Two day passage to Sciliy

Return to the ancestral homeland
We started off early in the morning for our longest passage of the trip so far, destination Siracusa, Sicily. We had all the good omens shortly after getting underway; a small group of dolphins were playing at our bow and we saw a couple whales swimming just off our starboard.





Once again the winds were light and not in our favor, but we motored on and used the sails every chance we got. I made dinner with the delicious pork chops I had picked up in Athens; these babies were an inch thick and had just the right amount of fat to make them juicy. Coated with my seasoned sundried bread crumbs I fried them up then baked them in the oven with a white wine sauce; Dan whipped up some Mediterranean style roasted vegetables and cous-cous to round out the meal.



It’s been an uneventful passage, very little traffic, calm seas and a moonless sky filled with stars. We hooked and lost two fish; one due to a bent hook and the other a broken wire leader.
I had picked up some tripe at the market, just a kilo, since I figured only Dan would be tempted to try it; I had told the rest that I was going to “stew some beef”, and since Dan was making chicken and leaks in white wine sauce I envisioned a big bowl of the tasty treat for myself. Dan suggested that I offer it to the others as an starter, maybe I shouldn’t have promoted it as my grammas recipe, but everyone decided to give it a taste leaving me with a small bowl. Anyways I guess it is a compliment to my cooking skills when I can entice people to try cows stomach for the first time while at sea.
Once we get to our destination there will be some crew changes; Em is leaving to skipper a clients Oyster for a month, a yearly job as he takes his family and friends sailing. Peter will be going back to France and will be replaced by longtime Skyelarker and fellow TTOL’er Fred. It will be my first time meeting the gentleman from Tennessee, although we have corresponded by e-mail over the years and I’m looking forward to it. So stay tuned and follow our continuing adventures as we explore Italy, Sardinia and Corsica.
Ciao!