Storm Cell

A great picture of a storm cell, by Mike Hollingsworth, published in the Daily Telegraph, 22 June 2011:

 

Full story at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8591401/Pictures-of-the-day-22-June-2011.html

and then, on to Sicily.

Mostly motor sailing in a light north easterly, but as we approached Sicily, it got up a bit. Sunday morning saw us racing past Marine de Ragusa in a F8, 44 kts max gust. Sunny, little sea and Blue Hound had her skirts up. I was unsure of the depths in the marina's entrance with an E F8 blowing directly in, so we opted to go a few miles further, around Punta Barcetto and found a lee, dropped the hook and slept for a few hours. Good holding off a pretty beach. Then we had a quiet entry to Ragusa that evening when the wind dropped. Then it came up again and blew for 2 days, up to 40 kts.

We are enjoying Ragusa - there's plenty of space in the marina, though we are a long way from the facilities. Wifi is a bit of a problem, but working now. And it's blowing NW 5/6.

Here's a mention of some of the friends we met in our 3 weeks along the Ionian way:

Alan and Gillian on Kumari
Ian and Mel on Jigsaw
John and Jan on Brigantia
Mike and Grace on Two Moons

After Fiskardo...

..we moved on to Argostoli. Sod's Law was in operation - as we dropped the anchor and went astern for the quay, the throttle cable broke. All ended well, and I had a spare aboard. Not inspiring, but it could grow on you. 1 night stay = 2 days' charges on the town quay. The extra one is a check-out charge. Not bad, about €9 a night for 15 m loa, free water (not potable), no electricity. The Transit Log was stamped by the port police, although we did meet people who say they sailed for 2 years without a transit log.

Anchored at Kioni on Ithaca

Refuelled from a mini tanker at €1.55 a litre, painful. Great fruit, meat, fish markets on the waterside. The new quay is taking cruise liners - a big P&O ship was in port at the time. The marina is unfinished and Leon in Cafe Eionian will do guardiennage if you need to leave your boat on the quay or in the marina.