WIND APP, RECYCLING and NEW YAMAHA CONNECTED – Days 52 and 53

WIND APP, RECYCLING and NEW YAMAHA CONNECTED – 15 and 16 June, Days 52 and 53

We did not manage to register in the WIND shop the other day to the My WIND app which we need to monitor wifi useage and to pay for the monthly service. The man said try tomorrow. At home on Friday we tried and received a message to enter the code number sent to us by sms. Ha! - Difficult when the sim card is in a portable modem. We tried putting the sim into a phone since the package allows calls and sms, but no sign of any sms from the company. It is all too complicated, and familiar – how many times in Malta have I been into a Vodafone shop before everything worked? The only solution was to drive again 30 minutes to the shop in Ragusa. Now we can see it working. The final challenge will be that it works for us in Greece, as it does for friends.

Our winter Marina di Ragusa live-aboard community have been great in many ways. One is that people put things they don’t need under the pagoda on the main pontoon. We all live in small spaces and need to clear clutter. I am happy that we found a number of items there which have been useful to us. Other useful items have been found at the rubbish and recycling bins, including packaging material. Today we cut some into shapes for our needs and Anita for fun made me a hat from an off-cut. That material has good insulation and my head was warm in the cool wind!

On Saturday finally the new outboard motor was delivered and connected. Electric start will be really easy to use. High thrust gearing and larger propeller will be more effective. The alternator will put some charge back into the batteries. The Yamaha dealer network is widespread should I need it. I will take the manual start Parsun to Malta to sell to a local person who is happy to pull to start and have a local dealer for servicing and spares.

We made final cleaning and provisioning and are ready to start our journey tomorrow morning. The wind is favourable in direction, starting light and increasing again in the afternoon so we plan to leave early and get away from this windy zone. As well as the cost of motor and making new cables we had to pay for another half month in the marina, further depleting finances, but we enjoyed the facilities and location for a little longer.

STRONG WNW WINDS, LED LIGHTING and CROCHET, 14 June, Day 51

STRONG WNW WINDS, LED LIGHTING and CROCHET, 14 June, Day 51

I have lived on the boat for enough years in Malta to know that the prevailing wind direction is from the North West and I know where to anchor to be comfortable and sheltered from that wind. Once at this time of year I was anchored without moving in my “hurricane hole” just East of the Mellieha Bay Hotel for 6 weeks. It is so sheltered that the actual wind I experienced was often just half the strength of the wind out in the bay.

Marina di Ragusa is only about 50 miles from Malta so experiences similar winds. Now we are experiencing the common situation of strong winds blowing out of the South of France, squeezed between the Pyrenees and the Alps. These NW winds continue with force past the south of Sardinia and funnel down the gap between Sicily and Tunisia. On Thursday these are showing as the strongest winds across whole of southern Europe. In the marina we are protected from swell but we don’t have the cliffs and shelter afforded by cosy anchorages so being on the boat in the heart of the marina we feel the full strength and coldness of the wind. It would be more comfortable in a sheltered anchorage.

Since replacing one light in the Galley with an LED one I have been puzzling for a few days why another light did not work. Eventually I found the two reasons and set to repairing it. The non-working light needed a solder connection and I thought it was time to find an LED replacement to make less drain on my 12 volt system. The Chandler outside the marina had just one and now we have better light and can use less power. If we still have the boat next winter we need to change the other 6 cabin lights to LED and perhaps navigation lights too.

Anita continues her fascination on creating clothes and other items from crochet so we have stocked up with a few balls of yarn for the quiet bays ahead. Once cruising the acrylic paints and canvas will come out again too. She is especially happy when creating art.

The new Yamaha outboard motor is scheduled to be delivered and connected on Saturday so in theory we can leave on Saturday afternoon, but with wind forecast of Force 6 gusting to Force 7 it may be prudent to start the first sail of the year on Sunday instead.

