Almost the home run!

Having finally left Siracusa, we headed off round the corner to a Marina Reserve called Plemmirio, where you were not allowed to drop an anchor and had to take a buoy (kindly provided for free). Even though it was a Monday and we have now well and truly left the mad rush of August behind yes, we were still concerned about whether we would be able to find one unoccupied. However the place was empty and we had it all to ourselves for the night.

The bay itself was quite open and not very picturesque but the water was beautifully clear. Had the weather not been set to return, we would have stayed another night, but trusting the forecast, we left the bay behind us, to head for  a placed called Marzameni, just inside the SE tip of Sicily. We had a great sail, with winds up to 18 knots, and even had ourselves a little race with another yacht.

I say race, in fairness we were never likely to win it, the other yacht being long, and so naturally had larger sails, was not towing their dinghy, like we were, and was sporting a blue ensign, which signifies the captain was ex naval, I think….. but we were only 10 minutes behind as we entered the marina. Very friendly, helped by being the cheapest (at 25€ a night, all inclusive), we have come across all trip. We ate on board that night and then ventured into town the following morning.

Marzamemi is said to be a peaceful spot where the afternoon siesta is taken very seriously, so much so, you could be forgiven for thinking it had been abandoned in the afternoon. On that basis we ventured in around 11am, a good mile and a half walk, and having arrived at this very cute oldy woldy village, we decided that for a town that clearly went to sleep at 1, it didn’t even wake up at 11am!

Marzameni, Sicily

On our return to the marina, we decided to stay a second night, given the swell outside and popped into to tell the office, where the kind gentleman there offered us the use of 2 bikes.. bit late in the day having already walked there and back. However we did decide to take him up on his offer and cycle back in for a bite to eat off the boat for a change. Tee hee, my bike, a ladies bike was a little on the small side, with my legs being bent a lot of the ride, and what I thought was a rather unpadded and painful saddle that kept tilting backwards, still i made it there and back without incident. David did too, however having mentioned the state of my saddle, when we returned the bikes I actually clocked David’s saddle, and realised that it was just hard plastic! No wonder he was walking like John Wayne when he got off!!!

After all that excitement, we are now off to the south eastern most point to place called Porto Palo and from then to Ragusa, where Seaclusion will spend the winter months.