Position: 40°45’38″N 14°01’47″E Never far off the grid, it was clear from news reports things were heating up Covid-wise in Italy. Mafia incited ‘No more lockdown!’ riots added more, albeit unnecessary, justification to our decision to avoid Naples. Thick, brown …
Position: 40°01’35″N 15°17’43″E Without irony, the Mossad agent’s critique of America’s terrorist alert levels circa 2006 went something like this, “In Israel we don’t give the terrorists any idea of how well they are doing.” Europe has adapted a similar …
Position: 41°12’57″N 13°34’23″E About a month ago I realized I’d neglected to order electronic charts of the eastern Mediterranean for our chart plotter. The eastern Med apparently starts on mainland Italy. Without details, Aleta now sails across beaches and climbs …
Phone booths I am old enough to remember phone booths. You may not be. Your loss since I’m about to expound on them, briefly. Commonplace in cities around the world until the 2000s, phone booths housed many indecencies, including dirty …
Position: 38°06’59″N 13°21’48″E Palermo holds a central place in modern American mythology thanks to Mario Puzo, Francis Coppola and the rise (and fall) of the American Mafia. Founded in 734 BC, it is Sicily’s capital and its largest city. Heading …
Position: 38°47’43.8″N 15°12’54.1″E Rod Heikell, author of The Italian Waters Pilot, proposed the area bounded by Ustica, the Straits of Messina and the mainland be designated the ‘Aeolian Triangle’. A part of the Tyrrhenian sea where unpredictable winds come together …
Ragusa: 36°55’33″N 14°44’26″E Leaving the Valley of Temples and heading southwest along the coast road took us through a couple of towns that we’d considered staying in for the winter. In the end we were happy we decided to look …
Trapani: 38°00’47″N 12°31’03″E Trapani is the main city on the west coast of Sicily. From here ferries ply their way back and forth to the Egadi Islands, filling and emptying them with tourists. Fishing fleets are maintained in the extensive …
Position: 37°54’56″N 12°19’41″E Learned Advice During the winter in Cartagena I had a long chat with a fellow named Peter. Peter had a low opinion of most cruisers in the Med and dismissed charterers out of hand. He encouraged me …
