Saturday the 7th September 2019 arrived bright and sunny, so we left Capraia island off the Tuscan coast of Italy, after a hearty breakfast to sail in a light breeze and flat seas, across to Corsica. As we approached the east coast of Corsica, we were welcomed by quite beautiful scenery of green mountains, white sandy beaches and blue seas. The distance from Capraia island to Port de Taverna in Corsica is 45 nm and we anchored offshore at 6:30pm for a quiet night.
Approaching Corsica.
The east coast of Corsica unfortunately doesn’t have many sheltered anchorages or natural harbours. The next morning after topping up the diesel tank with 60 litres of spare diesel from our jerry cans, we set sail for Porto Vecchio, 51 nm to the south in a lovely 15 knot breeze off the land. We would soon learn that the strong westerly wind buffeting the west coast of Corsica, was now accelerating across the island, creating even stronger katabatic gusts on the east coast.
Gusts of up to 30 knots hit us, twice broaching Esprit and turning all our gear inside, upside down. Down to a fully reefed mainsail and a jib furled to the size of a bath towel, we were flying along at 9 to 10 knots SOG and getting thoroughly drenched by the sea spray. We spotted a small sheltered bay on the GPS and decided to cut the trip short and anchor in the small bay of Solenzara Corse after 33 nm. The small marina was overflowing with yachts seeking shelter, so we were one of four boats anchored in the lee of the harbour breakwater. Getting the sails down was not funny!
Entering Porto Vecchio.
Porto Vecchio, 18 nm further south is a big sheltered bay, but with a 20 knot wind on the nose, we had to motor for 3.5 hours to get there the next day. The following day was spent searching for the Customs and Immigration office, only to find the government had closed this office. The plan was to apply for an extended three month visa for my Aussie passport, in terms of EU family rights rules – under the umbrella of Annie’s UK passport, which is unrestricted until Brexit is resolved.
Defeated, we sat down for iced coffees and croissants, discussing what to do next. I would soon be running out of my 90 days in the Schengen area, before having to leave for 90 days. You may recall I had a run in with the Greek authorities last year for the same reason. The option we have, is to sail to Tunisia and leave Esprit there and travel for three months out of the Schengen area, to say Morocco, Kenya or elsewhere in Africa. But first, Annie’s sister Penny, husband Frank and daughter Julia will join us in a few days for sailing in the Maddalena islands in northern Sardinia.
By way of an introduction to Corsica, it should be noted that Napoleon was born here and therefore many streets, restaurants and bars sport the names Napoleon or Bonaparte.
Ahead of the game – electric buses in Porto Vecchio.
After that, we may well be fed up with this Schengen caper and head west along the French and Spanish coasts and the Balearic islands to Gibraltar. Then a December sail down the west coast of Morocco to the Canary islands and a January crossing of the Atlantic to the Caribbean. We will update you as we sail along up to Christmas. Meanwhile, we hit the French supermarket for excellent but cheap wines, cheeses and pate’s, before sailing down to Lavezzi island, in the Bonifacio Strait between Corsica and Sardinia.
Lavezzi island.
Lavezzi is an interesting little island. It is a maze of rocks, reefs and shoal water in Corsican territory – the rocks looking like they have been stacked by a giant. It is also the island off which the French frigate “La Semillante” floundered during a storm in 1855, and all 773 crew and soldiers on board perished. They were buried on the island in two cemeteries and today there is a memorial at the entrance to Cala Lazarina, where we anchored with about six other yachts.
Full moon rising over Lavezzi.
We crossed the strait between Corsica and Sardinia and sailed between the coast and the lovely Maddalena islands on the north east coast of Sardinia, passing Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda, to anchor in the quiet bay of Cala di Volpe. The following day we motored the last 17 nm to Olbia on the east coast and tied up on the old harbour wall, which amazingly, was for free.
A gin palace coming out of Porto Cervo as we sail past.
There were eight other yachts tied up with sailors from Australia, New Zealand the UK and South Africa, coming around to say g’day. We hosted drinks and nibbles for a bunch of those planning to cross the Atlantic at the end of the year, or do a passage through the Suez canal and down the Red Sea to the Seychelles. We were able to exchange useful information for both these passages.
Cartoon images on a ferry in Olbia.
…hopefully keeping graffiti “artists” off the streets.
Saturday was a spare day in Olbia before the Tonetti’s from Auckland arrived, so we visited a laundromat to do our washing, Vodafone to extend our data plans and to clean the boat inside. With no water on the quay, the outside remained covered in a crust of salt. On the Sunday, Frank, Penny and Julia arrived and after tea, we stocked up at a supermarket with provisions for the next 10 days.
Frank getting down to scrubbing the deck.
Our objective was to explore the Maddalena archipelago, a group of islands on the south side of the Bonifacio Strait. There are seven principal islands and several smaller ones in the La Maddalena National Park and Marine Reserve. We bought a seven day permit online for EU57.60, to visit all the coves and anchorages in the marine reserve. The islands are all composed of red granite and are quite stunning, with white sandy beaches. The crystal clear water gives this region the name of Costa Smeralda, which means the Emerald coast.
The Maddalena islands.
On Monday the 16th September we sailed out of Olbia and anchored for lunch and a swim in the Gulf of Marinella before anchoring in the beautiful bay Cala di Volpe for the night. The following morning while the rest of the crew motored up the bay in the dinghy to a nearby luxury hotel for coffee and croissants, I fired up the water maker to fill the forward water tank.
Frank, Dirk, Annie & Julia.
