Our plan was to rise early and get a good start
on a trip to Stromboli. But plans
don’t always work out and ours didn’t.
Firstly I had a terrible night and hardly got any sleep, so waking up
early was difficult. Then,
although we got out of the berth with no trouble, we had a further delay. We decided that with all the motoring we
have been doing we ought to fill up with fuel and this being a very busy
marina, would have a high turnover and hence a good place to fill up. But when we got to the fuel pontoon
just before 9:00am we found they didn’t open until 9:30. So we hung around. Made good use of the wifi, downloading
the Sunday Times and finally got our fuel. It was just as well, because we needed over 80 litres. Unfortunately, however, the fuel
overfilled and we have a rather smelly boat despite trying to clean the spill
up.
So we set off, but only just get off the pontoon
when Richard says we must stop urgently because the water is not circulating
through the engine. He is pretty
sure it is because he did not properly fit the water filter when he put it back
after cleaning it out. So back to
the fuel pontoon. Luckily, the problem was as Richard thought and we were off
within 10 minutes.
The day is bright, but with a lot of thin cloud
making it all rather hazy. There
is little or no wind, so other than an hour trying to motor sail, we are
motoring again. Just as well we
filled up. I am tired so try to
get some more sleep in the cockpit.
We don’t really have lunch, just a snack of mushroom pate on readymade
toasts. The sea is very flat and
glassy, so when I look out and see something on the horizon; it does not take
us long to realise that it is a pod of 6-8 dolphins! They are heading towards us and are lovely and
graceful. We turn off the engine,
but regrettably they do not come and play. They just dive under the boat and then emerge yards behind
us. But it is lovely to see
them. They do lift the spirits so.
We make it to Stromboli and find a reasonable
place to anchor. We have decided
to stay here for the afternoon and evening and then after dinner when it is
dark we will go around the other side of the Island to see the eruption.
For those who don’t know Stromboli is a large
active volcano in the sea. It is
three thousand meters high of which two thousand are under the sea and the last
one thousand is above the water forming an island. It has been constantly erupting for centuries and is
referred to in the Odyssey. It is
a place we have always wanted to visit.
So we are at anchor. There are a lot of other boats, particularly charter
yachts. It isn’t the most
comfortable spots because of all the sea traffic. Ferries come here continuously and create a huge wash which
rocks to boat around badly. This
is made worse by local motor boats who seem to delight in going through the
anchored sail boats at great speed creating even more wash. But we stay to see the eruption. We have a nice swim and relax. It gets dark at 8:00pm, so the plan is
to eat supper and go off around the island. So I start to cook some dinner. I am below making pork steaks with pasta when all hell
breaks loose. The swell from the
large boats and a small motor boat have made the boat rock like I have never
felt before. All the cooking
things are flying around the cabin.
I am certain that the boiling pan of pasta will pour all over me any
second. I shout for help and then
Richard shouts out in pain. In an
attempt to come and help me he got up and was thrown across the cockpit landing
on his elbow on the cockpit table which broke off its hinges with the force of
his fall. He is in a worse state
than me. I have got the cooker on
gimbels so it rocks with the motion of the boat and the pans stay even and
won’t fall off. I am collecting
all the other stuff from the galley and finally just about have got it
sorted. Richard gets down and his
elbow has swollen up to twice its size.
We don’t think he has broken anything, but he is in a state and covers
himself in arnica cream to see if that will help with bruising. Unfortunately we have no ice, which is
what he really needs for the swelling.
The loss of the cockpit table is a bit of a
problem. It is very warm below
decks and we have been eating up in the cockpit most of the time. Parts of it have splintered, so we
don’t know if we will be able to do any repair. We manage dinner below. While I clear up Richard plots a route around the island to
see the lava flow.
It is pitch dark and off we set. It is almost impossible to see where we
are going. We see the lights of a
lot of other boats, but some are quite difficult to interpret. What does a flashing red and green
light on a boat mean? They never
taught either of us about such lighting!
I guess it is peculiarly Italian!
But we make it to the other side of the island and it is spectacular. There is a long wide lava flow going
from the very top of the mountain all the way down the side and stopping at the
sea. It glows bright red and
orange. Occasionally there are
small eruptions at the top where red and orange sparks fly up into the night
sky. Although it has been a bit
scary getting here it has really been worth it.
So after about an hour we decide to turn
back. We don’t go all around the
island, as it is better to spend our time going back the way we came and seeing
more of the eruption.
We have been out for two hours when we arrive
back at the anchorage. We haven’t
done any night sailing for over two years now and we are finding it
difficult. We do eventually find a
place to anchor and we collapse into bed exhausted.
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