Richard Hewson

We arrived in Favignana Sicily and anchored inside island of Preveto in time for a quick sail in the Walker bay dinghy before lunch.

I began to admire the cliffs of the nearby mountain and after lunch we decided to attempt to climb up.

Rowing ashore

We rowed ashore and looked for a path, but our first attempt would have been too steep and arduous for the kids, so we walked along the road towards town in search for the reccomend path.

Local donkeys

An hour later, passing small hotel resorts, donkeys and farmland we finally reached the town and sat down to enjoy some snacks.

Coastal walk

We decided to abort the climb and instead explore the village. Before tourism Favignana was famous for its tuna factory and jail. We passed the jail, old tuna factory, an array of huge old anchors, and a variety of tourist bars before exploring the quaint little town.

Row of anchors and tuna factory in backdrop

We returned to Sunday island at sunset for dinner and an early night as we were all tired from our voyage from Malta. I spent the evening studying our SSB radio and Winlink computer software trying to get emails and satellite pictures via HF.

Em and Rich with the rock in the background

The next morning after breakfast I decided to attempt the mountain solo while Em did school with the kids. The climb up the mountain was hard but fantastic. I decided to climb up the western face of the rock which ended up being a near vertical climb and a fun challenge. The view at the top was amazing with 360* views of the Mediterranean. After visiting the fort ruins at the top my decent was more conformed down the western path with streams of tourists puffing their way up the hill in the other direction.

View from top

I arrived back onboard as the kids were finishing their school work for the day and we climbed into the Walker Bay dinghy and rowed to Prevento island for some exploring.

After lunch the winds were blowing force 4 from the right direction and there were storm clouds in the distance. We had the choice of sitting in a rolling anchorage at anchor with variable strong winds generated from the localized storm or set sail and roll about at sea. Emilie and I agreed on the latter and after a quick sail in the dinghy around the bay with Issy and Max we secured the boat and set sail.

Storm clouds

An hour later passing Isle Marritimo the storm clouds were looking menacing and there was thunder and lightning within 10nm so we tucked in two reefs and waited for the storm. Not long after tucking the reefs we were shooting down wind at 8 kts with 30kt gusts.

While the forecast continued to announce forecasted winds NE Force 4, there were idiotic Al notes of localized storms that continued to suck our wind away resulting in variable force 2 winds at best.

Sailing walker bay dinghy with kids

The temptation to drop sails and drift for the vending were thwarted by our proximity to Tunisia so we slowly motored and rolled our way to Sardinia.

Throughout the night and morning the wind was variable changing from 6kts from the east to 20kts from the North east making watches busy altering sails between spouts of motoring. By early morning the wind had settled to a delightful NE 12kts and this remained with us until after midday when it swung back to the east as we continued to motor sail towards Sardinia.

In the early evening we anchored in Carbonara in the SE corner of Sicily and plan to enjoy the southern region until we have a good weather window to sail towards Mallorca.

Approaching Sardinia