The Balearics.

We had a good sailing from Sardinia over to Mallorca. We planned to stop at Menorca, but because of the bad weather we had on Sardinia, there was no time to stop on this island. We stopped at Port Sollier on Mallorca. It is like a lagoon to anchor in this place. We had an appointment here with some friends and it was a very nice reunion. We rented a car for some days and had a very nice week with beautiful weather here. Not to warm and not to cold. The water temperature was not to warm, so we have not been swimming yet. Mallorca is a wonderful island with a lot of things to see and explore. Nice beaches, small old villages with a lot of atmosphere and high mountains if you prefer that kind of scenery. And the Spanish people are very kind and helpfulThe food is special with Sangria and paella and all the different fish dishes you can eat at the restaurants.After a week we sailed to Ibiza, San Antonio. This town is a paradise for young people with all the pubs and a terrific night life.The Balearics are islands you love and if you have been there, you like to come back again.

ITALY

After two days and two nights we arrived to Roccela Ionica, quite close to the Messina Strait, in Italy. Our sailing from Greece had been very nice with good winds and sunny days. We hade been to this place before and knew were to go in the marina. We meet two boats here from Australia. And together with this people we hade a nice time here. You say you meet boats from different places, and of course you mean the people onboard the boats. But it is easier to say the name of the boat than the names of the peoples onboard. On day we took our bicycles and went for a long ride along the coastline. Just when we decided to turn back, we got a flat tire on one of the bikes. So we had to walk back to the boat. We left this marina very early one morning and sailed up to the Messina Strait. It was hardly any wind so we had to go by motor most of the day. The strait is very nice and we hade a wonderful day. Up in the north of the strait the current was going our way, up north, but the wind was coming from the north. This made the water almost crazy. It was like the water was boiling. And you could feel it in the boat which was shaking. We went to a marina in Milazzo, on Sicily, and stayed there for only one night and went on to Cefalu. Bad weather was coming so we decided to stay here for some days before we went on to Sardinia. Sicily is a wonderful island with a lot of sand beaches and small and old villages with romantic lanes. We do like the Italian cultures, the houses, the peoples, the food, the wine………After a week we sailed to Sardina were we on the south side hade to seek shelter outside Teulada from strong northerly winds from France. We stayed on our anchor here for about tree days before we left for Mallorca in Spain.