Sunday 21 September 2014 - Stromboli

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.

Saturday 20 September 2014 - Tropea

Despite having all the time in the world we were up fairly early.  We had breakfast on board and then get ready to go up to the town.  The idea is to do the walking around this morning before it gets too hot.  Richard has found that there is a Vodafone shop in town and we may need it to top up our internet device.  Before we do that we check the thing and it works!  So Richard must have got really clever and managed to top it up on line (in Italian).   

Having solved the internet problem we don’t really need to go up to the town.  We really saw much of it last night.  But we have paid for two nights and may as well do a thorough job.  So we make our way back up the 200 steps to the town.  The only thing we really missed yesterday was the Cathedral.  It is very ancient and apparently interesting.  It is very plain, but curious.  It is in two styles, one older than another.  After that we wander around some of the newer parts of town we haven’t seen before.   It is getting very hot, so we stop for a drink and decide to have coffee granita - quite good for a hot morning.  We try to find a supermarket, but see nothing very big and nothing that sells fresh semi-skimmed milk.  We go in to the tourist office, but they don’t help much with information about Stromboli.  However we find a lady on one of the computers and she is much more helpful.  The volcano is always active and always pours lava into the sea.  You have to go to the opposite side of the island from the anchorages to see it.  So we shall see how we get on.

We finally find a shop and indeed it sells fresh milk.  So we buy that and some of the local famous red onions.  We still can’t find any salted butter, so we will have to use the sweet butter I bought the other day.

It is still fairly early and we want to get to the beach so we go for lunch.  We decide it is time to have a pizza.  The restaurant are very nice and put our milk in their cold drinks fridge, so it won’t go off before we get it back to the boat.  Well, it was too much to eat.  Between that and the heat I begin to feel rather odd.  So we make our way back down the stairway to the harbour.  On the way back I feel so bad I don’t want to walk all the way back to the boat and then to the beach.  So I go on to the beach and Richard goes back to the  boat to put away the shopping and to get our bathing suits.  I cannot get us beach chairs because I have no money on me!  So instead I sit in the café in the shade and feel quite comfortable.  Richard arrives and gets us chairs and we have a nice few hours on the beach regularly going into the water to cool off.  By the middle of the afternoon it has clouded over, but it is still very warm so we stay on the beach until nearly 5:00pm.

While we are in this marina I decide to use their laundry facilities to get a bit ahead with the washing.  So we spend the early evening doing laundry, having showers and reading our books while waiting for the washing to get done.  But it feels good to have got that out of the way.  We also go to the café and have a couple of drinks and then back to the boat.

We had thought of going back in to the town where there a more free concerts, but we are feeling lazy and decide not to.  We shall have an early night instead.  I am still not hungry and it is too hot to cook much.  So I just make us cheese omelette with tomato salad for supper and that is enough.  While we are eating dinner there is great excitement on the pontoon.  Someone has fallen off their passerelle into the water.  We don’t go to find out the details because there are frankly plenty of people there helping.  However it seems suspiciously like what happened to me the other night.  It still can’t believe I didn’t go into the water on that occasion.

A 50 foot Dufour from Prague has just moored next to us.  It is a very tight fit.  Hope we can get out without trouble tomorrow.

Friday 19 September 2014 - Tropea

It has been a funny old day.  Woke up and was very anxious to hear the outcome of the Scottish referendum.  So we tried to turn on our internet machine only to find that it had run out of credit.  What a day to do that.  We also really needed a weather forecast, so Richard used his UK phone and spent the £2 a day for internet access abroad.

Having been relieved over the outcome of the vote, we were also pleasantly surprised by the weather forecast.  It is supposed to be a Force 4 wind all day, on the beam.  We could actually sail!

