One night away from Palermo! Soon I’ll be “home” – news about my circumnavigation are traveling fast and I’m being invited in by the local paddling club from Mondello. For a few days now I’ve been in contact with Giacomo that will paddle out to meet me when I’m approaching the club’s base.
But first things first. I leave the campsite and I start to paddle towards the rafinery which opens another chapter of industrial coastline for me. The rafinery pier reaches out 1 NM into the sea.
It’s forbidden to go underneath it and one should go around it…but one does as others do, following the local custom. The fishing boats don’t seem to worry about it too much, and there is no chance I’m paddling these extra 2 miles having perfectly fine clearing underneath.
Reaching the last cape before the final landing I can hear someone whistling at me. That’s not a thing I usually react to so in the beginning I ignore it. The whistling is really persistent though so eventually I look back to see a man standing on a low brick wall, enthusiastically waving at me. A kayaker, I think, approaching the shore. It turns out it’s Giovanni, Giacomo’s friend. They happen to talk on the phone about me as I was paddling pass :D.
I land and we talk a little bit. Giovanni is offering me tea, coffee, food and anything I could need. I decide to continue paddling though, since I still have two hours of daylight.
My next camp doesn’t overwhelm with its beauty but at least I’m only 27km from Mondello. Because it’s a short distance I can have a sleep in and I don’t have to hurry in the morning. As I follow the coastline the next day I can definitely feel the urban climate creeping in: the architecture, air pollution and daunting harbour with its entanglement of masts, ferries and cranes – it’s hard to make sense out of it all.
I continue along the harbour’s entrance without having to deal with much boat traffic. When paddling around one of the breakwaters I notice that just below the water line there are plenty of blood red anemones attached to the wall, creating an incredible contrast between them and the industrial character of the place. They are absolutely beautiful.
After the last straight I arrive in Mondello, already together with Giacomo who paddled out to meet me. We land at the clubs headquarters – a beautiful building built on stilts, going out into the sea, it’s stunning and surreal at the same time. I’m being welcomed by Tato, another club member who will be hosting for the night. I can leave everything at the club and wash all of my kit. It’s a beautiful day and the guys are making sure I don’t lack anything.
In the evening we study the forecast. It doesn’t look great for the next couple of days…but together with increasing amount consumed homemade wine we smoothly drift towards other important topics, like Sicilian disco, very similar to Polish disco polo. The notes are very familiar, the lyrics though…they treat about the problems and hardships of life within Sicilian Mafia, very different then our disco polo love songs 😁. All the lyrics are being very thoroughly translated by Tato, so I wouldn’t miss any of the subtleties.
[In the meanwhile my phone breaks down, which means I need to buy a new one…life without a smartphone nowadays turnes out to be close to impossible sending the person back in time by a decade]
Going back to the weather. In theory I should be able to sneak around the peninsula early in the morning before the worst weather hits. So I wake up at 5 am getting ready to go. I can hear the wind outside – it already windier. Tato offers to take a quick ride to the lighthouse on the point where we can check it all in real-time. At 5.30am we are already there contemplating what’s going on around us. It’s an easy decision – I’m staying.
For next three days I will become a tourist in the beautiful and vibrant city of Palermo, relaxing, sightseeing and eating amazing food.
I finish this week as follows:
5 days on the water with 207km paddled, 2 days off the water. Pizza, gelato and homemade wine.
Thank you Giacomo and Tato for your hospitality, many laughs and sharing your knowledge and experience with me. 🙏
