The days in Trapani passed quickly. Kalle, Jutta and I did a bit of sightseeing but unfortunately, the weather was still cold and rainy. We nonetheless enjoyed Trapani quite a bit. The old town seems to be better preserved than other places in Sicily like Palermo but it consists really of only one street.

Patrone taking in the cash from customers at the local restaurant - waiters are not trusted with money!

Fish is being sold in the morning right off the boats. There's a big traffic jam every morning when the boats come in

Unfortunately, the area around the harbor is a bit of a dump, with empty buildings and trash everywhere.

This is part of the "Marina Columbus" where Kincsem spent the first few days. Electricity columns don't work ....

We also did an excursion to Erice, the Middle Age town on the hill above Trapani. Although touristy, the town is well worth a trip, if only for the magnificent views of the town of Trapani and the Egadian islands.

The tram ride back down from Erice

When Kalle and Jutta left, I had a few things to attend to but not too many. The one excitement was one night when the 9pm forecast from Predict Wind showed gusts to 30 knots on all 4 models would set in later that night - directly from the South, a direction for which the "Marina Columbus" we were in offered no protection. Sure enough, at 2 am in the morning the wind picked up from the South and by 3 am, we had a steady 30-35knots from the South. By now, I had the engine going 1500 rpms in forward to take load off the mooring lines and was hoping for the best. Getting off the dock singlehanded would not have been easy! The dock was totally under water but the mooring lines were holding. After an hour, the wind veered to the West and lessened to 25-30 knots. Time to head back to the bunk!

When Kim and Kerry arrived, the wind was blowing strong from the South, the general direction for the crossing to Tunesia. Fortunately, things improved in the next couple of days and we had a relatively quick crossing to Hammameth with only a few hours spent going upwind. The approach to Tunesia was interesting. The Tunesian Coast Guard hailed us no less than 3 times, twice in English, once in French, wanting to know where we were going and who was on board. One gets the feeling that the Coast Guard doesn't miss much of what goes on on the coast of Tunesia. And no, we didn't see any refugees.

The arrival procedures in Port Yasmine/Hammamet were extended but all officials were friendly. Even when they asked for a small present - 20 Euros each for the policeman and the customs guy. The offer of a bottle of Grappa instead of cash was rejected. Ah, and then one of the open bottles in our liquor cabinet was taken to fortify the wedding party of the son of the customs guy. All friendly, of course.