So we set out.  When we leave the marina the wind is blowing at 9 knots and we decide to put up the sails.  We are not going very far, so we don’t have to maintain a good speed to get there in time.  We sail for maybe half an hour in winds from 10 to 15 knots when the wind dies altogether.  It is down to 2 knots and has moved around and is on the nose.  So with regret Richard takes in the genoa and we start the engine.  Within 10 minutes the wind starts to build again and is up of 14 knots.  Richard puts up the genoa again and by the time he does it is blowing 24-25 knots!  It is just enough off the nose to make it possible for us to sail, but it is hard work.  The sea is coming at us from the side and we are rolling a lot.  We put on life jackets and harnesses and Richard takes in a reef.  All of this has happened within the first 75 minutes of being at sea!  With the reef in and the sails set we are screaming along at 7-8 knots.  Now this is really sailing.

We are expecting the wind to die as quickly as it came up, but no, it stays blowing a 5 gusting 6 for the next two hours.  Even better it has gone around a bit so we are on a reach, which is nearly ideal.  As the wind goes around the sea also seems better and we are pressing forward very smoothly.

We get within half an hour of Tropea port when the wind finally dies.  So we have to motor the last bit, but this really has been our first good sail of this leg of the journey.

We enter Tropea harbour and call them up.  They give us a nice berth with no trouble.  We will stay here a couple of days because it is supposed to be a very nice town worth exploring.  We also need to get to a Vodafone shop to top up our internet device.  Richard has tried to do it online, but has not received confirmation that it has been credited.

The weather has turned very hot and sultry.  We can barely cope.  We spray down the boat to get all the salt off it after our sail.  A French couple come in and moor beside us.  They have just come from the Straits of Messina (where we will wind up) and had a terrible time with a force 7 gusting up to 65 knots!  I am rather put off by that, but at least they are here safe and sound to tell the tale.

We are here to go to the ancient town which is up a very steep cliff.  There is a walking way in which involves 200 steps.  It is too hot to contemplate that this afternoon, so we will leave it until evening. We look around the marina first and then find the beach, just outside.  We decide we have to have a swim, so we go to the beach and spend perhaps 30 minutes in the water cooling down.  The water is warm, but still a relief from the heat of the day.  After that we go directly and have showers.  We want to go somewhere to get the marina internet, which is a bit hit and miss.  So after a cold drink at the local bar we manage some internet access. 

Now it is after 6pm and is cooling a little.  So we walk up in to the town.  There is a jazz festival on, but we cannot work out what time the music starts.  In the end we just a have little walk around, have a cocktail and then a rather pedestrian dinner.  But it really is too hot to cook on board.

We are now in the cockpit hoping the boat is cooling down before we have to go to bed.  At least there is no specific time we need to get up tomorrow!

Thursday 18 September 2014 - Amantea

We do not get up as early as we had hoped and only get away at about 8:45.  Richard has looked up the weather and says there will be no wind and it will be sunny.  I am unsure about this as the sky is very overcast.  When we get out of the marina we find that there is a bit of wind, about 10 knots and it built to about 15knots.  So we put the sails up straight away and hoped for a good sailing day.  We probably sailed for just under an hour when the wind disappeared completely.  Richard blames it on his going below to put on sun cream!  I think that is unlikely.  But the end result is that we are motoring again.  But we have to keep up speed because of the long journey.  According to the pilot book there is no harbour between here and Tropea, our next destination.  There is one exception, but the pilot book says that the harbour is very small, filled with local boats and is not likely to have a place to stay.

So we motor on and for a time it seems like we should be able to make it to Tropea in daylight hours.  But then just after lunch the wind gets up.  That would be fine, but it is on the nose, as ever.  The wind builds and is up to 15 knots and the sea is getting lumpy.  Motoring in to this is no fun and it is slowing us down, so even if we can bear to go on like this, we will probably arrive after dark; not good.

So Richard decides to turn around and try the only other harbour at Amantea.  He has rung them on the phone twice and had no reply.  He as also tried to get them on the radio, but again without luck.  We turn towards the marina and would you believe it, the wind goes around so it is still on the nose!  We’ve had enough of this, so we alter course to just be able to sail upwind.  The wind gets up to 17 knots and we have a good sail for about an hour, but we are too far north for the port, so for the last hour we have to motor again into the wind.  This is all a bit of a gamble.  We have no idea if we will be able to get a berth.  The only alternative will be to anchor off and hope we can get some shelter.  I am expecting a very uncomfortable night.

