Day 432 and 433: 29th and 30th August 2018 - Still in Palermo but leaving tomorrow!

Wednesday

After still more deliberation about whether to head for Sardinia come lunchtime, risking the possibility of a F5 on the nose for the last night, or to play safe and stay put, possibly for another week, we finally got an updated forecast that helped us make up our minds. A change in next weeks forecast meant a weather window Tuesday or possibly even Monday evening. We quickly decided to stay put for a couple of days then head 35 miles west to San Vito Lo Capo on Friday to reduce the distance needed to sail to Sardinia early next week. We still have some time in hand but with Autumn approaching we need to take advantage of each weather window to get us closer to our final destination of Barcelona (and of course to Mallorca so I can meet my friends at the end of September for some well needed time with the girls).                                                                                     
Despite the uncertainty we had a brilliant morning of school with Esmé working independently up on the grass with Isabell and AJ working well on the boat,  then jobs for parents whilst the kids all chilled out together doing crazy swinging around mast stuff! Mostly paperwork for us, emailing various shipping companies regarding prices to haul Laurin back to the UK from Barcelona by road as well as job hunting and preparations.
This was gratefully interrupted by a shout from the kids that Wildest Dreams were heading out for Ice Cream and could we go too!

We headed off to the ice cream gelato place that we had visited the other night and this time Patrick and I shared the somewhat strange "Ice Cream Sandwich" which was actually rather nice.... it was in fact an orange flavoured brioche bun rather than plain bread.

Esmé got something very very chocolaty in a cone reminding us of why she usually has a tub.(a recent promotion from always having a cup as she gets ice cream EVERYWHERE). I announced that she was very definitely Daddy's daughter when covered in chocolate ice cream and Patrick resigned himself to a 15 minute mop up job before Esmé ran off to climb the nearby tree (in flipflops!)

Back to the boat for dinner and then over to Wildest Dreams, iPad in hand ready for an evenings viewing of "The Greatest Showman".

Thursday

 After a late breakfast we headed up to the office to pay a very reasonable (for Italy in August) 40 Euros per night for our 8 night stay and the kids were intrigued to find some turtles? in the office to keep them entertained during the wait. Then back to the boat where it quickly became apparent that yesterday's great school efforts were clearly a one off! Both kids were resistant, perhaps because of our impending move and using any tactic possible to slow down and get out of work. I took a walk! They are very aware that they need "60 points" before work stops and free time starts so half way through my extortionately priced cold can of coke from the machine I had a phone call from AJ apologising and asking me to come back and help with his maths. It wasn't all plain sailing after that but efforts from both kids were much improved.... must try that tactic again!

I spent a little time investigating tools I may use for online tutoring and the girls had fun helping me to try them out. Still some way to go but I might try them out to help friends and family with homework in order to gain some experience using them.

In the afternoon Tiffany took all the kids to the botanic gardens while Patrick and I got on with more jobs and enjoyed one last hour of child free time.... not sure when this will happen next!

Finally board games were got out for the rest of the afternoon before we had dinner and are ready for an early night. 35 miles to San Vito tomorrow (our wedding anniversary) and we are deliberating whether to anchor in order to save money, or to go straight into the marina and take the kids out for Pizza.... The jury's still out!

Day 428 to 431: 25th to 28th August 2018 - Sushi in Palermo

Saturday 25th August

No school so a lazy morning followed by Wildest Dreams saying that they had spotted an "All you can eat" sushi restaurant and were thinking of splashing out. I LOVE sushi but the rest of the family are not so keen so I was  a little conflicted. After doing some research online I was pretty sure they did stuff other than sushi so we set off with them at lunchtime (cheaper than dinner time) to see if it would be ok.

The 13 Euros per person adult rate was a bit steep for the older 2 kids, and even the 6.50 Euros they charged for Esmé was probably a bit much considering she ate about 5 mozzarella balls and 3 chips but the adults did make up for it. We ate and ate and ate, probably ordering a little too much but then I can't remember the last time I had sushi and we wanted to make the most of it! I loved the over active air conditioning too although Tiffany had to go outside at one point to warm up! All in all Gold Sushi was a hit despite the somewhat slow customer service.

We all waddled back to the boat and collapsed, resurfacing late afternoon to exercise Domino and contemplate that we really should head out for a walk and explore.

