Sicily recedes into the distance

Two hundred nineteen ships.   Seventeen thousand sailors and soldiers, a huge army by medieval standards.  This was the royal fleet of Richard Coeur de Lion, which sailed from Messina, Sicily on Wednesday, April 10th 1191.   Almost immediately the fleet was becalmed, forced to anchor off the coast of Calabria.  Two days later, the storm struck.  We even know the hour of the storm, the "ninth hour of the day," or 3 PM.   One reason I am deriving so much pleasure from writing Lionheart is that I h