Strait of Messina

The Strait of Messina separate Sicily from mainland Italy. It has been feared my many marinas since the time of Odysseus who lost six of his men to a giant octopus who guarded the shore. He did not fare well after passing south through the striat because his mast fell down killing his helmsman.

Malua set off at 4:00am in the dark from Naxos which is the bay south of the town of Taomina which was made known by James Michner in his book of the '70 The Drifters. We have now visited all the towns in the book and traveled the same route the group followed in our VW during 1974.

We had timed our departure to get a north flowing tide through the strait. It worked and we had a great run north up to the port of Messina when the south flowing tide and westerly wind caught us. From the above picture one can see the turn of the tide or the infamous whirlpool ready to turns your ship around or suck it into the depths. Nothing happened!

The swordfish of Sicily which we eat on our last visit to the island in 2007 migrate through the straits of Messina. Unlike the eastern Sicilian fisherman who catch the fish in nets the ones in this strait follow them in boats with a 10 foot height mast with two men at the top spotting the fish. When they get close a crew member run out along an equally long bowsprit with a harpoon and spears a swordfish who is sleeping on the surface drifting with the current. We saw three boats but nobody on the bowsprit so the fish must have got away.

On exiting the Strait we had a decision to either head NW to the Eolian Island (Volcano) or more north to Tropea. The wind made the decision so we sailed north in 15 knots of wind to the Marina at Tropea. After washing Malua off with the fresh water in the marina we climbed the 204 steps up the cliff to the town of Tropea. I had spent my 2007 birthday in the town. Unfortunately we had to move north so the excellent dinner could not be repeated.

Sawdust and Shavings

Today Malua looked like it was back in the back garden. It was covered with sawdust and shavings. WhenI built Malua I was aware that home builders spend an extrordinary amount of time putting the finishing touches to their driem boat. Some do it because it is their dream and when they finish it will become their reality while others dont want to stop because they fear the sailing and unknown more than the challenges in the workshop. I knew that the first was very real so I completed the major items on the to-do list then set a date to launch. I also wanted to go sailing for the summer. The to-do list is still incomplete however having launched in Preveza and a few days before Denny arrived I thought now was a good time to put a line though a few items.
Above the navigation pod is an open space which should be closed wiith a cover. A quite noticable area. I went into the wood store in one of the cupboards and retrieved the chosen piece of maranti, fired up the generator and cut the piece to size with by jigsaw. Then out with the sander and plane to get it smooth. Then more sanding the navigation pod and before I knew it Malua was covered in sawdust and shavings. Just like the old days but this time it had to start cleaning it up immediatly because Denny was due on board in a few days.
After a few coats of varnish and a bit of epoxy glue the new shelf was put in place. Nextt the good clean up and Malua was again in Bristol fashon,