John, Alice and Lily enjoyed their remaining time with us at the Egadi Islands - strolling in Favignana village with stops for cappuccino and delicious cannole, going ashore to sunbathe and swim, John and Alice doing a day-long bike tour of the island.
The wind was mostly 15-20 knots and every couple of days changed from NW to SE requiring us to move from one side of Favignana Island to the other, sometimes anchoring, other times picking up a mooring buoy for 25 Euros (about NZ$39). There was some slight swell wherever we anchored so we used our flopper stoppers most of the time and sometimes an additional anchor to keep our stern to the swell.
John and Laurie deploy stern anchor
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At one beach we met some retired mainland Italians, Francesco and Lilian, who have a holiday house at Favignana. Lilian never had children of her own and would have cuddled Lily forever.
We meet Francesco and Lilian ashore
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One of our favourite swimming beaches with RHIB anchored
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A great anchorage on the southern side of Favignana Island
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Favignana is the only island with reasonably sheltered anchorages, the two other islands being subject to swell. Because these islands are a Marine Protected Area cruising in some parts is not allowed, while anchoring in other areas is also not allowed.
Envoy on mooring in Cala Freddo, Lovanzo Island
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Two fabulous weeks passed all too quickly, and we headed back to Trapani to take John, Alice and Lily to Palermo airport – a wonderful time, many more to come.
We drove back from the airport via Monreale, visiting the awesome Cathedral, commissioned by the Norman, William 11, and completed in 1184. This is considered the greatest example of Norman architecture in Sicily and one of the best in Italy. Countless paintings inside depict Biblical history in gold leaf, making you wonder how it has all survived Sicily’s tempestuous history.
Monreale Cathedral
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Monreale Cathedral Cathedral’s naive has paintings in gold leaf
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In Trapani we refueled for the first time this year taking on 804 litres of diesel plus 40 litres of petrol for the RHIB.
With nearly two weeks before the arrival of our daughter, Amy, it was back to Favignana again. A few days later we met some Australians – Gary and Vanessa and their children Marina (7) and Elliot (14) aboard their 13m yacht Neptune 11. They sailed from Brisbane six years ago and only Vanessa has been back one time since, so interestingly Marina has spent nearly her whole life aboard the yacht with no memory of Australia. Gary and Vanessa provide education but they do plan to sail home during the next two years, crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific, partly so their children can receive a more formal education.
Gary is a talented sax player, formerly playing in bands and we had one great evening playing guitar and sax aboard Neptune 11.
Gary and Laurie jamming
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Although many people live the cruising life it’s very rare to meet people firstly with children aboard and secondly who don’t return home every year or so.
One day we were enjoying a quiet swim in a sandy cove when a 9 metre RHIB with about eight noisy Italians motored up right beside us. They introduced themselves and produced a bag of sea eggs (known in New Zealand as kina). One of them proceeded to break open some kina and spread their roes on slices of fresh bread for us, as they asked us al sorts of questions to satisfy their curiosity. We are surprised to meet some Italians who don’t know where New Zealand is – one said “close to Scotland isn’t it”.
One night we took a mooring in a Favignana Island bay called Cala Rossa (Cove of Blood). Here in 241BC a Roman fleet of 200 ships defeated a Carthaginian fleet of 400, taking 15,000 prisoners and making the sea red with the blood of those killed. All around this part of the island are Carthaginian ruins, laid waste by the Romans.
Then it was back to Trapani again, just two hours away, to meet Amy.
TECHNICAL – nothing to report
ENVOY LOG As at 1/8/14, we’d spent 115 days aboard and cruised 983 miles for 180 engine hours.
The wind was mostly 15-20 knots and every couple of days changed from NW to SE requiring us to move from one side of Favignana Island to the other, sometimes anchoring, other times picking up a mooring buoy for 25 Euros (about NZ$39). There was some slight swell wherever we anchored so we used our flopper stoppers most of the time and sometimes an additional anchor to keep our stern to the swell.
John and Laurie deploy stern anchor
At one beach we met some retired mainland Italians, Francesco and Lilian, who have a holiday house at Favignana. Lilian never had children of her own and would have cuddled Lily forever.
We meet Francesco and Lilian ashore
One of our favourite swimming beaches with RHIB anchored
A great anchorage on the southern side of Favignana Island
Favignana is the only island with reasonably sheltered anchorages, the two other islands being subject to swell. Because these islands are a Marine Protected Area cruising in some parts is not allowed, while anchoring in other areas is also not allowed.
Envoy on mooring in Cala Freddo, Lovanzo Island
Two fabulous weeks passed all too quickly, and we headed back to Trapani to take John, Alice and Lily to Palermo airport – a wonderful time, many more to come.
We drove back from the airport via Monreale, visiting the awesome Cathedral, commissioned by the Norman, William 11, and completed in 1184. This is considered the greatest example of Norman architecture in Sicily and one of the best in Italy. Countless paintings inside depict Biblical history in gold leaf, making you wonder how it has all survived Sicily’s tempestuous history.
Monreale Cathedral
Monreale Cathedral Cathedral’s naive has paintings in gold leaf
In Trapani we refueled for the first time this year taking on 804 litres of diesel plus 40 litres of petrol for the RHIB.
With nearly two weeks before the arrival of our daughter, Amy, it was back to Favignana again. A few days later we met some Australians – Gary and Vanessa and their children Marina (7) and Elliot (14) aboard their 13m yacht Neptune 11. They sailed from Brisbane six years ago and only Vanessa has been back one time since, so interestingly Marina has spent nearly her whole life aboard the yacht with no memory of Australia. Gary and Vanessa provide education but they do plan to sail home during the next two years, crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific, partly so their children can receive a more formal education.
Gary is a talented sax player, formerly playing in bands and we had one great evening playing guitar and sax aboard Neptune 11.
Gary and Laurie jamming
Although many people live the cruising life it’s very rare to meet people firstly with children aboard and secondly who don’t return home every year or so.
One day we were enjoying a quiet swim in a sandy cove when a 9 metre RHIB with about eight noisy Italians motored up right beside us. They introduced themselves and produced a bag of sea eggs (known in New Zealand as kina). One of them proceeded to break open some kina and spread their roes on slices of fresh bread for us, as they asked us al sorts of questions to satisfy their curiosity. We are surprised to meet some Italians who don’t know where New Zealand is – one said “close to Scotland isn’t it”.
One night we took a mooring in a Favignana Island bay called Cala Rossa (Cove of Blood). Here in 241BC a Roman fleet of 200 ships defeated a Carthaginian fleet of 400, taking 15,000 prisoners and making the sea red with the blood of those killed. All around this part of the island are Carthaginian ruins, laid waste by the Romans.
Then it was back to Trapani again, just two hours away, to meet Amy.
TECHNICAL – nothing to report
ENVOY LOG As at 1/8/14, we’d spent 115 days aboard and cruised 983 miles for 180 engine hours.
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