Spring In Licata 8 March - 12 May 2016.

Ginny Back In UK.

      Ginny travelled back to UK for 10 days to visit the girls and discuss weddings!! I spent a couple of days in Cowes with Kate and Rob who were at work so didn't get photos of the two of them together. Opportunities for that later in the year. 

        Their house is lovely and after several tries I managed a photo of the glorious glass in the front door - sorry the downloaded photo is not rotated the last quarter! Hope the extension goes well.

Blue Sky In Cowes.

Kate's Lovely Door Glass.

Guy On The Hard Preparing Kisti Two.

       After Ginny departed, the weather was fantastic so Guy managed to arrange to get Kisti Two lifted out and get everything ready for the season and back in the water before her return. All went very well and Mechanico Matt performed an excellent job on the Bow Thruster which now has much more guts to its performance. There was very little growth on the coppercoat underneath so that is now 3 successful years. The sides were also polished and the prop painted with anti foul again.

Propeller All lovely And Clean.

Kisti Two In The Boatyard.

Mechanico Matt Working On The Bow Thruster.

Kisti Two All ready To Go Back In.

Marina Life In Licata.

         On Ginnys return from the UK Kisti Two was back from the yard and all the hard work of the lift out completed. All our Marina companions have been busily preparing boats for the new season and some had left before my return. All were watching the weather avidly waiting for a good time to leave going east, west or south. St Georges Day was marked by Guy flying the flag from the mast.

St Georges Day.

Ginny Collecting Flowers Again.

             As boats left we lost some of the regular activities. The weekly Sunday BBQ continued but with warmer evening weather pontoon parties were a good way to enjoy life together and send folks on their way. There was a mixture of nationalities and a good variety of dishes to share with communal cooking on portable BBQs. 

            Laura and Bernard on La Lisa hosted a drinks and Pizza party on the aft deck of their lovely motor boat. Organised by Matt ( the Mechanic) there were a couple of evenings at the Oasi Beach Restaurant with a splendid seafood spread, local wines and good company. The improved weather in the harbour meant shorts, T shirts and swimwear were on display. Just a shame the winds and swell kept so many of us in port waiting for a  calm weather window to set off.  There was however time for skippers to get vital preparations done assisted by Matt and other friends in the Marina or the staff on the 'hard'

Pontoon BBQ. A Bit Like An Old Fashioned Terraced Street Party.

The Linear Pontoon BBQ.

Motor Boat Party On La Lisa.

La Lisa Boat Party

Oasi Beach Restaurant Seafood Spread.

John & Lynne Of Tumbleweed.

Laura & Anne With Beach Illuminated In Background

Another Book!!

Mechanico Matt Sorting The Solar Power Regulator

Guy Preparing Wedding Speech!!

Kisti Two's Saloon.

St Angelo Parades & BBQ's

        May brought the celebrations of the Patron Saint of Licata, St Angelo. There were religious Services and Masses, concerts and a 5 day market in the main streets and competitions in the Fishing Port with greasy poles. The main parade on the 5th of May filled the town with horses and carts, single riders, dancers and children dressed up in sailors outfits or mini St Angelo's. If you followed our blog last year many of the scenes will be familiar. There were fireworks and firecrackers to begin the celebrations and a magnificent display set off along the sea wall to mark the end.

Two Little Sailors In St Angelo Square on 5th of May

St Angelo Church.

Decorated Horse In Parade for Patron Saint of Licata, St Angelo. 

Horse Decorations.

The Horse Parade Waiting To Enter Piazza St Angelo.

Lynne With A Horse & Cart.

Lovely Colourful Detail Of The Cart Wheel.

 Dancing Girls Riding On Of The Carts.

So Majestic.

Delightful.

Handsome Sicilian On Horse.

Trotting Into St Angelo Square.

           The Final BBQ was arranged and hosted by the Marina and Luigi and his staff supplied a wonderful spread and local wine and beers to the liveaboards and sailing crews who raced off the harbour.  We were also surprised by a show of the splendid decorated horse and carts and individual riders who had been the main parade earlier in the week.

Marina BBQ, End Of Season 'Bash' With Friends Old And New.

Marina BBQ.

Individual Riders Showing Off The Local Horses.

Magnificent Horses Trotting and Stepping  Out Around The Car Park

Trotting Around The Car Park With Varied Passengers.

Slippery Pole Competition In The Fishing Port
Fort St Angelo On The Hill Behind.

       It has been a much warmer, drier and less windy winter here this year. The activities have been many and varied from Mondays Sing A Long, Tuesday Skippers Meeting (Drinks!), Wednesday & Friday Happy Hours and Sunday BBQ's. The free nights were often taken up with Dinner Parties and gave us the opportunity to watch DVDs. The best was watching England win the Grand Slam in Italian commentary! There have been various historical visits and as always the people of Licata have been very helpful, friendly and kind to all us sea gypsies. We are moving on again an our intention is to winter at Ag Nik on Crete this year. We never thought we would spend a total of a year of our life living in Sicily, but it has been a great experience. Thank you Licata.

      We are sailing to Malta for a couple of weeks to get the life raft serviced and the rigging checked. We then return to Licata to complete a stern shower installation. We then return to Malta to pick up our friend Sarah then its off to Greece. More to follow. Be happy and safe wherever you are.