CHEESE, GAS REFILLS and the WIND WI-FI PACKAGE, Days 48 - 50

CHEESE, GAS REFILLS and the WIND WI-FI PACKAGE, 11 – 13 June, Days 48 - 50

Living in any place for a few weeks allows one to have new or different food experiences. We love cheese and we have taken to eating two types here in Sicily. Living in Malta we are used to cheese pastizzi filled with ricotta, but we did not image that we would be buying fresh ricotta here and just eating it cold with salads, bread, biscuits etc. To me ricotta was something to cook with, and we just didn’t buy it. Now we love it and it is such good value at under 5 euros a kilo.

Visitors to Italy like us are used to Parmisan cheese to grate over a hot pasta dish, or even to buy ready grated. It is a tangy hard cheese. Here we find many hard tangy cheeses and at under 8 euros a kilo we are buying Grana Padano, and slicing it for salads and sandwiches. It is delicious.

Italy is a tomato producer and when we find tomatoes which smell good, we love to eat them with fresh basil leaves. We have three good supermarkets in Marina di Ragusa but apart from a small weekly market we don’t find good supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables, and sadly some of the tomatoes are tasteless, and some cucumbers even taste bad. Anita describes them as “grown with chemicals”. We choose what we enjoy, and actually have started to drink regularly diluted apple cider vinegar before meals, which Dr Lidia in Malta had recommended to me a few years ago.

The week started calm and we put up the full cockpit waning to provide welcome shade. Happenings away from here caused some ongoing worry, especially as a money transfer from about three weeks ago appeared to be lost and the transferee company claiming it had not been received. Their bank also reported on enquiry a different amount credited from that sent. Worries drain energy and leave us just wanting to relax.

Strong west winds are forecast from Wednesday for a few days as we await the new motor, and have to find a weather window to depart and get round the corner to the less windy East coast of Sicily to start our journey to Greece, so we took down the awning and made things secure on deck.

The other wind in our minds is the WIND Giga International wi-fi package so we went inland to Ragusa to fill two gas bottles and visit the proper WIND telecoms shop and get proper advice which the local telecoms shop Video Piu had failed miserable to achieve, as they sell products from various mobile companies alongside scented candles. They do not have the training and knowledge to service our needs and were keen to deny the existence of the package we finally took today instead selling us a TIM package which is absolutely not right for our needs of internet wi-fi when in other countries.

Our WIND wi-fi is working, and thanks to sailing friends who are using it abroad at 20 GB a month and who guided us past the bad advice from Video Piu.

THE WIFI SAGA, CROCHET YARN AND RELAXING IN THE NATURE PARK - Days 44 to 47

THE WIFI SAGA, CROCHET YARN  AND RELAXING IN THE NATURE PARK - 7 – 10 JUNE, Days 44 to 47

We have time to relax while we wait again for the new engine. The mobile wifi remains a concern not helped by seeing that Vodafone Malta charged us an extra 20 euros last month for going over the 5 GB abroad limit. We can monitor usage in Malta with their app but not abroad. So on Friday we took a walk, stopping on the way at Video Piu shop in Marina di Ragusa, not to complain again about their blatant mis-selling, only to ask again how to get into the TIM app to check our usage. Again there was no success so the staff asked me to return again with the computer. We left and enjoyed a delicious Sicilian ice cream and continued along the sea front before sitting in the shade enjoying the energy, sounds and colours of the sea in the strong wind. We also paddled before a little food shopping and return to the boat.

In the evening e went on-line to check the nearest proper WIND mobile dealer and found a shop in nearby Santa Croce Camerina, also an interesting nature reserve at the nearby coast.

We were ready to go out earlier than usual on Saturday to try our luck with WIND, as at least two friends are getting a 20 GB service a month OUTSIDE Italy and that will be good for us.

We found the larger Video Piu shop in Santa Croce where we were told are more technical people regarding phones and wi-fi.  The woman there did not think that what our friends are doing is possible but they did tell us that the TIM app cannot work for us as it is only for monthly contracts. The fact that they did not know that in the Marina di Ragusa shop just highlights that they don’t have enough product knowledge to be selling phone and wi-fi packages, nor should they be so incompetant to sell inappropriate products to us and to other friends.

