![\"Gewitter\"](\"https:\/\/sailingsymi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Gewitter-1-scaled.jpeg\")
Gewitter<\/span><\/a><\/div>Ein Monster auf See<\/span><\/a><\/div>On the morning of the following day, we passed Palermo, a popular port of call for cruise ships. We\u2019d also noticed this on our chart plotter during the night. One monster after another crept out of the harbour, crossed our course and then disappeared in various directions, their deck lights still visible for miles. The north coast of Sicily is about 280 km long and offers only a few safe anchorages, which, in turn, provide real shelter only when the wind is blowing from certain directions.
My plan was therefore to reach the north-eastern tip, just before the Strait of Messina, in one go. Here, too, a few squall gusts \u2018helped\u2019 us maintain our speed, without ever posing a danger.
I had chosen an anchorage for that night which was only reasonably safe when the wind was from the south. It was exposed, 300 metres off the coast, on a sandbank, between a restricted area to the east \u2013 which forms part of the Strait of Messina \u2013 and an Italian Navy mine-clearing training area to the west.<\/p>\n\n\n
Karte Messina<\/span><\/a><\/div>Sonnenaufgang Sizilien<\/span><\/a><\/div>My calculations, using the PredictWind programme \u2013 which has really proved its worth over the years \u2013 paid off completely. It was already starting to get dark, but the most important thing was that the north wind died down and veered south. As a result, apart from two heavy downpours, we lay safely at anchor all night. In unfamiliar waters with currents and uncertain weather conditions, I like to use an anchor alarm.
This is an app installed on the boat\u2019s electronic system which you activate when the anchor is lowered, then select a radius in metres within which the boat is allowed to turn. If it touches the edge of this virtual circle, an alarm sounds.
Wir konnten uns in dieser Nacht gut ausruhen und um 8:00 Uhr ging es wieder Anker auf und hinein in die Stra\u00dfe von Messina, einem Ort, der in der griechischen Mythologie, in der Odyssee Homer\u2019s, durch die Geschichte von Skylla und Charybdis zu den bekanntesten Abenteuern des Odysseus geh\u00f6rt.
Es gibt sogar hier eine lustige Parallele unserer Reise mit Odysseus Weg nach Hause nach Griechenland. Schlie\u00dflich ist unser Ziel die Insel Kephalonia, die Nachbarinsel von Odysseus Heimat, Ithaka. Und so erz\u00e4hlt es die Geschichte:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Trojan War, Odysseus is on his way back to Ithaca with his men. During his long odyssey, he eventually reaches a dangerous strait where Scylla (now a place called Scilla) lurks on one side and Charybdis (Messina) on the other. Scylla is a terrifying sea monster. Homer describes her as a creature with several heads \u2013 she lives in a rocky cave and snatches passing sailors with her long necks. Odysseus is unable to prevent Scylla from seizing and devouring six of his men. On the opposite side lies Charybdis, a mighty sea whirlpool that sucks in the water three times a day and spits it out again. A ship that comes too close can be swallowed up, crew and all. Odysseus faces a dilemma as he navigates through the strait: either to be sucked into the whirlpool or to be attacked by the monster. This has given rise to the saying that has survived to this day: We were in a much better position than Odysseus. I had an up-to-date ocean current forecast, a Starlink satellite connection, a recent weather report, and had already crossed the Strait of Messina twice before with SYMI. So, let\u2019s get on with it. The current sped us up by nearly three knots, and the only hazards were the roll-on\/roll-off ferries, which shuttled back and forth between Reggio and Messina like a swarm of wasps and had absolute right of way. After just two hours, we reached Reggio di Calabria and chugged on under engine power until we reached the point where the Ionian Sea opens up to the east. At the southern tip of the Italian \u2018boot\u2019, the Calabrian coast offers nothing particularly beautiful. A gas storage facility, a concrete works and a few small villages are all there is. The few palm trees and the lighthouse marked the furthest point of Calabria.<\/p>\n\n\n Shortly before sunset, we reached this south-eastern cape and sailed into the night, battling a fairly strong north-westerly current there as well as quite a large swell, which had been caused by the strong wind the previous day in the Ionian Sea.
\u2018Between Scylla and Charybdis\u2019.
It means that one is caught between two dangers and has no truly good solution<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCalabriens Ecke nach Ost<\/span><\/a><\/div>
Yesterday\u2019s day\u2019s sailing was phenomenal. Every sailor will agree with me that there is hardly anything finer than sailing down the waves at up to nine knots on a half-wind course (with the wind coming at 90\u00b0 to the boat) at 15\u201318 knots. Marvellous. The final night-time sail of this great voyage was illuminated by an almost full moon and was wonderfully calm.
I took over from Andrea again at 4.00 am for my watch. Then, around 6.00 am, the outlines of the islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia appeared on the horizon beneath the orange sunrise.<\/p>\n\n\nNachtnavigation<\/span><\/a><\/div>