AJ and Esmé are really enjoying having a doggy friend to play with as well as a human one too but eventually we dragged all three kids towards the playground as I had an idea that there was some kind of event on (though I wasn't sure due to my severely limited Italian). Once round there the kids were disappointed that the park gates were shut (probably the super strict park warden at it again) and although there was some music none of us particularly liked it which is saying something as AJ and I usually appreciate all kinds of music if it is live.

We walked the streets of Palermo finally ending up at Ben's recommended Ice Cream Shop and all indulged in the most amazing gelato we've had! Then back to the boats where I asked if Wildest Dreams would mind babysitting for us later in the week as it is our 11th Wedding Anniversary on Friday although we may well be at sea for it!

Sunday 26th August

A lovely lie in and then our good intentions of walking to the botanical gardens went to ruin as we all just voted for a lazy day. It was really good just to chill out, read, veg and do not a lot other than play with Domino!

Monday 27th August

As usual Patrick and I woke before the kids so I decided to head off to Lidl before it got too hot. Once the shopping was paid for and packed into the granny trolley, rucksack and shopping bag I then did the usual phoning Patrick to meet me half way on the way back to help with the load. I didn't mean to get so much... I was planning on topping up the shopping at Carrefour tomorrow with fresh stuff for our next leg however we don't get to Lidl very often and it was good to stock up on baked beans, mars bars, brie and other delights not obtainable at other Italian supermarkets.

We quickly unpacked and then got on with school before another chilled out afternoon and a lovely evening for Patrick and I out with out kids (again at the sushi place... this time with the addition of a litre of house red for 6 Euros) whilst our Wildest Dreams friends took the kids to McDonalds. A great time was had by all.

Tuesday 28th August

Which leads us to today... another early morning supermarket run and then much deliberation about our plans for the next week. Plan A was to leave tomorrow morning for a 40 to 50 hour passage to Sardinia but the forecast shows a little more wind than we would like on Thursday evening... bang on the nose! It's a really tough call because the next weather window is not until Wednesday next week. Most of our friends would probably be ok with the weather that is forecast. 15 gusting 21knots on the nose for the last 12 hours, right when we will be most tired (but not showing on all models, just ECMWF). It's not a crazy amount of wind but enough to be uncomfortable and slow on our little Laurin. Perhaps we should have left this morning rather than waiting for the swell to drop... who knows. Guess we'll just watch the weather for the next 12 hours or so and make a final decision tomorrow morning.

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!

Day 431 to 433: 18th to 20th August 2018 - Stromboli and escape from insanity!

Saturday 18th August 

Life on Laurin had already been quite tetchy over the last 24 hours with our elongated passage from Rocella and struggle to find a safe and comfortable anchorage. More than 24 hours of motoring really grates on Patrick and I feel the same about prolonged periods of rocking and rolling. The anchorage we had eventually found had quietened down a little overnight but not substantially and by 8am there were again boats charging by creating wash which coupled with the existing swell made life on board somewhat challenging. Before this trip we didn't tend to anchor very much and when we did it would be on a very peaceful night up a well protected East Coast River. Now we are far more comfortable with anchoring, but still prefer somewhere that is protected from all directions and generally we feel that if we are not underway, we shouldn't be rocking and rolling!

We were still a little sleep deprived but awake anyway when I got a phone call from Mum with some horrendous news from home.... my brother's best mate had died unexpectedly on his wedding day. A lovely smiling, cheerful guy taken way too quickly. For a while this added to the short temperedness on board and so I took Wildest Dreams up on their offer to take me and the kids ashore as our dinghy had been stowed for the long passages. I figured we could all do with a little space rather than been cramped up on Laurin. Patrick got some alone time on the boat and the kids got to run and play while I enjoyed a cold drink in the shade at one of the many beach bars. I still find this Italian "beach" idea a little strange, while there is almost always a public access to a section of coastline, most of the seafront is taken up by "Beach Clubs" which charge you to enter and use their sunbeds and sun shades, sometimes offering changing rooms too as well as a bar or restaurant. This particular one had a kids playground so I bought a drink at the bar and refused the "offer" of a sunbed. Their free wifi wasn't up to much but it was pleasant to have the kids occupied so that I could just chill out. They alternated between playing at the playground and swimming in the sea, albeit in the cordoned off area as recommended by the

beach staff due to there being jellyfish around. The kids took great interest in the chart showing which jellyfish were dangerous and which weren't.

