The marina staff in Licata called over to the coast guard/customs office to let them know we had arrived and were needing to clear back in, but they were told to send us by on Monday morning. This meant we had the whole day to thoroughly clean all the inside surfaces after the fly infestation and wash all the salt off the outside..then it was time for pizza and wine, (with fresh arugula for the veggie!).
The next morning we went over to get cleared back into Sicily and get our “Consituto” (cruising permit). Fortunately the nice fellow that we had met when we had tried to clear out was working again, and he collected us from the waiting room. It was super, we just sat in the office and he took care of everything, including getting the stamp we needed and all the signatures. I was waiting to be told to go to the next office or hear when they would inspect the boat but he just handed us the Constituto and shook our hands and that was it. Our boat now had another 18 months in the EU, yah!
While we were in Licata we heard from some of our friends who had cruised the Med in the 80’s. They had looked up their ships log and seen that in 1987 while they were in Licata they had some lovely locals tour them around and give them huge cantaloupe. Then they noted that there was a council meeting aboard their boat and they were asked for their input on a new marina that was being developed there. Here we were staying in that new marina!
We did miss the good travel conditions though, and in the end didn’t leave until Thursday after a morning thunder-storm rolled through. They had been occurring 2- 3 times a day again but the weather prediction was for a good sailing breeze after the morning cell and then dying off as we approached Marina Di Ragusa (MDR). Instead we had wind on the nose that built to 35 knots, got caught in another thunder storm with torrential rain, and lost the starboard engine due to sludge in the tank blocking the filter. Todd was able to get that cleared thankfully, and then wind backed off once we got near the marina so docking wasn’t an issue. (Sandy and Doug were aboard their boat on the downwind side to fend off if needed, and we had good space on the up wind side). It was a relief to finally be staying put for a while, and not worry about the weather which had become very unsettled. We heard from some of the cruisers at MDR about the sea conditions and wind they had encountered due to the Medicane, and we were so thankful we had the luxury of time to avoid the worst of it!