We visited Porto Cervo, the very expensive and exclusive marina, enroute to Caprera island. With no wind available, the Yanmar engine took us to Cala Portese on the island of Caprera and then on to the main island of Maddalena before we anchored in a sheltered bay on the south side of the island for a predicted northerly. The crew landed the dinghy and walked the 3km to Maddalena town. Laden with wine and beer, they decided to take a bus back to the jetty where they were tied up.
Porto Cervo.
Maddalena town.
The rest of the week, with perfect weather, we cruised amongst the islands and anchored off the islands of Caprera, San Stefano, Maddalena, Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria and Razzoli, to swim, paddle board and do walks on land. On Saturday the 21st, we dropped Julia off in Palau to catch a bus to the airport for her flight back to London and to also top up our provisions.
Villamarina bay in the south of San Stefano island.
Walking up to a Napoleonic fort.
A strong easterly was predicted, so we decided to head to the deep gulf of Cannigione for shelter, but the anchor winch surprised us by refusing to lift the anchor! Frank and I pulled the anchor up by hand and three hours later we anchored in Cannigione next to Jonny and Tina Patrick from Auckland in NZ. We had invited them over for a BBQ the day before and over dinner Jonny offered to help us find the problem with the anchor winch the next morning. I remembered that the new anchor winch which we installed a month ago, came with a solenoid switch which I didn’t install as the old one looked and tested OK.
So, with Jonny’s help we installed the new solenoid in the bow locker, but found that the anchor winch would lower, but not lift the chain. Jonny has an analytical mind and he suggested that the coiled cable of the hand held winch control wasprobably damaged. On testing the 3 conductors with my multimeter, it turned out that one of them was damaged. We replaced the entire cable with a new 3-core cable, soldered up the connections and after further fiddling with the spade connectors on the solenoid, the winch worked. Quite a relief, as I didn’t relish the idea of lifting the anchor by hand from here onwards. We celebrated with drinks at the harbour bar in Cannigione.
Cannigione town.
The wind now turned to a blustery westerly, so we headed to Porto Palma to pick up mooring buoy for shelter from the west. There are two sailing schools in this bay and the dinghies were flying past our mooring at breakneck speeds, with thrills and spills, as the wind picked up to 24 knots. The wind continued through the night and the following morning, on the day our permit expired, we were visited by the charming Parks Authority inspectors to check our permit and wish us safe sailing back to Palau.
From Palau, Penny and Frank would be departing to Auckland the next morning. At 4pm the marina staff allocated us a berth and helped us dock in a 30 knot wind accompanied by lots of shouting! By 5pm we managed to wash the boat inside and out with fresh water and fill the water tanks, which had run empty by midday. We sat down to well deserved sundowners. The Tonetti’s insisted on shouting us a farewell dinner in Palau, which we enjoyed with lots of wine.
Palau street art.
The marina charged us a reasonable EU30 per night, so with the wind building to 30 knots and not abating, we ended up staying for a further two nights, waiting for a better weather window to sail to Corsica. I used the time productively by unpacking the cockpit lockers to crawl into the diabolically small spaces to lubricate the steering chains and sprockets, cables and sheaves with lanolin spray and re-tension the cables around the steering quadrant. I also installed two new shower hoses in the showers and pickled the water maker, while Annie did the shopping for groceries, fruit and veg.
More Palau street art.
On Friday morning the 27th September the wind dropped, allowing us to scrub the sides of the hull and filling a few dings in the gelcoat, before leaving at 11:30 for Corsica, only 17 nm to the north. We had a pleasant sail and anchored in Bonifacio at 2pm to explore this lovely town and have dinner at a restaurant.
Approaching Bonifacio.
Bonifacio harbour side.
The church in town….
… using the surrounding buildings to support its flying buttresses.
Bonifacio street scene.
The town walls illuminated at night.
Diesel and petrol prices were reasonable in Bonifacio, so we filled our tank and jerry cans the next morning before setting sail for Propriano, 36 nm to the north west. A strong westerly took us there in record time, but it was also blowing straight into the anchorage in Propriano, so we found shelter at Porto Pollo on the north side of the gulf on a buoy. Ajaccio is the capital of Corsica was next up and has a huge harbour – we decided to give it a miss, because big harbours can be messy. Our next stop was in Cargese, 33 nm to the north, where I traced the salt water leak into the bilges, to the anchor chain wash pump. After three hours of stripping the pump, reassembly (twice) and cursing, the leak was fixed. Keep fingers crossed, it will stay that way.
Port Pollo.
West coast mountains.
Our final leg up the mountainous and beautiful west coast of Corsica was the 37 nm to Calvi. What started as a pleasant 15-18 knot downwind sail under mainsail only, deteriorated rapidly about 10 nm from Calvi, as the wind picked up to 35 knots and with the main fully reefed, we were bowling along at over 10 knots SOG, sometimes, out of control. We granny gybed into the lee of Calvi, where we anchored at 2pm, exhausted but happy to take off our life jackets and harnesses to enjoy a beer.
Sailing into Calvi bay.
Mountains opposite Calvi.
Calvi citadel.
Calvi is quite a likeable town with the citadel that sits above the town and magnificent mountains across the bay. I would have liked to spend another day exploring the town, but when the weather update at 9 pm came through on the day of our arrival, we realised our only weather window for sailing would be the following day, as the day after that would be too windy and from the wrong direction. So we went to bed with the alarm set for 4 am on the 1st October 2019 for the 95 nm crossing to Cap Ferrat. Our next post will be from the French mainland coast. Cheers for now!