By this time Patrick and I had already discussed that hanging around the Aeolians with their limited space in protected anchorages, extortionate pontoons (168 euros for one night on Vulcano) and general business in the Italian holiday season was not going to make a happy Gregory family so had hatched a plan to do an overnight sail to Stromboli that night followed by a look in at Vulcano, and then head to Capo d'Orlando marina for 3 nights to sit out some thunderstorms that were forecast. We knew this probably wouldn't work for Wildest Dreams as they have a more limited budget and a much bigger boat which is significantly more expensive in marinas, however sometimes in this life you have to make the decision that is right for YOUR family and we are hopeful that Wildest Dreams will catch us up on the north Sicily coast. We discussed our plans and made arrangements to keep in touch.

Back on the boat we had a late lunch and then the kids went over to Wildest Dreams for some last minute fun before our departure. We left at about 7pm and motored towards Stromboli, first doing a last minute fly past the other end of the anchorage to see if it might be more sheltered, however this wasn't so and in fact we saw some crazy Italian motor boats rafted together, bashing each other to bits! We ate stew under way, prepared earlier in the day in our thermal cooker, and then Patrick got a little rest.

As darkness fell I became aware of lightening to the North of us which always concerns me when on board. We actively try to avoid being out at sea during thunderstorms as being a lone ship with a tall mast seems to be inviting a lightening hit. The storm had seemed to be a long way away, I never heard thunder and we had clear skies above us so I tried not to worry but as the night wore on I began to see lightening all around us despite having clear skies directly above. I called Patrick for a second opinion as he is by far a better meteorologist than I am and his presence on deck made me feel considerably better. Although common sense told me that the anchorage would not have been any safer, I still felt irresponsible putting my family in this situation, particularly as we had already had a reminder of how fragile life is earlier in the day. We sailed on.

By this time AJ had headed off to bed and so Patrick and I watched the volcano of Stromboli grow ever closer whilst Esmé napped in the cockpit. There was a lot of traffic about so it was especially good to have another pair of eyes on deck and then suddenly Patrick exclaimed that perhaps our night sail would be reaping some rewards, we could already see some volcanic eruptions!

For the last hour approaching Stromboli was saw plumes of fire and sparks rise into the air every few minutes or so. Impossible for us to photograph in any way that would do the experience justice but a beautiful sight. I woke AJ as we came close and despite being a little anxious about our proximity to a live, erupting volcano he appreciated the awesomeness of this night-time adventure with the rest of us!

By midnight we had seen enough and began our trip back, opting to come back the way we came rather than circumnavigating Stromboli in an effort to get back to the anchorage in time for a little sleep before dawn. Patrick and I took 2 hours each on deck and then began the slightly stressful and precarious task of approaching the anchorage in the dark and finding a spot to anchor in without hitting another boat. Sleep was extremely welcome!

Sunday 19th August

Up again by 9 and over to Wildest Dreams to say goodbye. We hung around perhaps a little too long, updating them on our nights activities and addressing their concerns about us sailing in the storm. Although we had escaped it, the storm had passed right over Wildest Dreams in the anchorage. They had been watching us on AIS and what I can only assume was a blip in some of the software had us sailing at 16 knots.... an impossibility in Laurin unless possibly surfing serious waves.

Onwards back to Vulcano but by the time we arrived (after being buzzed by yet another hydrofoil) the anchorage was already crowded and we felt it unsafe to anchor. I very carefully weaved Laurin between the anchored boats to get close to the mud beach, asking the kids to experience the sulphuric smell and look for bubbles in the water. However it was a little underwhelming and we were soon glad to be on our way. 

The scenery on the way out of the Aeolian Islands was stunning but we were all keen to get to a nice, safe, non rocking marina berth. I radioed ahead but still had to mooch around the marina entrance waiting for a marinero in a dinghy to guide us in whilst looking at the ominously black clouds forming behind the marina. As always in a marina I hung back until I could see exactly what berth he wanted us in. Laurin does not do backwards very well but with almost zero wind and a lovely berth she behaved perfectly and we were soon tied up and ready to relax.

And then all hell broke loose!