We asked where Anita can buy yarn for crochet and the helpful girl pointed us in the right direction for a good “merceria” shop. Anita was thrilled at the quality of products and came away with many balls of the yarn for using over the weeks ahead.

We used our Tom Tom gps to take us to a parking place in the nature reserve shown in Google Maps, but as we came to the edge of the reserve we saw gates and had to park outside and walk. Inside was an oasis of peace and calm, beautiful pine and eucalyptus trees, and wonderful fragrance of pine. The sounds of the heavy seas breaking came over the dunes and through the trees. We stopped to eat lovely take away food from a bakery in Santa Croce, then lay on the wooden benches to relax, watching the trees swaying above us in the wind. After a while we walked along the beach before finding a sheltered spot in the dunes to strip off and soak up some sun.

It was a wonderful afternoon and Anita was so happy to be in the forest, a place she feels particularly at home in.

Sunday was the first calm day after the previous windy ones so we relaxed on the boat enjoying this lovely location.

TRUCK FIRE, MIS-SELLING and BIRTHDAY - Days 41, 42 & 43

TRUCK FIRE, MIS-SELLING and BIRTHDAY – 4, 5 & 6 June, Days 41, 42 & 43

On a boat of course we need technical things functioning, but we also need water, sufficient electrical power and good access to internet once we cast off from land for a few weeks off-grid. It is not our choice to hop from marina to marina paying exorbitant nightly rates (usually 50% extra for a catamaran). Apart from our two small water tanks plumbed to galley and heads (bathroom) sinks we carry a few containers between 10 and 20 litres which we can take ashore to fill, but 20 litres is really too heavy to handle easily.

Then we recycle 5 and 2 litre drinking water bottles. So when we depart from the winter base we are loaded down with many containers of water. Sometimes we find a public tap to replenish part or our reserves.

I wrote about electricity in an early blog post as we have to balance our two leisure batteries topped up by two small solar panel (hopefully soon also from the new outboard motor) against our needs of motor starting, running a 12 volt fridge, navigation lights and instruments and cabin lights.

Internet is simple when staying in one country but it is hard to find a provider which allows a fair proportion of mobile modem wifi outside the country of sale. Malta is expensive. We pay 26 euros a month to Vodafone for 22 GB, but only 5 GB of that can be used abroad. We can track the usage in Malta on an app but not what we use overseas so of course we go over limit and end up paying a premium. Roaming has gone but wi-fi roaming remains a way for companies to make extra money.

Being in Italy and planning to spend perhaps three months in Greece we were advised that Italian mobile provided WIND offers 20 GB to be used even when roaming in Europe. In the small shop in Marina di Ragusa I asked for this and was told to take TIM instead offering 30 GB for 11 euros. I stated clearly our need to use it mostly overseas and up to full 30 GB.

Assured that this is the best option I signed the contract and then was told, of course you must buy the mobile modem at 79 euros plus sim card at 36 I think. Ha ! You are misleading me ! I paid and started to use it only to find by speaking with other boat people that only 4 GB can be used abroad. I went back to the Vidio Piu shop to confront the woman there, Gaia, and she just shrugged her shoulders. Let’s cheat the bloody foreigners to make best commission.

She assured me that no company allows more abroad, not even WIND, but users of wind tell me differently. So beware the shopkeeper who does not understand the products and sells you what makes them more money when it is clearly not what you need.

Tuesday was my birthday and we enjoyed peaches from the weekly market, topped with Greek style yogurt, honey, grated dark chocolate and crushed digestive biscuit.

Wednesday was also calm and relaxing as I tried to wire in a new LED light for the galley. In the evening I found that the other galley light is no longer working !!!!