After our visit to Paestum, we left Agropoli in the afternoon and had a good sail to arrive in Salernoon the 20th August at 18:30. We anchored in the bay between the harbour and the marina with eight other yachts. A good night’s sleep was followed by the shock discovery the next morning that our 2.9m Highfield Hypalon dinghy with the Mercury 5hp outboard had been stolen during the night.
Bye bye dinghy and motor – without the puppy.
Unable to get to land, we managed to raise Nicola at he Azimuth marina on VHF and secure a berth. We tied up at the marina at 8am for the start of a totally insane and wasted day. First a visit to the Guardia Costiera, who pointed us to the Carabinieri (police). Here we stood in queue with two other skippers, soon to be joined by another two, who had suffered the same fate overnight.
The police assured us that it couldn’t possibly be people from Salerno who stole the dinghies, but rather the criminals from Naples, or the Sudanese refugees, or even the Germans! Either way, the police were on top of these cases and took only three hours to process our theft report which we needed for an insurance claim.
Annie took care of the police statement and obtaining a theft case number, while Michelle and I took off with the help of Google maps to look for a chandlery that might stock dinghies and outboard motors. The local agent for Highfield didn’t have any stock and the Zodiac agent only had a 3.5m long dinghy and 6hp Suzuki, which was too wide for our transom davits.
I managed to get hold of Antonio at the Highfield Italia office in Tuscany who was most helpful, but couldn’t get a replacement dinghy and motor to us for another 5 days. The local Highfield agent then contacted me to say that he knew of a one year old dinghy with a motor, that was for sale. Realising that there was a high demand for these items at that moment, Annie and I hot footed it down to the Arechi marina, 10km along the bay, to have a look at the dinghy. With two new guests on board and needing to go ashore at our various stops, we decided to buy this dinghy at our own expense, to deal with mobility until our claim was approved.
Michelle’s friend Remi arrived during this frisson and made himself handy by washing the decks, filling the water tanks and going to buy groceries, wine and beer. After a pleasant dinner at a family restaurant with lots of calming wine and good night’s sleep we motored to the Arechi marina the next morning to collect the dinghy and motor – a smaller 2.6m Highfield PVC dinghy with motor.
Amalfi.
Amalfi.
Approaching Positano – Remi and Michelle.
After filling the diesel tank at this marina, we took off straight away to leave Salerno behind as a bad memory and anchored off Amalfi at 5pm. Amalfi and Positano are two beautiful towns along this coast, with dozens of gin palaces of the rich and famous anchored just off shore. Annie, Remi and Michelle decided to go and explore Positano and I went back to Esprit to do anchor watch – the traffic on the water was hectic. Just as well, as we were about to receive a EU1,500 fine for anchoring too close to a beach. I very quickly pulled up the anchor and tootled off to anchor out in the bay.
The Guardia Costiera in their orange RIB issuing fines.
Positano from the water.
Positano town.
Positano “beach”.
According to our not so rich and famous crew, Positano was an absolute bunfight where you could hardly move along the narrow streets due to the crowds of people – not my kind of place at the height of the tourist season. We decided not to visit the island of Capri as reports indicated that there were three times the number of people thronging the island. Instead, we rounded the cape and anchored off Sorrento, which turned out to be a good choice, as it was not as crowded, quite beautiful and relaxed.
View from Sorrento across the bay of Naples – Mount Vesuvius in the background.
Annie and some Sorrento graffiti.
We ordered large cappuccinos with our croissants, but didn’t expect jumbo size.
Sorrento church.
These Vespa “trucks” are all over Italy. Aussie muscle utes eat your hearts out.
Torquato Tasso, the famous poet from Sorrento.
More Tasso – if we have a grandson, they should call him Torquato.
We visited the photo exhibition by Raffaele Celentano – fantastic.
Which also included a collection on Sophia Loren – stunning.
Art gallery above this beautiful courtyard.
Advice from the locals was that Naples would be the place to not only have your dinghy stolen, but also your boat from under you. As a result we sailed across the bay of Naples to anchor at Procida island and the beautiful town of Corricella. We explored the town the following morning and set off at lunch time to motor sail to Gaeta up the coast, where we arrived at 5:30pm.
Esprit anchored off Corricella.
Corricella town from our anchorage.
Corricella town.
Fishing boats and nets.
The girls decided that as there wasn’t much to see except power stations along the coast, until the island of Elba, we should do an overnighter. We arrived at the small island of Giannutri the following day at 5pm, having done 180nm of sailing and intermittent motor sailing.
Remi having a shower and scrub enroute.
Michelle preparing a salad Nicoise for lunch.
After a hearty breakfast, some paddle boarding and swimming, we did the last 50nm to arrive at Campo on the south coast of Elba late afternoon. On the way Remi, who is an excellent videographer, sent his drone up to take some photos and footage of Esprit. Check out: https://youtu.be/P4xUwiSxsOo
Esprit in a light breeze.
Esprit sailing along the Tuscan coast.
Our home – loaded like a freighter.
Michelle ready for the drone to land on her hand – Remi on the controls.
It was time to replenish our water supply, so I ran the water maker to fill the 330l front tank while the young folks took our bicycles to cycle to Golfo Procchio on the north coast and then west to Fetovala on the south coast. Annie and I spent the evening walking through Campo town which is quite attractive.
Elba is the island to which Napoleon was exiled in 1814. Our route took us around the scenic west coast of Elba to Viticcio in the north, where we met other Aussie sailors. We called in to Portoferraio, before sailing across to the mainland to anchor in Livorno. The next morning, Michelle and Remi got onto the train to go walking in the Cinque Terre, before carrying on to northern Italy, where they have left Remi’s van.
