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boatswain and two sailors, he managed to disarm and immobilize the French and to pilot Aeolus in the storm as far as the bay of Gravosa, where he delivered the prisoners.

The uncommon action had great echo in all the newspapers. Celestino was awarded the "Knight's Cross of the Imperial Order of Franz Joseph," to his ships the right to salute with cannon shots and to wave the "Imperial maritime flag of Red Honor" at the mainmast, and from this affectionate, the Lošinjs gave the Ivancich captains the nickname: "little flames." His sailors received an overall prize of 2,000 florins. The boatswain was also decorated with the "Silver Cross of Merit in the crown."

The award ceremony took place in a solemn form on 3 July 1860, in the presence of Archduke Maximilian and his wife Carlotta, aboard the Radetzky frigate in the Trieste harbor.

Another captain Ivancich was less fortunate and, after having sunk, to warn that no one had died drowning, he sent a telegram to Mali Lošinj: "Happily shipwrecked." The insurance company, informed of the telegram, said that "Happily" meant that he had wrecked the ship on purpose to pocket the premium and refused to pay it. It was a bad blow for the Ivancichs: their decline began from then on.

Sailing the blue Cuban sea it was difficult to convince oneself that Christmas was approaching. The marigolds marked the days, all right, but the days passed so quickly that there was no time to follow them on the calendar. There were already Christmas cards for sale but instead of pine trees, snow and nativity scenes they had sailboats, palm trees and sun.

There was a lot of sun. It is difficult to think of Christmas with a lot of sun. Even though I was told it was a "frio" year, a cold year. I had discussed it with Gianfranco.

"Last year for a few days I had a desire...