A Brescian in Sicily, our first story of 2015 – Part Two

Adriano Gatta, Brescia DOC, born 1956, free-rider, mountaineer, former judo national team member, photography enthusiast (the photos accompanying the story are his). We have already brought you his article in which he explained his conversion from powerboat racer to sailor: we now publish in installments, as they used to do in old-time newspapers, the (semi-serious) account of his sailing over (and under) the sea of the Egadi Islands, Ustica and the Aeolian Islands, with some points on the northern coast, completed last summer.

THE SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS EPISODE

“…at 2 p.m. we set off again for Marettimo with a nice mistral at 25 knots, we lend a hand and I put Albi at the helm who performs very well taking the good daddy 3, with an edge until Levanzo and then, on the other walls, to the port of what, by the end of the vacation, I will have elected as my favorite island: Marettimo, to paraphrase Bennato, the island that is. I find room at Mimmo’s dock, since we will have to do two days of diving I certainly can’t leave the boat unattended at the dock.03

It’s July 31, as of tomorrow the August rate kicks in, but Mimmo, very kind as always, treats me well and I agree for €60 per day including water and 220vv; which, divided by three, is 20 € each….beh we are in August, at the Egadi, let’s not complain…at the lake I was paying 70……We spend two days doing wonderful dives with the Voglia di Mare Diving Center; they have the boat moored in front of us and so, in the morning, having a leisurely breakfast, we take four steps( but really four, counted) and board with Marcello and Davide aka “filetto.”

They are really very good and very professional (www.vogliadimare.com) and we spend the whole day on the boat, which is equipped with a compressor to refill the tanks. They also have nitrox and you can also take courses at the various levels and get certified. Two dives a day and lunch on board, nap and coffee.

In the boat, I made my own I-pod with Francesco Guccini’s entire discography, and when there is no one in the boat against it, I listen in peace. One morning I decide to have breakfast with the songs of my favorite singer-songwriter as the musical score. I was listening to “Encounter,” a wonderful love song; after a few minutes, out from the boat moored next to it, a man my age << thank you, it’s been years since I woke up with this beautiful songs, I also like it very much….. Paolo Conte!!! >> sic !!!

During these three days we don’t miss anything, one evening we even went sailing around the island( there was still a mistral wind) and waited for the sunset on top of the castle of Punta Troia….spectacular !!! and in the evening, dinner at the restaurant” la scaletta” of Giovanni Maiorana. If you go to Marettimo don’t miss a dinner at his…..is unique and if you want to know more go to Saporinews.com and look for my review and you will understand why you can’t miss a plate of “garlic and violets”….

On Sunday, August 3, we reluctantly leave Marettimo at dawn and head NE to Ustica. 25 knots of “catabatica”( for us mere mortals it is the fall wind, typical of the mountainous coasts) in the harbor, give us some maneuvering problems but then, fortunately, as soon as it stabilizes outside on the 15 and we get 68 miles with the mistral at the slack….anzi 35 miles because then, after a punt to 18 it turns to grecale, straight across the bow and wanes until it shuts down completely forcing us to turn on the engine.

Bathing on 1250 mt of cobalt-blue seabed next to a Caretta-caretta swimming peacefully near the boat. We arrive at 6:30 p.m. in Ustica and set up on the ferry dock; Domenico, the mooring operator, assured us that a boat is leaving in the morning, so we stand by. Note to the sailor-purists: there were also buoy fields and they were also free but always for the usual problem of diving we had to place ourselves in the harbor.

After a wobbly night against the ferry’s rubber cylinders that tanned my side worse than a garbage dump, I moor at one of the 5 (five !!! ) available boating spots. With water and electricity we are okay and in addition flanked by the boat of Mauro Maniscalco’s diving Alta Marea where Elisa, a schoolmate of my son’s, works, who introduces us to the guys at the diving center, who could all be my sons and with whom I immediately get on so well that I get the nickname Hemingway, which gives me enormous pleasure( could it be the beard ?) Know this, coming to Ustica and not diving is delinquent. This island has been a marine reserve since 1986 and in these 28 years it has become, by far, the best dive site in the entire Mediterranean, especially for those who want to see even large fish: amberjack, tuna, barracuda, groupers and so on.

With Mauro, Alberto and I searched all the depths of the island, and Sonia even got her patent !!! (info@altamareaustica.it). Too bad it is a bit difficult for sailors to manage it, especially out of season; it is not very close to the coast( 38 miles from Palermo), it is practically circular and has no safe reefs in any wind, apart from the buoy fields that are active only in the summer period, the harbor offers only five berths and is inaccessible in the sirocco. CONTINUED…