we made landfall just after sunset on the western most island off the coast of Sicily, Isola de Favignana. The small bay “Cala Rotundo” looked perfect on the map and, as the name suggests, was a rounded inlet that promised shelter from the prevailing southern swell and winds.
In failing light, coming into a crowded anchorage has all manner of challenges. We had to respect the local custom of avoiding anchoring in areas of sea grass (posidonia). In this bay the only sandy patches and hence good holding for the anchor was a narrow band of bottom located in the centre of the bay. This also happened to be where all the boats had congregated making threading the needle an impossible task. More so at night. We did manage to anchor, after 2 failed attempts, close by in a minuscule patch of open sand. That night we dragged anchor and came too close for comfort to the wall of rocks that defined the bays rounded coast. A final re-anchoring the next morning had us well set-in at the middle of the bay.
As is so often the case you can never judge an anchorage by a map or an recommendation on an app. What looks perfect can be much less so, particularly after the hard work is done of setting anchor and only then noticing that this spot was a bad idea. In that case of this bay, as perfectly protected as it appeared, the southern swell managed to refract into the mouth of the bay then make its way well inside giving boats a serious tossing. Then having sufficiently irritated everyone the swell reflects off the sheer bay walls and returns to reprise the whole experience again. Add to this jostling the invasion of small and large craft into the bay to work up a chop. By 11:00 am the bay is choked with boats and bathers. By midday the smoke from barbecues has already made it your way. So that by late afternoon, once the crowd starts to thin and one gets glimmer of hope that silence and a calm swim is in the cards, the beachside cafe starts to blare Euro-rock! The techno-beat is loud enough to orchestrate the floor boards and I can only wonder who thought this would attract anyone to the beach shack delivering the noise.
Despite my protesting on conditions. We did enjoy 2 great days in this overcrowded fishbowl and the swimming in 29 degC water was fabulous. Our next stop will be Marsala on the mainland. We will need to get to a customs official at some point to have our ‘papers’ stamped.