Elba, Marina di Campo.
Elba, Campo harbour – walking down from the fort.
Elba – Campo street scene.
Livorno has a big harbour with ferries and cruise liners coming and going continuously, but it is a surprisingly clean and well organised city, so we stayed for three nights, getting our laundry done, buying boat spares, groceries and eating out. Approval for the purchase of a replacement dinghy and motor came through from our insurers in London, so Antonio from Highfield Italia, set the wheels in motion for his dinghy delivery in Viareggio, 20 nm to the north.
The old guys having their morning swim at the yacht club in Livorno.
Viareggio is a major manufacturing hub for some of the largest and most luxurious yachts in the world, like Perini Navi, Benetti and Lusben Craft. Walking past these yards, you realise that the amount of money involved is staggering to ordinary mortals like me and that the tenders to these super yachts probably costs more than Esprit. Viareggio also has a vast collection of public sculptures – too many to show here.
Viareggio – bronze face.
Viareggio – sowing lightning bolts?
Viareggio – a cat at the fish market.
This mortal took the opportunity to drain and replace Esprit’s engine and sail drive oil and replace the oil, fuel and water separating filters, as there is a filter and oil disposal facility available at the marina. I felt that at AUD190/day in the marina, I should fully utilise their facilities, electricity and water, which were included in their charges. We stayed for two days, as Antonio only arrived late on the second day with our new Highfield CL290 dinghy. Our next stop was in the gulf La Spezia, where we anchored in the lovely bay of Le Grazie.
La Spezia – Le Grazie bay.
La Spezia – Porto Venere.
La Spezia – Punto San Pietro.
Between the Gulf of La Spezia and Sestri Levante, lies the mountainous area known as the Cinque Terre – the five lands, which historically were five remote villages. We were indeed fortunate to visit these towns of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso by sea, as the road above the towns is substantially higher. A good option is to visit the towns by train, as the railway is tunnelled just above sea level, popping out at stations next to the towns.
Cinque Terre – Riomaggiore.
Cinque Terre – Manarola.
Cinque Terre – Corniglia.
Cinque Terre – Vernazza.
About 25 nm further to the north, Portofino is an aristocrat of a resort for the rich and favourite of the jet set with a small harbour. It is beautiful, elegant and sophisticated. We nosed Esprit into the harbour to take photos, as we definitely couldn’t afford or even secure a berth amongst the super yachts there. You get the feeling in the marina that you should have got all matching fenders and perhaps a new sail-cover for your visit.
Portofino harbour.
Make way little yacht – I’m backing in.
Phew! he missed us.
At the harbour entrance – these yachts are too big to fit inside the harbour.
Outside the harbour – your conventional gin palace.
Then, not my style, but someone had the money to buy it.
To, …. I am speechless!
Santa Margherita lies 1.5nm north of Portofino and around the harbour there is a more workaday atmosphere. This is were we anchored and it is a thoroughly likeable spot. Just after midnight, a 25 knot Mistral wind from the north west came through and saw us dragging our anchor, which we managed to re-lay in the melee. A sleepless night followed, so at first light around 6am, we lifted anchor in a good 15 – 20 knot N-W wind to set sail and head south to Corsica.
Santa Margherita.
A very interesting day was to follow on Friday 6th September: We were flying along at 8-10 knots SOG (Speed over Ground) when the wind abruptly changed and a 20 knot Tramontana wind, off the land kicked in, accompanied by heavy downpours, thunder and lightning. The boat and I needed a wash anyway, but the intermittent squalls and downpours were unpleasant. We altered course to sail to the island of Gorgona, the most northerly of the offshore Tuscan islands.
At 5pm and after sailing for 10 hours and 64 nm, the police stopped us as we were about to enter the small harbour of Gorgona, to tell us that this is a prison island and that boats cannot anchor closer than 3 miles offshore. This was not mentioned in the Italian Waters Pilot, so we set sail again to sail the 23 nm to the island of Capraia where we anchored at 9pm outside the harbour in the dark, in the howling 20 knot N-E Tramontana wind and a big swell. After 87 nm over 14 hours of constantly fighting the big seas and wind, we had a stiff calming whisky, before hitting the bed.
Capraia island harbour.
Capraia town fortifications.
Saturday arrived bright and sunny, so we left Capraia after a hearty breakfast at 10:30 am to sail in a light breeze and flat seas, across to Corsica.
Our next post will be from Corsica – the French island.
Giovanni at Salpancore Marina in Palermo was most helpful in pointing us in the right direction to the Border Police for our passport stamping, the Guardia Costiera for a new “Constituto” (Transit log), the Penguin laundromat and the Carrefour supermarket. We were able to wash the boat and fill up the water tanks, before Martin and Susan Loader from Perth WA, joined us on board on the 1st of August 2019.
Annie trying to get into the Guardia Costiera building.
We met them about three years ago, sailing their yacht “NowAndZen” up the Australian east coast and spent good times cruising together up to northern Queensland, to attend the “Shaggers Rendezvous” at Gloucester Passage. A book could be written about this time. We re-connected like it was yesterday and they will be cruising with us for a week before flying to Paris.
Sue and Annie at Shaggers a few years ago.
Shaggers, Marty and Dirk picking up personality.
