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Richard at the helm steering between Scylla and Charybdis This part of the trip has given us a few navigation challenges: crossing over from Sardinia; the yet-to-come crossing of the Ionian Sea to Preveza (a good mate is coming out to help Richard do this); and also getting through the Strait of Messina. For those of you whose geography is on a par with mine, the Straits of Messina is the narrow water way that separates the north-east of Sicily from the Italian main land. Wh

A dip off the stern... Richard writes the well-researched, informative blogs on history, art, culture in general really. Aside from the food-related ones just now, mine tend to be more about our travels, washing our smalls, doing the shopping etc. So, here’s another amble around our domestics on the north coast of Sicily. As you may recall, we spent a few nights in our arrival port of Trapani, waiting for the weather to improve again. This has set the scene for much of our jo

We were in Milazzo to bide our time and wait for a moment when Scylla and Charybdis would be asleep, so that we could pass between them and sail safely through their whirlpool into the Ionian Sea. Which side of the Strait would we choose? It was ‘ on the horns of a dilemma ’ and we would be ‘ between a rock and a hard place ’ whatever. Milazzo and its citadel. Photo of an aerial image of the Norman castle, somewhat enhanced by the Swabians and then the Aragonese (outer walls

My previous blog was the theory – here’s the practical. I hope you enjoyed the ‘ food through invasions ’ blog – I decided on the theme and then found some great websites that gave me so much information, but it was fun researching it. The trouble is now, every time we see a food stuff (e.g., figs), Richard asks me which culture introduced it. He’s obviously not read the blog. I’m going to try to avoid just writing a list of meals we have eaten here, although it will undoubte

Stromboli I was sitting in the cockpit typing this yesterday whilst anchored just off St Pietro village (on Isola di Panarea) and looking north-eastwards at the oldest lighthouse in the world, sitting about 10NM away. It is the shape of a child’s version of a volcano and there is a wisp of dark smoke emanating from the top, which is being carried by the gentle breeze in a thin grey band to the south-east. The lighthouse is of course, Stromboli. This flaming beacon guided anci