We're sailing upwind in about 11 knots, heading North to Catania on the East Coast of Sicily. The sun is shining and it's reasonably warm - things are good. This is Kincsem's second day of sailing this year. We left Marina di Ragusa yesterday inspite of sporty conditions being forecast and evident in the harbor. But we had to get out of there. The Predict Wind forecast was for winds from the East for the next week, between 20 and 35 knots. The South Coast of Sicily seems to be a really windy part of the Med. The plan was to pick up Rieke and Benno in Siracusa today but with 3 meter swells from the South East forcast for Sunday night, that harbor isn't appealing. So we changed the plan: we're sailing to Catania today, which has a fully sheltered harbor.

Christoph and I made a lot of progress on the todo list over the last week. Very little is left - much less than is normal during the season. And then we had a couple of unforeseen things happen which took a lot of time to resolve. The bilge pump was suddenly spraying water over the engine room - a sign that the membrane was defective. But by now we're experts at repairing that pump so changing the membranes (there are two) and the valve flaps took only 2 hours. We did the spare pump as well which had a broken membrane. Maybe it is worthwhile exploring alternatives .... And then the laptop didn't want to talk to the instruments. With the help of Amel/Pochon, that was resolved in one morning.

Here are some pictures from our recent projects.

Replacing the 750W heater element in the water heater with a 1200W element

Rig inspection is a good thing: found shackle for the runners unmoused

cleaning the stainless in the rigging was a big job - Sahara winds make a lot of dirt

putting on the new home port

I had two outside projects for the dinghy in Marina di Ragusa: A couple of stainless brackets to hold the dinghy in place and a cover for the dinghy. Neither has been a great success unfortunately. The brackets, which connect the aluminum frame of the dinghy to the davits, were supposed to ensure that the dinghy doesn't move sideways when the boat heels. They were made by Peppe, a highly recommended stainless guy in Ragusa.

The new brackets being tried on

Unfortunately, they aren't strong enough and after yesterday's upwind bash in 20 knots and choppy seas, they appear to be bent. The cover - made by Massimo, also highly recommended - took 5 months from initial contact to completion late at night the day before yesterday - and didn't fit at all. So Massimo is off doing a lot of modifications and will bring it to us in Catania. I believe it when I see it but no harm no foul since I've not paid him a dime ....

Wait, there was another dinghy project: the stainless steel supports for the dinghy which were intended to replace the gray cushions we had between the davits and the dinghy. They were in the package that was lost at the Ragusa boat yard. So I need to get a replacement but that's not the end of the story. When Kincsem left the yard I had "suggested" to Pietro, the manager, that I pay the price for the yard work, less the value of the package - mucho Euros. To my surprise, he agreed at the time but I was concerned that I would yet get held hostage for the balance of his bill because the boat yard and the harbor are one operation. Sure enough, when I wanted to see the final bill from the harbor by email the day before departure it never came and when I went to the office that day, I was told that I had an open bill at the boatyard and couldn't leave before taking care of that. At least they didn't threaten to send the Coast Guard. So I went to the yard office but Pietro was not there and Kay, the office lady translated what his message was: "we're not responsible for the package and you have to pay." Well, after some apparently convincing arguments on my part, the answer changed to "we won't hold you up" and I left. But the next day, 30 minutes before our departure, another email arrived from Pietro now arguing that the invoice for the lost parts I had sent them couldn't be for the parts that were missing because it was dated 18 days before the date of delivery as per the courier. Well, my answer must have satisfied him because (1) we were escorted by the marineros out of the marina through the very tricky shallow spots at the entrance and (2) the Coast Guard is still not here.