Our friend Dom arrived Easter Sunday with our new water maker, coming from Alameda in the Bay Area via Milan. We had organized a local driver to meet him at the airport in Catania, which was a good plan as we were experiencing another Sirocco with winds averaging in the mid 40 knot range. (Todd, Doug and Wayne had to secure a neighboring boat’s Bimini (canvas) that was getting shredded in the wind). It had already been blowing for a day and wasn’t supposed to let up until Tuesday. Giuseppe the driver did a fantastic job, and made excellent time delivering Dom with his 3 large bags in tow, carrying the water maker, a new spinnaker sock, and sundry other parts that were easier to source in the states. He arrived around 9 pm and we made sure Dom had a good Easter lamb stew and a few beers before hitting the hay.
The next day was a good lay day for Dom to get over the travel, as the wind was still howling. We unpacked all the goodies and then Todd took him for a walk to the local town square for a look around that afternoon. Surprisingly it was quite busy because of the holiday, but not as much as it would have been if the weather was nicer. The other bad thing about the Sirocco was that it brought a huge amount of red dust with it, and all the boats were looking decidedly rusty. Most of us had put our sails back on so that was an added annoyance. As soon as there was a lull Monday evening, I rushed out and did the first spray off, as it was likely the water pressure at the docks would be low the following day when everyone frantically started cleaning up the mess. The next morning the guys got stuck in and thoroughly cleaned the entire boat including all the winches and both sails. Then that Thursday, which was “Liberation Day”, I took Dom off to visit Ragusa Ibla, a historic walled town about 40 minutes away.
We had hoped to sail over to Malta while Dom was visiting so we could tap his vast sailing knowledge and test out the new spinnaker sock, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. Ultimately we decided that Todd would install the new water maker and I would accompany Dom to Malta by ferry and return by plane.
That Friday was the last of the happy hours up at the local Stella Bar, as boats would be starting to leave at the next weather window. Our good mates Sandy and Doug were planning on heading towards Greece on Saturday, and we wouldn’t see them until we got over that way. There was live music from some of the musically inclined cruisers, along with a couple of locals. At the end of the night an imposing Italian fella sang Ave Maria and bought the house down.