Licata

After our somewhat dramatic arrival in Licata we set off to collect some mail and checkout the town and eat an Italian meal! Not really expecting a lot of this small town, as we were very much in a quiet unremarkable part of Sicily we found ourselves feeling really comfortable and loving the vibe of Licata. Admittedly the cheap, tasty Sicilian wine helped!  This quintessentially Italian yet unpretentious town was super relaxed and friendly, people smiled at you as you walked past and  stopped to greet the kids.

We also had the good fortune of being docked next to not only a kid boat but another Australian kid boat! Arakai are truly a wonderful, generous cruising family living an amazing adventure of their own and all the kids hit it off instantly. Playing for days and days in the warm Italian sun and water they happily turned this Licata and it’s harbour into their very own carefree playground.

The adults of course may of also enjoyed an aperol spritz or two! Arakai also kindly helped us remove the fishing net from our prop with their dive gear.

Despite our pleasant surrounds and new friends our engine woes were to continue.  Old ‘stinky’ refused to start and we spent a good couple of days tracing fuel lines and solenoids. Just when we thought Licata couldn’t get any better we had the good fortune of discovering  that there was in fact an Australian marine diesel mechanic living there who was a great help. Explaining that we still wanted to try and do as much as we could ourselves Matt was all to happy to let us give it a go while guiding us on the right track. In addition to getting us going he was also a great guy to have a beer and a chat with as well!

While visiting the Licata breakwater cats at dusk with Sophie and learning all their names, the day before we were to leave,  she told me she wanted to live on the boat forever and sail around the world.

‘This feels like real life, daddy. I’m meeting so many new people and learning so much’

*Matt runs Licata boat services and is an all round helpful great guy.

(Please excuse the fact that we are a bit behind on our blog posts!)