The marineros came rushing up trying to explain in their very broken English that we had to move. They were clearly desperate for us to untie and move but by now the storm was approaching and the wind had picked up... the last thing I wanted to do was untie Laurin and try to manoeuvre her in a building storm whilst severely sleep deprived. I asked where they wanted us to move to and the answer was just a couple of spots along. I sensed that they were thinking I would just drive out and reverse into that spot.... however I knew that my prop kick would prevent me from doing that and I would need to go out of the aisle and start again to have any chance of backing Laurin into that spot in the building wind. I tried to communicate this to them but they clearly weren't listening, just wanting me to hurry up and go.  We untied lines and the wind nearly took us into the next boat but I'm getting pretty good at close quarters stuff in Laurin now so much to the relief of the worried looking owners of the shiny Island Packet next to us I managed to avoid their pride and joy. Next I motored out of our aisle to see 3 or 4 motor cruisers ploughing towards us whilst I desperately looked for a space to turn round in. I did a 5 point turn in the next aisle whilst Patrick screamed at the motor cruiser blocking our exit to tell us where he was going so we could give him space... blank looks all round led us to realise we had no common language. I saw a gap and went for it but needed to hold station whilst the boat who we had cleared our berth for was helped to moor up. I needed them to be out of the way so I had enough space to manoeuvre Laurin in. Keeping a sailing boat in one position with a lot of wind is not easy and a couple on a boat close to us commiserated at our predicament having come on deck to see what all the shouting was about. I eventually motored towards our berth, making a judgement that I could probably do this without help, wondering if having the rib standing by might be a good idea when the marinero sped up towards our port bow.... exactly where I didn't want him as our prop kick is to port and if he pushed on our port bow I would have no control whatsoever. I screamed at him to go the other side and which he finally did and I was by some miracle still in control. I back into a berth at a slight angle with the nose pointing to port as I know I can always pull the stern in using the prop kick but am unable to correct the other way without pulling out and starting again. The marinero obviously didn't realise this and thought he would help out by pushing my stern round to straighten us up. BAD IDEA cue lots more shouting. He finally backed off and I managed to wriggle Laurin close enough to the pontoon to throw lines. I really would have been way better off if he hadn't been quite so "helpful".

Leftover stew and our first bottle of Italian Red in a while meant for a restful night!

Monday 20th August

Not much to say about today. Being somewhat overcast the temperature was a little cooler so we took the opportunity to get some school done and then wage war on the kids cabin which had began to resemble a bomb site some time ago. Patrick took charge of the laundry before taking the kids for a walk in the afternoon so I could continue tidying. Nice to start to get on top of things again!

Days 429 and 430: 16th and 17th August 2018 - Rocella to Milazzo.... or it was supposed to be!

Thursday 16th August 2018

After a late and big breakfast a little maths in the morning as well as plenty of reading was our contribution to school today. We seem to have got into a rather unhealthy habit of having sweets with maths. Initially this was mini smarties to use as counters as Esmé loves using manipulatives. Next AJ said he should have some too but preferred Haribo which are much bigger so we needed some comparison of size and negotiation on how many questions needed to be completed to earn a sweet. Then somehow today the Haribo became manipulatives as AJ made greater than and less than equations out of them despite his current topic being Mass and Volume! Learning really is everywhere!

Next up was showers for all and then filling up the water tanks, having a large late lunch and generally getting the boat ready for our overnight passage to get us to the Messina Straits ready for a morning passage through them. Deciding on a setting off time was a bit tricky as really we could have left at about 7pm and still made it in time to catch the north going tide (yes, there is SOME tide in the Mediterranean) however the Marina check out time was supposed to be 2pm and although they were being quite laid back about us delaying our departure a little while we didn't want to push our luck too much. In addition to this we needed to fuel up and so we had agreed to meet the guy on the fuel dock at 4pm.

The fuel was an eye watering 1.69 Euros but we topped up the tanks regardless as we always like to have full tanks before a big trip. By 4:30pm we were motoring out of the marina into a waveless sea although there was some light swell that caused us to rock and roll. Sometimes I think back to when we bought Laurin and saw a video of her sailing... she was rocking and rolling then and I wonder if perhaps we should have taken more notice and bought a different boat, particularly as I am prone to seasickness (although it is largely under control now). But then I think of how her layout down below has meant that we could do this liveaboard life on a boat that is under 10m. Being under 10m was something that was important to us as we wanted to keep costs low, and also to have a boat that we thought the kids could contribute to the sailing on too! The loads on our lines are relatively light in comparison to many of our friends boats and so our kids can do most jobs (on the odd occasion that they are so inclined)!

