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