I am a bit fed up with this expensive
berth. I want to use the toilet in
the morning and although they say the office opens at 8:00am, it is still
closed at 8:45! Not good value for
money. Anyway we pack up slowly
and leave the berth at about 10:00am.
There is still no wind and we will have to motor again. So it is just as well that we are able
to make it to the fuel pontoon. We
fill up and find that we have used over 100 litres of diesel (out of a tank of 150). We really did need to fill up.
Another problem with this expensive
harbour is that you are not allowed to discharge even grey water into it. That means we cannot do washing up and
Richard can’t shave. Another
reason we wanted the facilities open early as claimed. However we feel a bit aggrieved by the
fact that when we fill up with fuel, the server allows the fuel to over flow
and then washes it down into the harbour with some soap. Why is that any better then our doing the
washing up!
So we are on our way. I feel rotten. Richard had a terrible cold the week
before we left and somehow I managed to avoid catching it. The cold turned into a hacking cough,
which he is just getting over and I have just got! I don’t know how I got the cough without ever having the
cold, but there you are. The
constant hacking is making my back muscles sore and keeping me awake at
night. I must get rid of it.
The sea is glassy and there is no
wind. At one stage Richard thinks
the wind is getting up and puts up the sails. To prove we are not a motor boat he even turns off the
engine. Now I may be a speed
demon, but I don’t think anyone would consider a boat speed of under 2 knots to
be acceptable. But Richard
persists for half an hour until we are doing .7 of a knot and he puts the
engine back on.
We are crossing the Bay of Naples. We should be able to see Mt Vesuvius,
but it is very hazy and we can only see the very lowest slopes. We are not going to stop at
Naples. Everyone seems to say you
should give it a miss because of security problems. Instead we have been recommended to a private pontoon in the
harbour of Castellammare di Stabia.
It is supposed to be close to Pompeii, so we can visit there
tomorrow. In the last half hour of
our approach, would you believe it, the wind gets up to 14 knots! So we get half an hours sail, but have
to cope with wind when mooring, which turns out to be no problem. We somehow manage to find the single
pontoon recommended and raise people from the place to show us where to
moor. It is all a bit ramshackle,
but we are here.
The town is really a dump. It is supposed to be a seaside resort,
but there are no facilities to speak of and no real beach. It looks like they are trying to make a
beach, but haven’t finished. We
walk all over the place trying to find a tourist office or somewhere we can
work out how to get to Pompeii.
Eventually we wind up asking in the only decent looking hotel in the
town. The receptionist there is
very nice and tells us how to take the train there. Apparently, we need to take the train towards Naples and get
out after three stops! Sounds easy
enough. He gives us a timetable
and we have found out where the station is. But we will have to make an early start, especially as it
has got very hot here.
On the way back to the boat we find a
nice café where we have drinks again served with lots of nibbles. Back on the boat I cook a lasagne. Haven’t made one for years. Seems to turn out OK. Richard says that with all the Italian
food I’m cooking they should make me an honorary Italian. It would help if I could speak any of
the language!
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