Compared to 44 years ago, when my brothers and I travelled through Sicily in our camper van, Palermo has grown into a bit of a dump. I don’t know if the sanitation department is on permanent strike, because walking along the pavements has become like an obstacle course of rubbish. There were one or two well maintained historical buildings worth seeing, as well as a 200 sqm mural to celebrate the lives of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the two brave judges who pursued the Sicilian mafia and as a result, were murdered in 1993 by the Cosa Nostra. We left as soon as we could after stocking up with food and drinks.
Mural citation: But there are actions and reactions. Small daily gestures to break the veil of omertà or great gestures to be seen from afar by all, citizens and criminal organisations. In Palermo: a mural with the immortal faces of two souls who spent their lives in the line of justice, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Their smiles have become the weapon to refute the mafia. Their cooperation is the antibody to get the Cosa Nostra disease out of our society
Baroque church in Palermo
Triumphal entry into Palermo town.
Palermo coffee shop? Simply put out tables in the parking bays.
Our first stop was Cefalu, a beautiful town about midway along the north coast of Sicily. The north coast of Sicily is more developed than the south and substantial highways and train lines follow the coast. The Italian civil engineering projects are of the best in the world, with mind blowing concrete bridges and viaducts. It reminded me of an evening in Melbourne to see the stand-up comedian (and architect) Vince Sorrenti, explaining his Italian heritage and their love of concrete: “Mate, we buy a quarter acre block of land with a house on it and the first thing we do, is concrete the whole yard!”
What a bridge!
Cefalu beach.
Cefalu at sunset.
Cefalu buzzing at night.
From Cefalu we sailed to the Lipari islands to the north east of Sicily. Also known as the Aeolian islands, from the legend of Aeolus who gave Odysseus the contrary winds tied up in a bag. There are seven islands and Alicudi, the most westerly island, doesn’t have suitable anchorages, so we tried to anchor off Filicudi, but the raging north westerly made this impossible. We continued to Salina island, where we got a good anchorage in the lee of the island, at the quaint Santa Marina village.
Marty in his element.
A passing Hydrofoil ferry.
Approaching Filicudi island.
The harbour at Salina island
Buying bread and fruit in Santa Marina village.
Street scene Santa Marina.
Sun Dried tomatoes on the pavement.
Annie and Sue dodging traffic in the village.
The following day we motor sailed to Stromboli, the most northerly island and also known as the oldest lighthouse in the world. This active volcano has been dubbed “the lighthouse of the Mediterranean” from ancient times to the present. The 925m high volcano is in a continuous state of activity, releasing its pressure bit by bit, day by day, instead of building up to a big bang. We anchored off Scari, the main town, next to a Jeanneau 54DS that ran aground in a storm, the week before. A sad sight, with its keel and rudder ripped off and the hull holed in several places.
Approaching Stromboli island
Jeanneau 54DS aground on the rocks.
Stromboli – there she blows.
Lava running down the northern slope.
Night time action.
After viewing the volcanic activity in the afternoon and the evening, we woke up to Esprit covered in fine volcanic grit the next day. On reaching Lipari island, we anchored next to the old harbour and tried to wash down the grit as best we could with buckets of sea water. The old town is beautiful and we enjoyedexploring it and listening to a jazz guitarist while sipping a beer or two.
Lipari old town.
Lipari harbour.
The town square.
Enjoying a sundowner.
While Giovanni’s guitar gently weeps.
Yesh! let’s have another one.
Annie and Sue discussing shopping strategy.
Overhead bathroom extension.
Our last day was spent at Vulcano island which has a semi active volcano and hot volcanic mud baths with an overpowering sulphur smell.
Vulcano island.
Mud baths.
Lava column next to Esprit.
We motor sailed back to Cefalu in Sicily where we had a farewell dinner with Marty and Sue before they caught the train to Palermo and the airport the next morning on Friday the 9th August. Our parcel with replacment fridge door seals was also delivered by Giovanni from the marina in Palermo, so we spent another day in Cefalu installing the seals, doing the laundry and going out to dinner to listen to some live music.
Back in Cefalu Marty observed: “These ladies have the right footwear for foredeck work”
Farewell dinner starters.
Marty’s kind of shirt.
Last night Cefalu treat for Marty and Sue: Operatic arias in the Duomo town square.
The following night, from the sublime – to Reggae.
Due to intermittent internet contact with our daughters, we were surprised to hear that after six months in Sydney, Michelle was back in London. She was enroute from Norway, where she and Remi had collected a camper van Remi had bought, and was busy travelling to Poland. She contacted us from Venice to ask if she could join us on Esprit in Naples. Karen in the meantime, decided to buy a house in Newcastle, as it seems her training in orthopaedic surgery will keep her at the John Hunter hospital for the foreseeable future.
Remi and his van at Lake Como.
Michelle in Venice.
Three day sails of about 30 nm/day brought us to the northern entry to the Strait of Messina. After crossing the Strait, we anchored at Scilla on the Italian mainland, followed by Bagnara and Tropea, before we had a big day sailing to Cetraro, 54 nm to the north west. Here we anchored next to a catamaran from Bundaberg in Australia and were invited over for drinks with Grant and Leslie Thompson.
Strait of Messina. The HT electrical supply cable masts became redundant, due to wind farms in southern Sicily.
Scilla.
We had to anchor in Sapri bay, 37 nm to the north west, to buy more Vodafone data time as their app wasn’t working on our phones. We also had to post signed documents to Sydney, which took 45 minutes in a queue at the post office to buy a stamp. No rush here mate. The three discos and karaoke bars blaring their music until three o’clock in the morning in Sapri, were the pits.
Arts and Craft style in Sapri.
Ice cream in Sapri – in the parking bay!
