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As you know, we’d got as far as Riposto on the east coast of Sicily, where we sat out the storms in the Ionian. We’d pinged a shackle on the mainsail on the way down, and headed out to find another one first thing on Monday morning, during a kind gap in the rain. Unfortunately, although shackles are generally two a penny, this one is a proprietary piece of kit, and we were unable to find a replacement. To add insult to injury, the heavens opened again… Riposto sits at the foo

Missy Bear Will cross the Ionian Sea. Missy Bear Will cross the Ionian Sea. Depart: 10:00 am, Monday, November 1. From: Riposto, Sicily To: Preveza, Greece Trip: 275 NM Crew: Richard and Tony B. Follow us live on: MarineTraffic.com The weather router on Windy App Leaving Riposto 09:10, with patch of blue sky over Etna. Very lost and tired friend. My colleague Will thinks it is a meadow or tree pipit. We had many small birds land onboard, and one landed in my lap. Some had a

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