18 Sep - 21 Sep 2002 Palermo

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Sicily

Palermo

Yacht Club del Mediterraneo +39091581837

SY "Kamu II" with her stern to the jetty and with one bow anchor in the mud.

€ 20.- per night.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our harbour berth:

N 38° 07.34' E 013° 22.34'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Leaving our ship SY "Kamu II" under the reliable protection of our friend Nino, a man of honour from the Palermo Yacht Club del Mediterraneo +39091581837, ignoring the grey and evil monsters of the Guardia di Finanza in the harbour right next to us and strolling along Via Roma and Corso Vittorio Emanuele as well as through the beautiful and belligerent, decayed and decadent, allegedly Mafia-owned heart of the inner city of Palermo.

Marvelling at the golden mosaics of the Cattedrale di Monreale and watching a very Sicilian wedding of a handsome bride-groom and a beautiful bride, accompanied by the beaming and happy members of both their families.

Provisioning at Palermo's colourful markets, and buying fresh fish at the La Vucciria market, trying to make sense of creative political graffiti, such as: "No coca cola, no israele. Solo la patria e archangelo Michele“, and relaxing under the shady trees in Garibaldi's garden.

Being invited to a somewhat confusing vernissage in a specialist bookstore for nautical books, sea charts, maritime novels and art and enjoying the excellent Sicilian white wine (free of charge), the extraverted and polite company and the exalted shoptalk until we could not take any of it any more.

08 Sep - 18 Sep 2002 Cefalu

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Sicily

Cefalu

Porto Nuovo

SY "Kamu II" with her stern to the jetty and with one permanent bow mooring.

€ 12.- per night.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our harbour berth:

N 38° 02.28' E 014° 01.99'

Mediterranean Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
Italian Republic
Sicily
Cefalu
Porto Nuovo
SY "Kamu II" anchoring off.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 02.25' E 014° 02.25'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Logging the sailed distance of of 50 nm between Filicudi Island and Cefalu on the north coast of Sicily in about 12 hours during a rainy and stormy night with low visibility.

Exploring the captivating seaside town of Cefalu - one of the most scenic places in Sicily - with her 12th-century CE Sicilian Romanesque Cathedral (with a fine mosaic figure of the Pantocrator in its apse), climbing up to La Rocca, rambling through the remains of a Saracenic castle there and enjoying the unique view down onto the harbour and onto our ship at anchor.

Hiking in the Parco Regionale Naturale delle Madonie and visiting the old mountain villages of Isnello, Pollina and Castelbuono in the Madonie Mountains (apart from Mount Etna, the highest land in Sicily) whose inhabitants have their own delicious cuisine (e.g. a special durum wheat bread, the sweet provolla-delle-madonie cheese and sfoglio, a short pastry filled with tuma [alpine pasture cheese], zuccata, egg-white, cocoa, sugar and lemon peel, cooked in the oven and served chilled).

Watching a noisy and burlesque performance of the traditional Sicilian marionette theatre (“Opera die Pupei”) of the Cuticchio family whose roots go back to the Provencal troubadour tradition in Sicily during the reign of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, during the first half of the 13th-century CE.

Buying a full-day all-inclusive package tour (for € 19.- per person) and joining a bus excursion from Cefalu to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Agrigento (renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragras, her most famous citizen: pre-Socratic philosopher Empedocles) on the S coast of Sicily thus cutting across Sicily by bus from the N to the S and visiting the famous Greek temples in the Valle dei Templi (most impressive: the remarkably intact Temple of Concordia, the large Temple of Olympian Zeus and the remains of one atlas [a support sculpted in the form of a man which may take the place of a column] in the Olympeion field) under the scorching Sicilian sun.

Indulging in sweet Sicilian specialities: crema mandorla, latte di mandorla and Konni’s famous DIY granite di mandorla and tasting the rural elixirs of cactus liquor and ash-tree manna from the Madonie Mountains.

03 Sep - 07 Sep 2002 Filicudi

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Filicudi Island

Filicudi Porto

SY "Kamu II" at anchor, off Filicudi Porto.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 33.60' E 014° 35.10'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Hiking through the typical Mediterranean vegetation with caper bushes, prickly pear trees and vineyards above Filicudi Porto, Filicudi and Pecorini a Mare on the terraced mountainside of Monte Fossa Felci (and forgetting about the rest of the world on this most beautiful island of all the Aeolian Islands).

DM Konni: Scubadiving with her Italian buddies from the Apogon Diving Centre off Capo Graziano.

Matt: Ascending the summit of Mt. Fossa Felci (774 m) via Valle di Chiesa and enjoying the magnificent view over the whole island.

26 Aug - 03 Sep 2002 Salina

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Sicily

Aeolian Archipelago

Salina Island

Santa Marina Salina

Town Harbour

SY "Kamu II" with her stern to the jetty and with one bow anchor on a long chain.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our harbour berth:

N 38° 33.51' E 014° 52.31'

Mediterranean Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
Italian Republic
Sicily
Aeolian Archipelago
Salina Island
Santa Marina Salina
Porto Turistico

SY "Kamu II" with her stern to the jetty and with two permanent bow moorings.

€ 55.- per night.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our marina berth:

N 38° 33.38' E 014° 52.31'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Anchoring stern-to and with the bow anchor on a very long chain almost on the other side of the small town harbour of Santa Marina Salina, observing a few hours later - when the wind had picked up and had started to blow in gale force from the SE right onto our beam - a Siremar ferry which entered the harbour and moored right on top of our anchor thus rendering it impossible for us to retrieve our anchor or to bring out a second bow anchor and eventually ending up running our engine in gear for more than 8 hours in order to keep our stern off the jetty - sailing means learning.

Matt: Hiking from Salina Marina to the summit of the 962-m high extinct volcano Monte Fosse delle Felci, being caught by heavy downpours and subsequently getting seriously lost for hours in the uninhabited, densely wooded mountains.

Refuelling with 150 litres of diesel fuel for € 0.93 per litre from the fuel jetty in Santa Marina Salina.

DM Konni: Scubadiving at the u/w mountain of Secca del Capo which rises out of the deep blue up to a minimum depth of only 12 m right in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea at N 38° 37.312' E 014° 54.640', after having completed a search operation with GPS and echo sounder, milling and circling around with the ship for two hours in order to find this spectacular submerged rock tower and dive spot.