After a short hop to Scario, a small town along the coast, we bumped into Grant and Leslie again. The town deserved a two day stay and explore and the generous snacks served with drinks at all the bars, forced us to go on a pub crawl with Grant and Leslie on the second night.
Scario harbour.
Annie and her namesake convent in Scario.
Good value – two Peroni’s and spuntino (snacks) for EU3. (OMG! this looks like a Facebook post)
Grant, Leslie and Annie.
We felt energised by these fun run athletes trotting past our table.
A day sail to San Marco, followed by a short 7 nm motor sail brought us to Agropoli – a corruption of Acropolis, betraying the town’s Greek origins. We were anchored outside the harbour under a cliff with houses perched above, as there were no berths available in the harbour.
The entrance to Agropoli harbour.
We anchored outside the harbour.
In the afternoon Michelle arrived, having flown to Naples and taking the train from there to Agropoli. It was good to catch up with her news. Early the next morning we caught a train to Paestum, about 10 km to the north-east. Said to be the finest Greek architecture in Italy, the ruins of the town have stood in majestic solitude for over a thousand years. The city was founded by Greeks in the 6th century BC.
Michelle and Annie – the local train.
Paestum: The temple of Athena.
The temple of Neptune.
The temple of Hera.
Detail: Temple of Neptune.
It was as hot as Hades, but well worth the effort and after visiting the extensive museum, we took a bus back to Agropoli. We raised our anchor in the afternoon and set sail for Salerno, where we had to meet Michelle’s friend Remi, the following day.
We left Cavtat in Croatia at 4 pm on Tuesday 2nd July 2019 and motored for two hours before we reached the forecasted northeaster. With the wind building, we soon had to tuck in two reefs in the mainsail and furl the jib to 50%. The sea was flat and we covered the 105 nm in 15 hours to arrive in Bari, Italy at 7 am, averaging 7 knots – a most satisfactory crossing. As we were now entering the European areas with costly marina charges, we will record these charges to aid our fellow sailors who follow our blog and plan to sail in these areas.
Bari to Palermo.
The marina in Bari, Nautica Ranieri, offered us a berth for two nights at EU 50 a night. We did the laundry and cleaned the boat, before David and Patricia Bruce form Cape Town arrived the following day. We then explored the old town of Bari, stocked up with groceries, filled the diesel tank and sailed the 27 nm south to Monopoli, which is quite an old and attractive town.
Dave, Pat and Annie at Strada del Dottula, Bari.
A wedding on the Vico la Trulla.
The colourful Vico la Trulla area in Bari.
Meeting SA expats who are living in Germany, in Monopoli. Notice the ” ‘n Boer maak ‘n Plan” T-shirt.
Street scene in Monopoli.
Colourful Baroque church in Monopoli.
Poor man’s copy of Michelangelo’s David found in Monopoli.
From here we called in at Brindisi and then Otranto, before rounding the heel of Italy to Santa Maria de Leuca, where we spent two days. We left early on the 10th July to do the 75 nm crossing of the Gulf of Taranto in winds of between 5 and 25 knots, with rain and thunder. It was a relief to tie up in Ciro Marina where we were bunkered down for two days while a 25 knot northerly raged.
Brindisi old town with the Via Appia steps.
Annie and Patricia at the steps.
A Mussolini era monument in Brindisi.
Otranto anchorage.
An entrance into Otranto old town.
Otranto square.
Argentinians, Leo and Carla and their dog, cycling the world.
Otranto taxi.
Otranto beach.
I was fortunate to locate a reinforced water pipe in Ciro to replace the leaking pipe on the hot water cylinder, while we waited for the wind to abate. We had a good sail to La Castella, 40 nm to the south west, where a too shallow entry to the inner harbour, as well as the outer harbour packed with fishing boats, forced us to raft up on an abandoned, rusty yacht.
Mussolini’s steps into Italy at Santa Maria de Leuca.
Outdoor dancing in St Maria de Leuca.
Tied up to a wreck in La Castella.
The next day started with me diving to clear the propellor from a birds nest of fishing buoy ropes, before we set sail for the 53 nm crossing of the Gulf of Squillace to tie up late afternoon in Roccella Ionica at the marina. The marina staff was most helpful and charged EU 60 for the night.
An early start the next morning with a good following wind, had us poled out to cover the 77 nm across the Strait of Messina, to anchor in Naxos by 6 pm. (Naxos was colonised by the Greeks – hence the name) A heavy swell early the next morning, forced us to leave Naxos and motor through a big sea to look for shelter and tie up NIC Marina in Catania at EU 40 for the night. Catania has a big harbour and is quite run down, but we had a lovely dinner in town – in the rain.
Walking past the Bellini theatre on our way to dinner.
After dinner – Grappa and Limoncello.
We motor sailed the 30 nm to Siracusa to be welcomed by a storm with pelting rain as we entered the harbour. The marina quoted us EU 90/night, but a French couple tied up to the town quay, told us we should go and see the Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) for a berth. If there is one available, they will allow you to stay for five nights for free! No power or electricity available – which we don’t require, as we are self sufficient. Annie went to their office and managed to get us a berth.
The entrance into Siracusa harbour when it’s not raining.
Archimedes, Siracusa’s favourite son of 23 centuries ago.
Dave and Patricia were due to fly out from Catania in five days, so we decided to stay put, as we were all knackered after some hectic sailing. Apart from that, Siracusa is an attractive place, with a beautiful old town. We spent five relaxed days exploring the town, fixed the lazy jacks, broken during our dramatic entry into the bay and having our main and jib sheets washed at a laundry.
