I love yachts, and sometimes I simply come to the marina to sit and watch them. If you look closely, on the right side of the marina you’ll spot an old yacht called Liscia Bianca.
This story began almost 50 years ago in an ordinary Palermo family. Sergio was an engineer, and Licia was a teacher. Tired of endless bills, taxes, and all the other complications of life on land, they decided to move to the sea. During the first three years, they built a boat strong enough to cross the ocean. Then they spent another three years living aboard in the Mediterranean, adapting her for permanent life at sea. By the time they set off on their journey, they were around sixty years old.
Over the next three years, the couple sailed around the world on their 13-meter wooden yacht. Along the way, they stopped to meet Sicilian emigrants and wrote a book about their journey. When they returned home, around 5,000 people came to welcome them.
After returning to Sicily, they continued living on the yacht, and two years later decided to set off once again. But the second voyage came to an end almost as soon as it began, after Sergio passed away.
Twenty-five years later, the yacht was found in very poor condition at a shipyard and was restored as part of a social project. Licia personally took part in the restoration. Today, you can still see Liscia Bianca moored in the marina of La Cala.
Honestly, when I saw her for the first time, I was amazed. A small wooden sailing boat that sailed around the world with a crew of two people in their sixties. Complimenti!