slogging west

Slowly, slowly, slowly, we’re making our way west.  We just can’t seem to get a good break in the weather to make any distance.  After leaving Ragusa, we continued along the southern coast of Sicily to the sea port town of Marsala and waited there while the wind howled from the east. A nice place for  a stop – we saw an 8^th century BC Carthaginian shipwreck and joined in the Saturday evening passeggiata down the main drag in town.  Wow, to see all the pre-teen Italian boys decked out in their oh-too-chic hair styles and sunglasses!   The next day we tried to head west again, but gave up after 20 miles of beating into the seas and wind and found shelter in the Egadi Islands.  The tiny town of Marettimo had just enough room at the town quay for us to sneak in between the fishing boats and ferry for the night.  Our next leg was a one night sail to Cagliari on the Italian island of Sardinia, as far as we could go before the next gale started.  We’ll stay here another day or so until the gale blows through and then try to go to the Balearics or Cartagena.

Sicilian island of Marettimo