Amazing plasterwork on the Chamber of Commerce building.
The famous Sea Shepherd in the harbour.
Even an alley can be a restaurant
A chandlery supplied us with Dyneema non-stretch rope for a new main halyard and pre-stretched polyester rope for our worn-out reefing lines, at a reasonable price. These and the washed sheets (now a lot softer) were installed and other maintenance items done, while visiting the markets and having relaxed breakfasts and dinners in between with Dave and Patricia.
The fish market.
Not only fruit and veg, but spices too.
Walking to dinner.
The cathedral square.
We also attended a concert by a brilliant duo from the Netherlands, Bobby Rootveld and Sanna van Elst, called Duo NIHZ.
Bobby and Sanna.
Our ladies, Patricia and Annie.
Fountain in the town square of Siracusa.
On Saturday the 20th July, Dave and Pat caught the bus to the airport for their flight back to Cape Town. We checked out with the Frontier Police, filled the tank and jerry cans with diesel and motored to Capo Passero, 31 nm to the south where we anchored in crystal clear water. It was great to swim off the back of the boat in privacy, after five days in a goldfish bowl, on the town quay.
Capo Passero anchorage.
To crown it all, a splendid jazz quartet in the style of George Benson, played at a restaurant on shore, while we grooved in the cockpit with a litre of wine and barbecued our fish, bought at the market that morning. We made water and filled the water tanks the following day. The anchorage was pleasant enough for us to stay another day and night, before motor sailing 50 nm to Scoglitti, further west. The beaches along the south coast are sandy and attracts many tourists. It appears this area is also the fruit and veg basket of Italy, judging by the thousands of tunnel hothouses.
Leaving Capo Passero.
Scoglitti.
Our next anchorage was San Leone which was holiday central for tourists, with blaring doof-doof music and over excited DJ’s shouting at the top of their voices. The mozzies decided they couldn’t handle the noise and came to join us on Esprit – what a night! The next anchorage at Sciacca was a lot quieter and prettier, before we reached the island of Favignana, off the west Sicilian coast.
Sciacca.
We anchored in the bay Cala Rossa on the north coast as a strong southerly was predicted for the following day. A remarkable spot with dozens of yachts and boats on moorings or at anchor in crystal clear water – we stayed for two nights before a building northwesterly forced us to motor to the south side and anchor in Scindo Passo.
Intense blue, but clear water.
Here, the wind started blowing hard, reaching 25 – 30 knots overnight, with a hideous swell on the beam for a sleepless night. To crown it all, on leaving the bay the next morning, we struck an uncharted sandbank and got stuck. A friendly Frenchman came to our aid with his dinghy, sporting a 20 hp motor. With our Yanmar and his Honda at full revs, we couldn’t budge Esprit.
We won’t forget Scindo Passo!
Our main and jib were hoisted and with the 15 knot wind and the two motors, we eventually sailed Esprit off the sandbank. Quite a relief, so while the going was good we carried on in the 15 knot wind and sailed all the way to Capo San Vito, 31 nm to the N-E, where we anchored for the night.
Capo San Vito.
Our last anchorage before Palermo was Baia di Mondello. A short hop to Palermo followed, where we booked a berth at the Salpancore Marina in order to pick up Marty and Sue, our friends from Perth.
Baia di Mondello.
Look out for our next post, probably from Naples, or a bit further north along the Italian coast.
Apropos our previous post on Venice, an American friend sent me an article from the Washington Post about “The age of the overtourist”. It included examples of how to ruin a perfectly beautiful city for everyone. She concluded: “These have to be some of the saddest photographs of Venice I’ve ever seen”. I second that Trena!
The number of passengers and crew on this ship is almost the same as the permanent population of Venice.
Nice vista down this canal?
Unlike the lack of wind while crossing to Venice, the Scirocco from the south kicked in for our return journey to Umag in Hrvatska, as the Croatians call their country. We had an exciting 50 nm sail averaging 8-9 knots in a 20 knot wind, getting us to Umag in a record time, but salt encrusted.
Annie at the helm.
Having checked in at customs and immigration and paying another AUD 300 for a 21 day cruising permit, we enjoyed relaxed sailing south to Rovinj and Pula. In Pula we collected a new anchor windlass for AUD 1,451 which the Quick agent had ordered for us, 10 days earlier from Italy..
The new windlass, motor and gearbox.
Two days of good sailing in a following wind took us first to Losinj island where we anchored in Artatori bay with 23 other yachts and then to Iz island where we anchored in Soline Bay with a yacht from Austria. The summer charter fleets were out in force and we often saw up to 50 yachts on the water around us, mostly with crews from Germany and Italy.
Passing a lighthouse on the way south.
Our next stop was Zut for two days. After Zut followed Kaprije island, and then we spent two days in the pleasant town of Primosten, waiting for the southerly Scirocco to abate.
Primosten.
Primosten – public sculpture.
Entrance into the old town.
Cut stone for roof tiles.
When the wind turned to the northerly Bora, we had two days of excellent downwind sailing with the pole out, overnighting at Stari Star, a small cove off Hvar and Tri Luke on Korcula island.
Relaxed downwind sailing.
Hvar.
A few more anchorages followed and on the 27th June we were back in beautiful Cavtat, where we first checked into Croatia on the 25th April. It was now much warmer and busier, but then the Bora from the north punished us for three days with winds of up to 45 knots, while at anchor in Cavtat – not pleasant. When the wind settled down, we stocked up with provisions and waited until Tuesday the 2nd of July for the forecasted 15 knot northerly to take us on the 105 nm overnight crossing to Bari in Italy.
