45. Taormina and Messina Straits

45. Taormina and Messina Straits

On route to the Messina Straits which we approached with some trepidation as there were so many stories and warnings we stopped off at a beautiful little bay on a mooring. George and Georgia his daughter ran this very good service providing buoys  mainly for boats waiting to go through the Straits. He gave sound advice with 20 years of experience. We were just below the town of Taormina which looked down on the bay from the heights above. On our sail up to Taormina we could see Mt Etna getting closer with the morning smoke coming from the top. 

But we had a strange phenomena going passed Mt Etna. The sea water was a little choppy but it became suddenly very calm and we found we were going faster. Then the waves returned for a while and then the calm sea again. This carried on for most of the trip up to Taormina with us going faster in the calm looking water and slower with the waves. One of the things you have to consider are the strong currents in this area which can reach speeds of up to 5 knots. You need to be going the right way!

Mt Etna doing a morning snort

This weird phenomena with the sea calm and then agite (agitated)

These occurred in circles of about 500 metres. 

We sighted Taormina from the sea showing the town in the hills above the bay

Clear day for Mt Etna at Giardini near Taormina

The town of Giardini was at the end of the bay. There was a small harbour for dinghies and motorboats about third of a mile away but we tried to go ashore but the harbour was full and the rock was sharp and rough and too risky for the rubber sides of the dingy. 

A lookout or shepherd hut

           Mt Etna doing a sunset blow

Yachts on the buoys in the bay

Full moon 

Taormina at night

We checked the tables for the right currents and wind so when to go for the Messina Straits. The weather forecast showed a good gap before a big NW blow was coming down the Straits and to the West Coast of Italy, which would not be pleasant. We also had to watch for the dreaded eddies and whirlpools. And of course the Mythology telling us about the exploits of Odysseus and the Scilla and the Charybdis. Scilla had 12 feet and 6 long necks with heads and would eat sailors  passing through. Charybdis was a huge whirlpool which would suck ships down. Naturally most sailors were terrified going through the Straits. 

Probably in ancient times the whirlpools were more severe and it is thought that the earthquake of 1783 changed the local topography to make it calmer. Interestingly people wonder why the Italians have not built a bridge across the Straits as it is an obvious solution for traffic however it is because the tectonic plates are moving and it is an earthquake area so a bridge or tunnel would be a problem. 

Photo of the times of the currents going through the Straits. Stanca means slack water, Picco means fast, Montante means going North and Scendente means going South. So we needed Stanca and Montante. Timing was essential! 

Photo of the Chart Plotter of the Messina Straits showing Dalliance 3 with a dotted red line going  through the roundabout at 5 o'clock. The pink lines are the traffic lanes with left going south and right going north. In the middle there is a virtual "roundabout" where you can pass across to the other side but only at this point. The green shapes with a blue line in front are ships. The traffic consists of container ships, tankers, car ferries and passenger ferries and motor boats and yachts. We were lucky there was not too much traffic. So concentration on currents, wind, ships, eddies and whirlpools is important. 

We made it. No adverse currents, we avoided the ships and there were no monsters like Odyssey encountered. So this was goodbye to Sicily which we had now circumnavigated and had a wonderful time and happy memories.   

We headed for Palmi on the West Coast of the Italian mainland which was are next stop. This is where we had a few problems?