The 6 hr trip up from Ragusa to Licata was lumpy with only 2 hours of sailing breeze, and arrival at Marina di Cala Del Sol was around 1.30 pm. The marina was quite large with berths for over 700 boats and we were given a spot right on the main quay which was close to the marina office. There were large fish pens in the outer harbor and we saw 2 pairs of dolphin fishing near them as we entered.
We checked in after the marina lunch break was over at 3pm, and got directions to the Port Captain/ Guardia Costiera (coast guard)/Dogana (customs), which was all in one area a short walk away. The plan was to clear out of Italy and therefore the EU, before our next port of call in Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia. A very kind Coast Guard fellow explained to us (via Google translate), that we didn’t need to clear out as we did not have a Constituto (which we were told we didn’t need back when we arrived in Sardinia), but that on our return we should come by and get one. It wasn’t a complete waste of time though, there was a grocery store, a pizza restaurant, and an excellent ships Chandler all in a 5 minute radius. The downside was the power and water weren’t working on our section of the quay (at 90 euro a night that was not fabulous), but we would be leaving early and should have enough of a charge to get through the night.
After picking up a pizza for dinner we did some research on Tunisia and read up on clearing in procedures. There were a few references to paying “gifts” of booze, cigars, and money to the customs and police agents, and we had a chat about the pro’s (speedier clearing in process), and con’s ( slow processing or withholding of paperwork, perpetrating the corruption, give Americans a bad rep), of gifting. We would just have to see how it played out….