Leaving Malta, we sailed north to Sicily. Our intention was to do some scouting before welcoming our daughter and her friend Alex on board in May. It turned out that the crossing of the Messina Strait was an excellent learning experience.
Ragusa Resort
For the crossing from Malta to Sicily (50 nm), we enjoyed a nice day sail with wind on the beam. We landed in Marina di Ragusa on the south coast of Italy. Many sailors chose this comfortable marina to winter. We could feel the sense of community that had developed: kids playing together, people gathering for yoga in the morning. There was activity on the boats as well, as many were preparing to leave by the end of the month.
Grand Harbor of Syracuse
To get closer to the Messina Strait, we first sailed to Syracuse (58 nm).
In Syracuse, we anchored in the natural harbor facing the old town. Syracuse has a rich Greek and Roman history, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. It will be worth coming back to visit.
Majestic Etna
As we moved up along the east coast of Sicily, we passed close to the Etna (3 357 m.). We had already spotted its snowy peak from the south coast. Now we fully appreciated the majestic presence of the volcano.
Taormina clinging to the rock
Once past the Etna, another view captured our attention: placed on a cliff on the edges of Mount Tauros, Taormina is located on a natural terrasse. There is an anchorage just underneath, where we intended to spend the night and explore the town the next day.
We had favored very light wind conditions to cross the strait. However, when the wind stopped, Fabule changed to a position parallel to the coast. With increasing swell, the lateral rolling became very uncomfortable. This is an important lesson: we should have set a stern anchor, so that the bow would point into the swell. In the middle of the night, we were both awake. We decided to raise the anchor and use the night time to reach the strait before 9 am, when the current would reverse against us.
Messina Strait
There are several reasons why the narrow strait between Sicily and the mainland of Italy can be challenging: two water masses meet in opposing tidal cycles over a narrow strait, where the depth is only 100 meters (as opposed to 1000 meters a little further). In addition, the presence of high mountains on both sides (Etna and Aspromonte) adds wind accelerations to the mix. Finally, there is an intense traffic of cargo ships, cruise ships and in our case, a submarine, in both directions of the TSS. Whereas the ferries link Sicily to the mainland in a constant back and forth.
As a result of these particular conditions, you can not only expect a main current (which follows the tidal schedule, but is mainly in the center of the strait, where the TSS prevents us from going) but also additional less predictable phenomena like the Bastardi (counter currents), waves, swirls and gusts that push you off course.
We experienced them all. Fortunately, the weather conditions were mild and we were motoring. Even though the crossing kept the one on watch on their toes, everything went well.
Beaches of Calabria
Continuing along the coast of Calabria, we reached the nice beaches of Palmi (Costa Viola), where we will enjoy a few calm days.
