Marzamemi

With some varnishing started and a few other maintenance jobs cracked we decided that we would leave the anchorage on the western side of Porto Palo and head back up the Sicilian coast to Marzamemi. We were waiting for a good wind to sail to Malta but we also didn’t want to arrive there too soon so had the luxury of time to enjoy pottering about on the south-eastern corner of Sicily. Porto Palo had not been what we expected but our visit did confirm that we’d probably return and use it as a stepping off point for the passage to Malta.

Porto Palo town   

Isola di Capo Passero Castle   

We left at 0900 on Friday 5 May and headed past Porto Palo town to round the island of Capo Passero. Cutting inside is not an option for us because it is joined to the mainland by a shallow sandy isthmus. Passing just a few hundred metres round the outside of the island we had a great view of the jagged cliffs full of sea caves. The rather strange looking fortress was started by the Viceroy of Sicily, Marcantonio Colonna, in 1583 and completed during the reign of Philip III of Spain sometime between 1599 and 1635. The tall column beside it is topped with a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary dating from1959.

Approaching Marzamemi   

It was almost calm and so we motored north up the coastline cutting inside a large area of fish farms and a prohibited area around a wreck. As we approached the Marzamemi’s harbour entrance a RIB came up a to us and asked if we were heading into one of the marinas. We told them where we were going and they led us in making sure that we kept clear of the shallow area on the right-hand side of the entrance.

Our mooring in Marzamemi   

With so little wind and lots of space, it was easy to moor up, particularly with shore-side help from the marina manager, Salvo, who lifted the lazy lines for us and took our stern lines. We had only travelled 6½ miles and so it was just 1015 when we switched the engine off. We sorted BV out on the mooring, rigging the passarelle so that we could get ashore, and then Nicky put another coat of varnish on the areas she was touching up. Marzamemi is very much a sleepy seaside town waiting for the summer to arrive and even quieter when everything stops for the siesta.

We therefore left exploring ashore until the early evening. Walking around the bay we passed lots of empty holiday apartments and accommodation but nothing useful in the way of shops or bakeries. As we walked further up the coast towards La Balata (the old village), out to our right was a small island with a rather attractive villa on it and to our left were the beginnings of the old buildings associated with the tuna processing factories. As we got closer to the old village we passed one of the canning factories which was still functioning but the others had been turned into restaurants or shops selling the tinned fish products.

This is not a wealthy part of Sicily and many of the buildings in La Balata are a little run down but it has a distinctive charm. The central square has a few al fresco restaurants and the surrounding area is a maze of quaint narrow old streets.

We found ourselves a table at the small restaurant in the corner of the square and enjoyed a beer with a platter of cold cuts of cured meats and local cheeses. There was no wi-fi and so our plan to check the weather was put on hold and we just enjoyed the very pleasant ambience of the place.

The following day was another lazyish one. We went for a run first thing and busied ourselves with blog writing, cleaning BV and varnishing whilst we waited for a gas bottle we had left with Salvo to be returned full. We had agreed that it would be returned to us at about 3pm but something held him up and he wasn’t back by 4pm which was when we had said that we intended to leave. With the barest minimum of Italian, Nicky managed to communicate with Salvo’s parents and, in the end, Salvo’s mother drove her the 5km or so up to Pachino, the large(ish) town on the hillside. Pachino is clearly the main town supporting Marzamami. Here there are a number of good-sized supermarkets and all the other shops and supporting infrastructure you could want. We would never have found the gas-man if left to our own devices, but Salvo’s mother knew exactly where she was headed and could communicate with the gas-man too! When Nicky arrived, the bottle was ready filled and waiting for her (or Salvo).  €14 for one of the heaviest fills ever!

A check on the weather confirmed that the right time to leave for Malta was early the following morning and so we slipped our lines to move back down the coast to anchor in Porto Palo.

Marzamemi, Sicily, Italy