But we have a delightful surprise.  As we enter the harbour (which is much as described in the pilot) a man directs us to an alongside berth.  He doesn’t speak English, but he does speak French so we are able to communicate and find that it is fine for us to remain for the night.  The electricity and water are a long way away from the berth, but he gets us connected with their own very long line and long hose!  It is all very friendly and we shall have a safe and comfortable night.  The office doesn’t open until 6:00pm (which may be why we could get no reply).  The man there also speaks French, so we can register without difficulty.  There are no facilities really, but it is very cheap and we are quite content. 

Drinks and dinner on board after we have given the boat a good clean.  Now we only have about a 20 mile trip to either Tropea, or perhaps Vibo Valentia, where there is a rosette restaurant.

Wednesday 17 September 2014 - Cetraro

Got up fairly early and went in to town to do a bit of shopping.  There is only one tiny shop which sells everything at fairly high prices, but we think we ought to have the basics on board in case we can’t get into ports with any facilities.  In town see our neighbour with the Oyster and find we might meet him again as he too is wintering in Ragusa.

As usual there is no wind, so we are motoring again.  We stopped for lunch just south of a harbour that was ruined some years ago when its outer breakwater was smashed in a storm and has not been rebuilt.   We had a nice break for lunch, but had no swim because it was cloudy and rather cool.

For the night we make it to Cetraro.  This is a rather large marina, well appointed and we are directed to a berth without trouble.  We register and pay and find that the fees are well down now that we are in Calabria.  We ask about a supermarket.  Again, we are not sure where we will be in the next few days and we need provisions on board.  We are told that there is one 600 meters away, which sounds OK.  We set out on foot and find that it is much further away than they said.  We estimate about one mile.  Also it is a Lidl, which I really dislike.  They have very limited lines, but we do manage to get most of what we need to keep us going for a few days.  Then we have to lug the shopping all the way back to the boat.

On the plus side the marina has free WIFI and excellent showers.  So we now feel clean and in touch with the world.  We eat dinner on board and decide to try to have an early night because the next port is 50 miles away and we should have an early start.

Tuesday 16 September 2014 - Maratea

I didn’t post yesterday, because frankly nothing much happened.  We left Agropoli after 9:30am, somewhat later than we had hoped.  The forecast was for very little wind and for it to be variable.  It turned out just like that.  For most of the morning it was very light and not able to take us along at any pace.  By variable, Richard said they meant that no matter how we changed direction, the wind would follow so that it was always on the nose!  After lunch the wind did go around so that we could sail, but as it was so light all we did was motor sail.  At least we were pretending to be a sailboat!

We thought that for a change we would anchor out on Monday night.  So we got to Camerota rather late and anchored just outside the harbour.  We had hoped to go swimming, but by the time we got there, the sun had gone and it was a bit cool for that.  We had a very nice and peaceful (and free!) night at anchor, eating aboard.  We never thought about going in to the town.  In fact, we haven’t yet blown up our dinghy!

We set off again this morning at about 9:45.  We are not going very far.  Again there is no wind.  Never really gets above 4 knots and is usually lower.  So Richard never takes the sail covers off and we just gently motor for the morning.  We get to Maratea just at lunch time.  Instead of going into the harbour right away, we anchor opposite a beach and have a lovely swim around the boat.  The water temperature is 26 degrees C!  Then we have lunch and at about 2:30 enter the harbour.  We cannot find anyone to tell us where to moor – all at lunch or having their siesta.  We motor around this very small harbour in the hope that as usual someone will come over in a rib or wave at us from a pontoon to tell us where to go, but nothing happens.  We read on one of the pontoons that the harbour works on VHF channel 74, so I call them up, but get no reply.  Richard decides that we will just moor where there is a space and sort it out later.  We spot a lovely new 57 foot Oyster with a Red Ensign on a fairly empty pontoon and just moor up next to it.  The conditions are so benign that Richard is able to jump off the back and take lines from me, so we get tied up with no assistance.  The owner of the Oyster notices us, but only after we are just about all sorted.   He tells us where to go to register, so we go into the village and find the office.  They are quite happy for us to stay where we are, so that is fine.

