The Strait of Messina are a 3.5km long narrow passage that separates Italy from Sicily. Therecan be a lot of commercial boats passing through the Strait and depending on the tide, you canhave currents running at up to 4 knots. If the wind is against the current, you can face choppyseas that make the passage difficult. To prevent boat collisions, the authorities have dividedthe Straights into 2 lanes in which you can only move in one direction. We were well preparedfor the passage through the Strait and encountered no difficulties. Traffic was light and onlyone Malteses cargo ship on its way to Malta passed next to us. When entering the Strait fromthe north you notice two huge pylons on each side. In the past, power cables were supported bythem to supply power to Sicily. Today, the cables are underwater and only the pylons remain toguard the entrance to the Straits.We did see three traditional boats that were out hunting swordfishes. Those boats are sailingonly when the sea is calm for obvious reasons. Luckily on the web there are several videos ofthose boats in action. Those boats are quite impressive as they have a tower up to 30 metershigh on which 2 to 4 crew members stands watching the surface of the sea. In the front of theboat there is a big prow 20 meters long occupied by the harpoonist. The thing that surprised us the most was the number of white butterflies (more then 100) thatwere crossing the Strait. They did not stop on Terus for a little rest; they were determined toreach Sicily. We learned afterwards that those cabbage whites were coming from Africa andmigrate usually in May. Once we had finished navigating the seaway, we raised the sails and wewere moving nicely to the outh. At 3pm we reached Taormina that offered us a well-protected mooring for the night. Taormina located well above sea-level looked quiet as all the G7 summitguests had returned home to their own countries.Taormina is very much appreciated by thetourists as it has a well preserved Greek theater and offers also a very beautifull view on theMessina Strait.