Messina Strait

Aeolus, the god of winds, was back from holiday when we set off for the Messina Strait at 11:30 pm on 19 June. We had a good 15 knots of wind from directly behind us and BV shot off with one reef in the main and the genoa poled out on the other side. To be on the safe side we didn’t open any sealed bags in case they contained counter winds (useful stuff, reading about Odysseus’ exploits). Our pilot book advises that the hazards in the strait include strong tides, whirlpools and squalls blowing off the high ground on either side. It is also rather narrow, barely 1½ miles across at its narrowest point, and squeezed into that are a north-going shipping channel, a south-going shipping channel, a north-going inshore passage and, where we were intending to go, a 200 metre wide south-going inshore passsage. Add in the mythical hazards of Scilla and Charybdis and all was set for a few tense moments, especially as the sky kept being lit up by a line of lightning storms which were paralleling our track, fortunately a good distance to the north of us.

Approaching Capo Peloro on the Sicilian side of the Messina Strait    

We wanted to pass through the strait at around dawn so as to avoid squalls induced by daytime heating and yet have enough light for us to easily see any shipping and fishing boats as well as the route through the strait. Fortunately, this timed well for the tides and Nicky worked out a master plan to get us to a point about 5 miles before the strait just before sunrise, about 3 hours after the tide started going in our favour. The tides flow strongly between the Tyrrhenian and Ioninan seas at this narrow choke point and at the the turn of the tide there is a brief stand and then one or more bores, as well as eddies and whirlpools know locally as bastardi [Ed: even with our limited Italian we worked out what that meant!]. By timing our passage through the strait a couple of hours after the turn of the tide, we hoped to minimise our exposure to this nastiness. However, the overnight breeze was such that BV zipped along at a good speed, which was great fun, but would have had us reaching the strait much earlier than desirable for the tide/roller coaster effects, so we rolled away the genoa to slow us down.

Scilla’s lair?

With our speed adjustment we arrived at the strait exactly as Nicky had planned; even dawn was on time! To our left, in the murk, was the small craggy headland fabled to be Scilla’s lair. With just two of us on board we couldn’t risk a crewmember being plucked off the deck by Scilla so we kept well clear, which usefully meant that we avoided the shipping channels.

Ahead we could see a distinct line of standing waves, a combination of tidal effect and the mixing of water of different densities (the Tyrrhenian is warmer and less salty than the Ionian) and the odd mini whirlpool (sadly no photos of them). Happily there was no sign of Charybdis, the large whirlpool which apparently used to swallow up whole ships!

Looking back at the strait

As we slipped through the gap, hugging the coastline closely, we found that, bizarrely, we didn’t have the expected boost from the tide. Instead, at that point there was about ¾ knot of tide against us. This thoroughly confused us and Nicky wondered whether she had got all her calculations wrong. However, about ½ mile further on, we picked up the expected boost (a good 3 knots in places) – the plan had worked. For the next couple of miles we encountered tidal eddies, which pushed us around a bit, but our biggest hazard seemed to be bumping into one of the many small fishing boats which crowded the narrow inshore passage.

Messina

The strait, marked on either side by 2 huge (now disused) red and white pylons, slipped away behind us and we passed Messina on the right, starting to glow in the early morning sunlight. There are a lot of ferries crossing the strait so our task now was to avoid them whilst keeping in our inshore passage, clear of the main shipping channels. At one stage we had 8 ferries crossing ahead of us and thought we would be in for some interesting dodging manoeuvres but it all worked out without us needing to change speed or heading.

Once clear of the traffic separation scheme we continued south along the Sicilian coastline and we took it in turns to enjoy the spirited sailing. The east coast of Sicily is quite rugged and we could see that the main roads, railways and most of the buildings have all been constructed on the narrow flat strip of land right on the coast.

With the Messina Strait behind us you would expect us to say that we have now passed by the mythological risks from Scilla and Charybdis. However, we have both enjoyed reading Tim Severin’s The Ulysses Voyage, in which he explains how he recreated the voyage of Odysseus in a replica Bronze Age galley. From that perspective and experience he hypothesises that Scilla and Charybdis actually lurk either side of the channel at the northern end of Levkas in the Ionian. We are heading that way and so may still have to dodge Scilla and Charybdis.

The smoking volcanic peak of Mount Etna came into view and below it the hilltop tourist mecca of Taormina. We were planning to visit Taormina and so intended to anchor in the bay just below it. To get there we passed what are said to be a couple of very pretty bays either side of Isola Bella. Looking at them from the sea we were very non-plussed and wondered what all the fuss was about. Tripper boats zipped around us and the only real feature seemed to be a large cave on the headland that the tripper boats nosed into.

Once around the headland we could look up to Taormina. It has certianly come on from being a simple medieval hill-village. DH Lawrence, Goethe and a string of filmstars have helped secure its status as one of Sicily’s top tourist destinations and exclusive-looking hotels cling to the hillside to accommodate them.

The bay below was also filled with large motoryachts to add to the glitzy feel of the place.

In the end, with an eye on the expected wind direction, we continued on a mile or two and anchored in better shelter off the beach at Giardini Naxos. There are still great views of Taormina but there are also better views of Mount Etna, when it is visible. Apparently, in the summer months, the peak is normally obscured by haze but, so far, we have been lucky and the volcano has been in extremely clear view. The anchorage would be our base for a few days to allow us to explore Taormina as well as get some supplies from Giardini Naxos.