Update From Triumph, May 30 '06

Greetings from Sicily, We sailed south 50 nm to Siracusa from Taormini last Sat. Siracusa was the center of Greek domination of the Med about 200 BC. There are still many Greek monuments although the Romans changed many of them after defeating the Greeks. We walked the old city and enjoyed the water front. The winds pick up in the afternoon so the dinghy ride back to the boat was a little rough. Monday was a provisioning day. Two dinghy trips to the market fill our stores for the trip to Greece.

Tuesday, we sailed back to Taormini to stage for the first leg of out Greek passage. We enjoyed a rotisserie chicken dinner aboard Tapestry, an did our final planning for a 5 am departure.

It is now Wed. The worst day we have had since the Atlantic crossing. We sailed the first 4 hours at hull speed with a tippled reefed main and reefed jib. then until now we are motoring into 15 30 knots with a short choppy sea. Did I mention that the current has been one knot against us all day. We will cover 70nm in about 14 hours. We plan a lay day a marina tomorrow. CAIO, DICK

Update From Triumph

Greetings from Sicily. We sailed down the Straits of Messina on Thursday. The winds picked up to over 25 kts so we moved pretty fast. The current is about 4kts. We combined our speed and the tidal current and exceeded 9 kts for quite a while. After anchoring in Taormina Bay, I snorkled in some of the clearest water I have seen in the Med. What an experience to be in the water looking up at snow on the slopes of Mt Etna, and seeing the smoke coming from the famous active volcano.
Yesterday, Friday, we took a bus to the city of Taormina. It is up a mountain overlooking the Med. It is a beautiful scenic city, but unfortunately the cruises ships have discovered it, and there were thousands of tourist there with us. The big attraction is an Greek Amphitheater that was later converted by the Romans to a coliseum. We walked down to the boat, but it turned out to be about 5 km (more than we expected).

Today we are motor sailing to Siracusa, about 50 nm south on the southern Sicilian coast. Caio, Dick

Update From Triumph

May 21, Happy Birthday Brian!
We are about 30 NM from Stromboli, a volcano/island about 50 NM off the coast of Italy. I think there are about 400 residents. We have been told by cruisers the the water is acidic and will clean everything encrusting the the boat. The steam vents under the water there may be some bubbles of SO2 released as well. In a few hours we will know first hand. I have been able to swim the last two days, but I think I will skip today. One of the islands in the chain has therapeutic mud baths for 1.5E (Euro). That is on our to-do list, but the main attraction is an archeological museum on Lipari with finds dating back to the 11 century BC.

Tapestry and Triumph have covered 280 NM since leaving Rome. We stopped in Anzio, Ischia, Amalfi, Palinuro, and Cetraro. From Amalfi we took a train to Pompeii, and a ferry to Capri. Pompeii was interesting, but all the good artifacts have been moved to a museum in Naples. Capri was crowded and mostly a tourist trap with a couple of natural sites thrown in to keep it honest; well some what honest. It is not their busy season yet. August is supposed to be impossible to move, eat, sit down. It is reported that in Aug. and Sept. the police make you leave the restaurants after 20 minutes to make room for more tourist. We found a walkway to the top of the mountain in Capri and had a pleasant picnic without the crowds. It was a good day.

It feels good to be able to swim again. the water is still cool (about 70F) , but refreshing. I cleaned the Roman mud off Triumph bottom in Palinuro. Triumph was wintered in the water in the Fiumicino canal which is fresh water, but a lot of silt comes down from the Tyber river in Rome. I'll send more frequent up dates once I know that they are being promptly posted. Dick

Triumph update

Hi, The WiFi at marriott is great 6E per Hr.

Update From Triumph

Where does the time go? It is after dinner on Thursday. Tonight I'm going to the local Marriott Court Yard for an hour of WiFi. This will catch me up on my virus updates, Keps for my satellite programs, photos off to the web page, and down load all the pent-up e-mail from a couple of user groups that I monitor.

We have Triumph in good shape and with dependable weather will leave Fiumicino on Sat morning with the 8:am bridge opening. Tapestry will leave along with us. Friday will be a busy day. Last minute supplies, renew the butane canister, more wine, and outboard fuel. Oh yes, out outboard came back yesterday in good shape and ready for the season. I gave it a test run this morning.

There are always loose ends, but the majors are under control. I have checked and rechecked systems. As I write, I think of more that could be done, such as water pump impellers, fuel level measuring transmitters, and speed instruments. Some will be tested under fire. Our first run will be to Anzio about 32 nm from here.

With luck, I will get a photo on the blog this time. Ciao, Dick