Ragusa to Catania

With ten days of sailing ahead of us we set off from Warsaw to Catania with Jozefina and Theodore.  This would be their first proper sailing experience and with big plans for the future -there was a lot riding on us all enjoying a safe trip.

The plan was to sail Dragonfly from her annual mooring at Ragusa, all the way up to Tonnarella in the north where she would stay on her own for 2 months to have her teak deck replaced by Carlo and his team at Teacmarine.it.  At first glance the wood looks fine but on closer inspection 19 years of use has taken it's toll with hundreds of visible sanded screw heads, caulking coming free and the wood thinning.  We found Ragusa quite thin on  marine services so hoped that the north would provided mechanics and electricians for a few of the other maintenance jobs.

The two aft cabins on Dragonfly have a clever trick of becoming one by simply removing and stashing the dividing wall. This gives a huge 4m wide bed -space for a whole family to sleep.

We spend the first night on our berth in Ragusa to acclimatise Zefi and Theo to their new surroundings. We gathered a few bits and bobs from the nearby chandlery and some basic rations from a deli and mini market -hoping to soon be in Syracuse with a bit more choice of shops.

The town and marina at Marina De Ragusa is spread out and requires a lot of walking. We haven't yet fallen in love with the place but really liked the restaurants within the marina especially Fresco and the pizza restaurant on the roof.

Being late September, the weather was changeable and a thunderstorm never felt far away. We anchored for our second night midway between Ragusa and Syracuse in a bay called Portopalo.  That night we saw a big electrical storm in the distance, the Windy app showed Malta in the eye of the storm while Dragonfly rocked a bit on anchor a long way away.

On day 3 we set sail for Syracuse. We actually motored most of the way there as the wind was not in our favour -this was a problem throughout the trip as our destination and the prevailing winds were at odds with each other.  Julia and I have been to Syracuse before and absolutely love the place. Sadly we would only be there for one night and would have enjoyed more time.

We anchored in the Grand Harbour and took the tender ashore next to a tiny beach. Julia and the kids swam while I took a table at the bar and ordered some drinks.  We had quite a shopping list as Dragonfly was missing a few essentials. We love Sicilian ceramics so we 'invested' in some beautiful hand painted plates and bowls. With luck, the next shop we found had almost everything else we needed; pots and pans, cooking utensils, pillows etc.. Dragging heavy bags and tired children we were lucky to find a lovely little restaurant close by to the dinghy. They even sold their own olive oil -the only thing left on our list!

With the children onboard and fast changing weather we tried to keep each day down to about 3 or 4 hours of sailing. We needed to keep moving as our friends Peter and Brigida were joining us in Catania for the week to come.  The wind was not ideal but the sea was very calm and our journey took little effort. Zefi and Theo were very happy painting and playing.  We tried to save films on the laptop for when we were mooring so they would be happily occupied down below.

As we approached Catania we were treated to stunning views of Etna emerging through the clearing clouds.

We reached Catania and booked a berth at Blu Marins via the Navily app -this app didn't exist when we sailed ten years ago but I wish it had. It has details, prices, reviews, forecasts etc.. for every marina and anchorage. You can book through the app and keep your boat documents uploaded for easy access by the marinas.  Blu Marine turned out to be basic and very tired, luckily the app prepared us for this -much like Catania itself which presentsa a visceral experience of faded grandeur.  While the town is busy, tired and dirty we soon discovered Catania for what it is -a fascinating town with a rich history. But not great for feeding tired children early in the evening!

Eventually we found an open restaurant with boardgames and chips so the kids were happy.  We explored a bit then took a taxi back to Dragonfly as the roads crossings were dangerous.  With children soon asleep we awaited Peter and Brigida's arrival.