A pair of Venetian Flat Earth-enthusiasts set sail from Sicily with the intention of reaching the remote island of Lampedusa which – for them – represented the edge of a flat world, reports Italian paper Corriere della Sera.
The couple, a middle-aged man and woman, undertook their escapade in full lockdown, breaking the strict travel restrictions in place three months ago. The pair reached the north Sicilian port of Termini Imerese where they sold their car and bought a boat.
The disorientated pair arrived into the harbour at Ustica, 60 km to the north-west of Palermo, “tired, thirsty, and risking shipwreck,” to the dismay of the local mayor, the carabinieri and the coast guard, according to La Stampa.
“The funny thing is that they oriented themselves with a compass, an instrument that works on the basis of terrestrial magnetism, a principle that they, as flat-earthers, should refuse,” Salvatore Zichici, a doctor at the maritime department of the ministry of health, told Italian newspaper La Stampa.
They eventually returned home to Veneto by land, to the “understandable general relief” all round, reports La Stampa.