Ken’s dental work was finished on Friday and lucky for us, there was a 30-hour weather window good for heading west beginning Saturday, July 26. So we took advantage of it and got underway at 0730 Saturday morning under calm conditions.
We hoped to get 142 miles west to the port of Sciacca (Shock’-uh) located near the southwest corner of Sicily. This would put us in a good spot for the next favorable weather window to continue our westward journey. The passage was uneventful and took 27 hours to complete, 24 of which were motor-sailing. Listening to the drone of the engine for that long period of time was tiring, but we weren’t complaining; happy to be making miles west while the going was good.
The sea was glassy the night before our arrival, and on deck the air was cold and damp. But the summer constellations were visible overhead, and the lights of Sicily’s seaside towns glittered brightly to starboard, making the night watch seem a little warmer. By morning there was a heavy swell running, and although it eventually flattened out, we soon found ourselves in a pea-soup fog. We could barely see one-tenth of a mile, and by the time we arrived off Sciacca’s harbor at 1030 Sunday morning, the glare of the sun behind the thick fog completely obscured our vision. We stumbled around trying not to run into anything and finally spotted a small boat headed into the harbor and followed in its wake.
On entering the harbor we were directed to one of the transit slips in the marina. The well-designed harbor is used by pleasure boats and a large fleet of fishing boats. We got in just under the wire, because a few hours later it was“blowing like stink from the west.
Sciacca’s ancient town is built high on a hill, with spectacular views overlooking the harbor and the sea. The narrow streets, paved with slate and marble, open onto wide piazzas, and enormous weathered churches and basilicas appear at every turn. The new town has spread its buildings down onto the lower slopes of the hill, but the real action is in the old sector, reached by a challenging series of steep steps. (Unless you have a car, which is not part of SD’s gear.) The evening is the high point of the day, when the locals all hit the ancient streets for their passeggiata (evening stroll), often dressed to impress, to see and be seen. All the shops and trattorias are open, as are small kiosks selling “street food”, and some streets are closed to vehicular traffic. It’s an abondanza of people-watching!
We ended up spending six days in one of the Sciacca marinas and it has been a good stop. Beginning Saturday, it looks like we have a 48-hour weather window good for heading west. This should give us enough time to make the 223 mile offshore passage to the southwest corner of Sardinia before another friggin’ Mistral gets brewing. We plan on getting underway tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.
Cheers! Ken and Katie
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