The town is very cute.  Small and all built into a hill, as many of these places are.  It seems to be little gem.  We will eat out tonight, as there are a number or restaurants around the harbour.

Back on the boat it is very hot and we just laze in the cockpit reading the newspaper, etc.  There is supposed to be toilets and showers, but when we looked they were closed and they are not part of the harbour facilities, so the office couldn’t tell us when they open.  So it is all on the boat again.

We have dinner in a restaurant overlooking the harbour.  Very pretty.  The food is OK.  Now back on board and planning our next destination.  We think it will be a long day for the next two days.

Sunday 14 September 2014 - Agropoli

Up fairly early.  The sky seems to have cleared and it is a lovely day.  It takes a bit of time for us to get going.  Richard goes to pay.  Suddenly they say the machine for the credit card isn’t working so Richard has to use the last of his cash to pay.  We expect it went straight into the man’s pocket, but such is life in Italy.

Our original plan was to have a long sail today.  I have made sandwiches to eat under way.  The port Richard was headed for, Acciaroli,  was about 35 miles away.  It was said to be a charming if small place.  Richard tries to ring them to secure a berth, but first cannot find a number and when he does the man on the other end of the phone speaks no English and they cannot make each other understand.  The Cruising Association’s “Captain’s Mate” says that in June this year a member with a 1.8 metre draft boat was told the harbour was too shallow.  That shouldn’t stop us with our lifting keel.  But Richard decides to play safe and we change course to go to Agropoli, only 20 odd miles away and which is a big port where we are bound to find a space.

When we start out Richard assumes that there will be no wind.  But as we get out there is a pleasant breeze.  So we put up the sails and for an hour or so we have a following wind of 9-10 knots.  Not enough to get us where we are going in a reasonable time, so we are motor sailing, but at least we are using the sails.  However as Richard changes course to Agropoli, the wind dies and what little there is, as usual, is on the nose.  So down come the sails and up goes the engine!

We make good time and decide to stop for a swim and some lunch.  The water is very warm, over 25 degrees C.  This is our first swim since we returned to the boat, and it feels like we are on holiday.  Richard gets a chance to use his snorkel to look under the boat and finds that although there is a lot of weed on the water line, the bottom is fairly clean, which is good.

Then we make it into port at about 2:30.  We were going to look further into the harbour, but we are waved in by someone at one of the first pontoons.  We know this is another harbour with different people running different pontoons and we haven’t a clue what any of them charge or what they are like.  But we follow the man who has spotted us.  We are at the far end of the harbour from the town, but the berth seems to be comfortable and there is electricity and water.  He charges 60 Euros, which seems to be about average here.  So we guess we are alright.  The only problem is that he too wants cash and Richard used all his cash this morning.  So we will have to go in to the town to find an ATM (called Bancomat here).

It is now very hot and I wish we were still out swimming.  The town is up a steep hill and it is quite a climb.  We ask were the cash machine is and are directed to a bank on the square.  The problem is that it is Sunday and this bank’s cash machine is inside the bank.  There is clearly some system to get in out of hours, but neither we nor another person who seems to be a local can work it out.  So Richard goes off to find another machine, and succeeds.

The town has a very old part, and it is charming.  It is still further up a steep hill and is only accessible by a long staircase.  We climb up and have fun wandering around the old streets.  We make it to the castle which is in a wonderful spot with a great view over the bay.  On the way down Richard tries to find another route and we wind up nearly down the hill on a dead end and have to climb back up in order to get out of the town.

Back on the boat we find another British boat on the pontoon.  This is a rare thing, so we invite them over for a drink.  Have a very nice evening.  They are Mike and Penny Acton.  They live in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and we heard Mike speak two years ago at one of our Cowes Sail Over lunches at the Royal Yacht Squadron.  Isn’t it a small world! 

After too much to drink I make a quick dinner of the left over liver from the other night.  We are now wacked again and ready to go to bed.  We have had a few clues about where to go from the Actons, so we shall see if that works out.