We fully expected to be motoring all the way and this was absolutely the case, but because of this we were making good time in the flat calm and very quickly we realised we were going to be early and punching tide going up towards the Straits. We are respectful of the Messina Straits and would rather motor the whole way in flat calm rather than risk a wind over tide situation in that narrow gap so in reality punching the tide was not a big problem as the sea state would still be calm. It was a peaceful night where we carefully planned our watches around both being rested and awake for when we approached  the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS).


Friday 17th August 2018

 Messina is quite busy and you need to radio Messina TTS to ask permission to enter, and then again if you want to cross. After dodging a few ferries and remembering the weirdness of AIS showing the train ferry going backwards across the straits (the ferry travels in either direction) we were approaching the "roundabout" where we would cross the shipping lanes. I radioed the TSS and asked permission to cross, also letting them know that Wildest Dreams were with us as they don't have an AIS transmitter. We were given permission but asked to keep an eye out for the cargo ship travelling north to south so we began the crossing with Wildest Dreams hot on our heels. I had a bit of a nervous moment monitoring the cargo ship's progress as the AIS wouldn't give an accurate CPA (closest point of approach) due to a bend in the shipping lane just before it would reach us. Patrick was much more laid back and although in these situations I know he has a much better positional awareness which I take some comfort in, I also need to be happy that we won't be run down!

Once we were on the Sicilian side of the Straits Patrick went back below to get some more sleep whilst Esmé and I dodged and marvelled at the Sword fishing boats. These are amazing contraptions where the captain steers the boat from the top of a mast whilst a guy on a stupendously long bowsprit (up to 15m long.... longer even than the boat) waits to harpoon unsuspecting swordfish sleeping on the surface of the water.

                                                                         Very soon we were approaching the end of the Straits, watching our speed do crazy things and the water bubbling and swirling before we turned to port and headed for Milazzo.  At this point we actually managed to sail for an hour or so and were really looking forward to anchoring up, having a swim and generally relaxing. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. By this time Wildest Dreams were ahead of us and as we approached Milazzo they radioed us to ask advice about alternative anchorages as they had tried a number of times and dragged. We looked at an anchorage a mile north of Milazzo but that looked too small and deep.... ok for a lunchtime swim but no good for overnight. Patrick's suggestion of trying south of the harbour entrance was met with objections due to swell from the many incoming ferries, including the very fast Hydrofoil. Perhaps we should have actually gone and tried it but in my tired state, and wanting to get somewhere before nightfall I suggested to go the extra 20 miles to Vulcano where we were planning on going the next day anyway. By this time it was 1pm and our ETA at the anchorage in the north east of Vulcano was 5pm, later than I would have liked to get to a potentially crowded anchorage.... Patrick and I were both feeling uneasy but unsure of a better option.

As we motored up there (there was now wind, but bang on the nose) we became aware of the vast amounts of boats out there, from tiny ribs, to yachts, tripper boats, large motor yachts and the super fast Hydrofoil. Not only did this mean that I really had to have my wits about me with regards to keeping watch, but also we became even more concerned about if we would find space to anchor. I had already discounted the 2 bays on the south of Vulcano due to Cruising Association reports that they were only really suitable for lunchtime stops due to being exposed and having lots of swell. As we passed these Patrick was horrified to see them absolutely packed and it was with trepidation that we approached our chosen anchorage. By this time tempers were getting frayed as we tried desperately to find somewhere we could drop the hook, already accepting that boats were so close together that we would be having another sleepless night where one of us would be on anchor watch at all times. In the end it was just too busy. Absolutely nowhere to go. In desperation Wildest Dreams tried round the corner (which was much too deep) and I messaged our good friends on Soledad who I knew had cruised this area earlier in the month, asking for suggestions. Luckily Maria replied quickly that there was an anchorage on the north east coast of Lipari that was big and beautiful. It was another hour or so away.... on we went!

As we approached we could see a field of masts in this anchorage too and we tried a place closer to the town but ruled it out as we'd be blown onto rocks if the wind changed. On to the field of masts we did find good holding in sand in 3 to 5 metres of water. Would have been perfect if not for the incessant pitching and rolling caused by swell from the many ferries, speed boats and tripper boats. It was uncomfortable to do much other than sleep but at least it was a place to stop.... the view wasn't to shabby either as we looked across at Stromboli with it's plume of smoke indicating that this volcano isn't quite sleeping!