wildest Dreams but as the sun set we started to get a little concerned. By our calculations they should have been in by 7pm, or 8 at the latest and we were very aware that the lightning strike may have caused issues other than those immediately noticeable.

We did realise that they could have stopped on route with no way of contacting us but we were still a little uneasy as darkness fell.

Thankfully just as I had decided to cook the rice regardless we heard them calling us on the radio and we guided them in to the darkness that was now Cefalu harbour. They were too tired for a communal dinner so we watched them anchor, finally holding on the second or third attempt and then settled down to dinner. As they had entered the harbour they had driven by, explaining that their alternator regulator must have broken in the lightning strike and they had had to stop half way as their boat had filled with the sulphuric smell of their batteries "cooking". We were glad they were safe and Patrick and I agreed that a good plan would be to delay school in the morning, let the kids explore the rocks on the paddleboard whilst we helped Raf and Tiffany in any way we could.


Thursday 23rd August: Following Wildest Dreams to Palermo

The kids were pretty pleased that school was delayed and AJ had a swim whilst Esmé started to pump up the paddleboard which Patrick and I finished off. Our dinghy has a leak and was in any case still packed away from our long passage from Greece so we were in no rush to drag it out of it's hole in our cockpit floor unless absolutely necessary so the kids and I headed over to Wildest Dreams on the paddle board and then Tiffany went to get Patrick and our bundle of electronics in their dinghy whilst the kids headed off on the paddleboard to explore.

Raf and Tiffany were grateful to use our phone to get in touch with their insurers but with only the solar power available to charger their batteries and potentially overcast weather for the next few days Raf was keen to get Wildest Dreams into a marina with plenty of services nearby. We got in touch with the lovely Ben at Sitimar marina in Palermo and he very quickly responded that he could find space for them that night. Although Cefalu is beautiful and looked well worth exploring it was the right call. Once the kids returned Patrick, AJ and I went back to Laurin whilst Tiffany took the girls for one last look at the caves. I discussed the option of us also heading to Palermo that day and we agreed that we'd feel happier following Wildest Dreams in case they had any issues on the way. When we told them our plans Isobel was delighted to be not having to leave her friends almost as soon as she had caught up with them again.

By this time it was a little later than we would have wanted to leave for the 38 mile trip to Palermo so we upped anchor and got on our way. Wildest Dreams soon overtook us as we cracked on with some school work which the kids did in quite good spirits considering all the last minute changes. Esmé even doing gymnastics in the cockpit!




Eventually though, we arrived and both kids helped us moor up in the first large city we had visited since Athens.

Over to Wildest Dreams with the leftover curry and a pleasant night was had by all.


Friday 24th August: Palermo and the over zealous park keeper.

AJ was delighted to have free unlimited wifi as he had earned enough money and electronics time to download and watch a new movie. He was extremely motivated to complete school quickly and then disappeared to his room to watch his hard earned treat whilst I did uninterrupted school with Esmé. After lunch and a play we headed out to try to find a playground. Followed the footpath round the marina and found a lovely play area.

First problem was the no dogs sign, we ventured in with Domino, the Wildest Dreams dog, rationalising it by the knowledge that despite her not currently wearing her uniform she is Raf's service dog. A very official park keeper quickly came and shooed her out.

Patrick and I decided to sit outside with Tiffany to keep her company when suddenly Isobel came to join us. The park keeper had told her off for playing on the swing... she wasn't sure why... maybe that she was stood up on it?

Eventually she ventured back in and then again she was told off for something else... apparently Esmé had been doing the same but had ignored him and carried on regardless!

After a while AJ was bored so he and I went for a walk up into the town. We enjoyed a little Mother and Son time, looking at the architecture and the shops before heading back towards the playground.

The others had said that they would walk to meet us but having got almost all the way back without spotting them we spotted a Carrefour sign and thought they may have gone to get some groceries. We made the diversion, picked up some treats ourselves and decided to head back to the boat. About half way we were met by Patrick saying we must have missed them and that Esmé was eating pizza with the others so we decided to continue back to the boat as they would be almost finished by the time we got to them. A quick omelette on Laurin which was also shared by a returning Esmé and we all settled down to watch AJ's movie.... perhaps a little scary for Esmé but her big brother looked after her well!