After going to the phone shop to complain I came back to find an email from Giovanni, Ragusa Yamaha dealer saying the truck carrying my new engine (due to be fitted on Friday) had burned in a fire in Italy along with motor bikes and jet skis and I must wait another 8 days or cancel the order. 

Despite every difficulty in buying a new motor, like my two attempts from UK, it seems wise to get the right motor for the boat and to repair and sell the Parsun in Malta later in the year so I advised that we must wait another week and buy the engine.

Italy does not want to let us go, and wants to take our money. We have to pay for even more days here in the marina as we watch our friends posting about beautiful places they are enjoying in Greece.

WATERMELON AND DANCING TANGO IN THE PIAZZA - Days 39 & 40

WATERMELON AND DANCING TANGO  IN THE PIAZZA – 2 and 3 JUNE, Days 39 & 40

Life and work continue as we do more jobs on the boat. Out came the paint pots on Saturday and we refreshed part of the cockpit’s white paint. We can’t do it all at once or will have no safe place to sit. We bought half of a large water melon and are enjoy the regular refreshing taste now the temperatures are heading towards 30 degrees. The price is now 50 cents a kilo which is the point at which I buy regularly in the summer. In the supermarket was Ewa, a Polish Thomas Cook holiday rep, so Anita was happy to speak Polish with her for a few minutes.

On Sunday I charged the two ship’s batteries from mains electricity to give us the best start once we leave land connection. I don’t know where / how to check the input from the solar panels, nor do I know how much charge the awaited Yamaha outboard will bring. I did not change lighting to LED and we need to run auto pilot, lights and fridge so I will be monitoring the battery levels closely as I don’t plan to pay over 60 euros a night in marinas. I am told that in Greece some tavernas offer electricity and water if you eat there. That sounds good but perhaps also essential sometimes to keep the fridge running.

I started to dance Argentine Tango in Malta in 2010 or 2011 and have loved to travel and find welcome at milongas in other countries. In the last year we only danced once in Malta so I was happy to see a poster advertising milonga in the Piazza of Marina di Ragusa for Sunday evening. Of course it did not start at 20.00 as advertised but finally tango music was heard and the first three couples started to dance. Soon we joined them, wearing sandals, and danced almost non-stop for over an hour and a half. It was a lovely experience and the mix of classical and Nuevo tango music was particularly good.

ALLERGIES, MOSQUITOS AND BAROQUE CITY OF NOTO - Days 37 & 38

ALLERGIES, MOSQUITOS AND BAROQUE CITY OF NOTO – 31 May and 1 June, Days 37 & 38

After a few days in Sicily I was already experiencing the allergies which I had from childhood, and which in England was always during June and July and called hay fever. Living close to the sea, or on the sea has always helped, also living in dry climates like South East Spain. There were always specific plants, trees, cat fur and dust which together trigged the reaction. Hay, cut grass, privet and cow parsley were always strong triggers. From my days in Spain I realised that orange blossom and mimosa in flower caused my problems as well as sweet evening scented small white flowers of common shrubs. Here in Sicily the sweet scented plants and fields of cut hay just behind the town have effect and I need to use my inhaler. It is also good to use Vaseline around the nostrils to collect particles which would otherwise enter my system.

Like most Mediterranean areas there are some mosquitos even in winter and I receive bits from time to time without significant reaction. However this week one bit me below the eye and over two days a large swelling has grown, partly closing my eye.

Anita is feeling the humidity in her joints. It is often 70% to 80% especially at night.

Friday 1 June saw most of the remaining wintering yachts leaving the marina. We wait for the new motor, others for other items, or they stay because of some illness of crew or distant family.

We have not taken a day off from work for weeks and did not feel like working so we drove to the fascinating Baroque city of Noto to see the famous buildings and enjoy walking the ancient streets. It is one of the most important historical places in south east Sicily, in the province of Siracusa. It was totally rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1693.

On the way we failed again to reach the place in Ragusa on time to fill the gas bottle. It was 12.45, and it seems they closed at 12.30. Internet shows opening hours much longer than the reality.