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Boat Rental
Posted by Alexander Geyelin on Saturday, May 20, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.
On Saturday, the 20th, four of us planned to rent a boat and drive it around the region. We stopped near the villas to pick up some food to take with us, then walked to the Cefalu marina and rented a motorboat for the half-day. After Soccy got the price decreased by $10, something that likely wouldn’t have worked in America, we agreed and drove the boat out of the marina and started west toward Palermo. We drove about 5-7 miles west, and stopped near a small beach to hang out there and swim for a while. When we started again, we rushed back to Cefalu because we noticed the gas gauge was quickly approaching empty; when we got back to the marina, the owner of the rental business told us that the gauge is broken and we still had over 80% of the tank filled.
As we were driving around, we got to see the island from a completely different perspective. Seeing the island from the water emphasized to me how daunting it is physically, and how intimidating it could be to a potential settler or newcomer. It is incredibly mountainous, with very choppy waters and strong currents pushing boats toward menacing rocks and cliffs. The land does not appear inviting or easy to navigate, and there are no real rivers or other pre-established ways to travel through the island itself. Driving around the island’s perimeter gave us new perspective on the physical challenges it presents, and the inherent dangers and difficulties of attempting to settle in Sicily or begin to inhabit it. And, it gives the appearance of a very difficult island to attack or take over, as if the newcomers are even able to get on it, they are immediately fighting from the base of massive mountains with nowhere else to go.
After we stopped back at the marina to try to get gas, we continued east toward Messina and Finale, traveling another seven miles or so before stopping to relax again in a small cove. We drove back through increasingly gray and windy weather, and miraculously returned the boat undamaged, which is something we all thought might not happen
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