Spring in Sicily

Before I get too far ahead in our new season, I need to jot down all the random things we’ve done in the last few months so I don’t forget them. Here’s what we were up to while in Licata…

1) Graduation – The biggest reason I’ve been far behind in my blog posting so far this year is because I was taking my final class and practicum in order to complete my certificate in Independent Educational Consulting from University California, Irvine. I’m beyond thrilled to have this credential in hand and love working with high school students in the US to help them through their college search and application journeys. My current graduating seniors are very excited with their university choices for next fall. 🙂

Shameless plug here… While my roster for the high school graduating Class of 2025 is full, I’m currently building my roster for the Class of 2026. I work best with families whose main goal is to find universities that will be great academic, social and financial fits where their students can thrive. If you happen to know any families searching for a compassionate guide, I’d be happy to chat with them! 🙂 www.clearcollegeconsulting.com

2) Escape – Our initial winter plans were to stay in southern Spain until the first of March. I think Conor was really missing the boat, so we headed back to Licata a couple of weeks early in mid-February. After a week and a half of really nasty and cold weather, we decided to escape Licata for several days and head to the southeast coast of Sicily where the weather was at least sunnier. We love the city of Siracusa, so figured several nights there would cure cabin fever. We enjoyed our time in Siracusa strolling around Ortigia (the old town) and having some great meals. (You can check out previous blog posts here and here if you’d like to learn more about Siracusa!) 

As we drove back to Licata, we stopped for lunch in a town new to us, Caltagirone. It happens to be known for its ceramics and probably its most famous site is its Staircase of Santa María del Monte. The staircase (of 142 steps) was built back in 1602 to connect the ancient city to the newer one. The steps are covered in ceramic tiles and for various feast days, the steps are decorated with candles or flowers to make beautiful designs. You can find some neat photos here.

3) Field Trip – Some boating friends invited us along to visit the inland, hilltop town of Naro to experience its annual Almond Blossom Festival. The festival began back in 1938 and takes place each March to welcome spring. The festivities include a big parade, concerts, dancing and a crowning of Miss Primavera. We mostly experienced the parade, and it reminded me a bit of the parade back home in our spring “Hometown Days” event. It includes tons of kids of all ages and hovering parents to make sure they all do and go where they are supposed to. 😉 What was most surprising and interesting was how international the event was. Many groups in the parade represented different countries, and the children were dressed accordingly. We explored some of Naro itself and found interesting sites – the medieval Chiaramonte Castle and the ancient Norman Cathedral. Overall, it was a fun day out in a new place with local culture and fun boating friends!

4) Boat projects – This winter, we had nothing like the big upgrades Conor performed last year. Instead, it was mostly routine maintenance and minor fixes to get Sabática ready for her new season.

One exciting, small upgrade we did make was to add Starlink for consistent satellite internet. For the last couple of years, we’ve simply relied on cellular data from local SIM cards that we purchase in each country we visit. While good, cell coverage is not always reliable in certain areas, say in remote islands or behind mountains. With my virtual work, needs of upcoming guests, and the fact that Starlink finally became less expensive and easier for boats to use, we joined many other boats on our pontoon to create ‘Starlink Dock.’ Conor dragged his feet on this addition for quite a while but ended up being the one most excited by the 230Mbps speed we can now achieve. 😉

The other fun addition we made was to add covers to our fenders, which will hopefully help keep them and the boat a bit cleaner. Our sweet Dutch friend, Houkje, not only gifted us the material that they were not going to use, but cheerfully made the covers with her handy sewing machine as she loves to sew. We love them – thank you again, Houkje!

5) Rescue boats – Since 2014, apparently over 20,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Central Mediterranean Sea. We happened to be docked right next to a volunteer rescue boat so began to learn about the tragic and complicated situation. 

Legal entry into Europe is made impossible for many people who want to leave their countries. They are then forced to pass through Lybia, a deeply dangerous undertaking where they are imprisoned and daily life is perilous. From there, the Mediterranean sea becomes the only option. They pay extortionist prices for a passage on an unsafe boat, and their lives are put at risk. Today, 1 in 6 people who leave Lybia on a migrant boat die at sea. – from Mediterranea

We’ve learned that there are several volunteer organizations and civilian ships that monitor and aim to assist such migrants in trouble. Given Italy’s, and in particular Sicily’s, close proximity to Africa, we found many of these rescue ships docked in Licata. Some are associated with the organization, Mediterranea. Many of these volunteers would come from Germany and spend weeks at a time patrolling the sea between Sicily and Lampadusa, the southernmost Italian island that is the closest European land to North Africa. The stories we would hear from crew members were shocking. They would watch dozens of migrants scrambling to get into a dinghy and watch some drown. Some crew members had to leave Licata early due to traumatization. As a ship captain, you are always required to help those in the sea in distress, however, you also don’t want to bring migrants aboard your boat as then you can become liable for them. The legality is complicated. We were amazed by the humanity and determination of the volunteers we met.

6) Hospital – So I got to experience the ER room in Licata. Spoiler alert – I was totally fine – but it was a very interesting experience! I had been having a strange pain on the side of my head for over two weeks with some tingling that started in one arm. Call me paranoid, but I was getting anxious and wanted to make sure a heart attack or stroke wasn’t imminent before we sailed away. The only real way to see a doctor in Licata if you’re not a local is to head to the hospital ER.

The marina office called us a taxi (which is something else you never see in Licata) and we arrived with much trepidation as the process was fairly unclear. (Conor had actually tried visiting the hospital last winter but didn’t stay because the 4-hour wait wasn’t appealing for his relatively minor ailment.) I was called into the triage room fairly quickly and brought my list of symptoms translated into Italian. Only this triage staff member understood a tiny bit of English. I eventually got taken into another room to get blood drawn for tests and received an IV. After two bags of IV fluids in a room with a few other local patients, Conor asked about an EKG. So they said ‘ok’ and wheeled me into another room and performed the test. Totally normal. As were all my lab tests.

The doctor asked about my head, which still hurt, so they then wheeled me upstairs for a swift CT scan of my head. Mind you – all of this wheeling around and testing is happening without us understanding anything that is going on because of the language barrier! Call it a bit unnerving. When the CT scan results came back, the doctor came in quite excited as we eventually understood his diagnosis of sinusitis. He prescribed me some strong ibuprofen for several days and sent us on our way.

As we were leaving, Conor asked where we needed to pay. We were shocked to learn there was no charge at all for the four hour visit, nor professional time, nor tests. They even knew I was American because they used my passport to check me in. If this had been in the US, it would have cost many thousands of dollars, sadly. While this hospital felt quite rustic, the staff were great and my results good. Afterwards, I did a bit of research and discovered that emergency services in Italy actually are usually free of charge to anyone. We were amazed!  

7) Social times – Finally, the best part about being in Licata is the large and friendly boating community. It could be the best in the Med as people continue to return winter after winter. We enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. We had the usual weekly happy hours and BBQs and were introduced to the popular all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant nearby. That was a fun find as we haven’t had much luck with the restaurant scene in Licata. Before we left Licata, we had a couple of fun dinner parties to say ‘thank you’ to Houkje and ‘happy birthday’ to Phil!

---

And thus ends our second winter in Licata. Maybe we’ll end up in Spain next winter, or maybe we’ll bring the boat back to Licata…. We shall see. 😉