Annie in Cavtat.
Servicing the winches in Cavtat, before our next passage.
Cavtat sunset.
Our neighbours, Saffers Brady and Nicky and the jolly French twins, Christine and Anne over for goodbye drinks.
In conclusion: Our cruise through the islands of Croatia (Hrvatska), which have been populated since the time of Ancient Greece (between 3500 BC and 2500 BC), has been a pleasant but expensive experience. According to Wikipedia, the Croatianpart of the Adriatic Sea, has 718 islands, 389 islets and 78 reefs, making the Croatian archipelago the largest in the Adriatic Sea. Sailing at night is not recommended, as not many of the islets and reefs are marked!
Map of Croatia and some of it’s bigger islands.
Of the 718 islands, only 47 are inhabited in the sense that at least one person resides on that island. Some sources indicate 67 inhabited islands, which is the number of islands that have a settlement on them, but 20 of these islands have lost all of their population as a result of the population decline occurring throughout the Croatian islands, due to insufficient economic activity. A number of young people working in restaurants have told us that the younger generation is leaving Croatia for economic or political reasons – a familiar story in today’s world.
The main industries on the islands are agriculture, fishing and tourism. The islands’ agriculture is primarily devoted to viticulture and olive growing. The local economy is relatively underdeveloped and that is possibly the reason why the island people jump at the opportunity to charge yachties for anchoring in their bays on top of the government cruising permit and other sailing levies.
We have found the people and officials very friendly, but I am afraid the cruising yachtsmen and women are now moving to Greece and Turkey, because Croatia has become too expensive.
The area around Zadar has been inhabited since neolithic times. The Romans built the old town which they called Jader and the ruins of the Roman forum is still visible near the church of St Donat. The town has been occupied by various nations, and the Venetians controlled it until 1797.
The ruins of the Roman forum and the church of St Donat.
The belfry of the church of St Donat tower over the old town.
A stall at the fresh produce market.
The Italian influence is notable and we enjoyed exploring the old town, visiting the excellent fresh produce market and extending our cruising permit at the harbourmaster for an additional 15 days.
An excellent school girls string orchestra performing in the town square.
Followed by an equally good jazzy brass band.
Which had the string orchestra girls dancing! Talent with a capital T.
Modern Zadar.
Lovely angels on this old church.
Who will play in heaven for those motorists who take this corner too fast.
We sailed north after three days, stopping at Luka Simuni on the way, to the island of Otok Rab. There is an excellent anchorage at Fumija off the town of Rab where we spent another three days – Rab is a town we can recommend – a beautiful old town and adjoining new town with modern shops and amenities. We managed to stock up with food, wine and beer at a big Konzum market.
A yellow submarine spotted at the entrance to Luka Simuni.
Otok Rab – church belfries dominating the old town.
The coastal walk from Fumija to Rab.
Street scene in Rab.
We had breakfast under this roof which has stood here for 1,250 years.
I was surprised to see Lucifer outside the monastery.
A restored very old chapel.
Another street scene in Rab.
Next stop was Punat – a large sheltered bay on the island of Krk (correct spelling). Not from the rain though – 24 hours of downpours. We headed for the mainland to stop at Rabac at the very top of the gulf – the sun came out and we enjoyed the holiday atmosphere of this resort town and watching scores of Optimist and Laser dinghies sailing around us.
Rabac.
Lasers and their coach.
Uvala Vinjole, beautiful bay 15 nm to the west provided us with an anchorage the following day, as well as numerous nudists sunning themselves on the shore. Unfortunately, we had to continue north the following day, as our extended cruising permit (vignette) was only valid for another week – by which time we wanted to sail to Venice in Italy.
There followed a good sail to Pula, which is an industrial town, slightly tatty, but with excellent Roman remains, notably the well preserved Roman amphitheatre and a temple to emperor Augustus.
Pula: Roman amphitheatre built AD 41 -80.
Close up – massive masonry.
Amphitheatre interior.
Temple to Augustus.
Pula: an older street.
A statue to the Croatian Resistance Movement who fought against the fascist occupation 1941-45.
The Scirocco carried us on to Rovinj, a beautiful town well worth a visit. The church of St Eufemija is visible for many kilometres and the old town surrounding the church has a warren of narrow streets, which we explored. We got back footsore to Esprit, anchored in the lee of Katarina island.
View from our anchorage. The church of St Eufemija is visible for miles.
Approaching Rovinj harbour.
Starting the walk up to the church.
Side vault of the church.
Rovinj street scene.
A wider street.
And a narrower street.
Walking around the Rovinj harbour front.
We had two more stops at Porec and Dajla before reaching Umag, the most northerly harbour in Croatia before reaching the Slovenian border. After stocking up with provisions in Umag, we cleared out with Customs and the police for the 50 nm crossing to Venice, which at 45 degrees north, is as far north as Esprit will sail on this trip.
The expected Bora wind from the north didn’t materialise, so we had to motor the 50 nm across to Venice. Our last visit to Venice was almost five years ago and we were happy to be back in one of our favourite cities. The Venice Biennale is on at the moment, so we were able to visit a number of very interesting exhibitions. It is tempting to include dozens of photos of Venice, so please indulge me with this small selection below.
The prominent lighthouse at the Lido entrance to the lagoon of Venice.
The impressive flood control gates at the Lido, installed to manage future flooding of the lagoon.
Approaching Piazza San Marco.
Off Piazza San Marco.
Annie, my Gondolier, weaving through the water taxis and vaporettos off St Marco.
Off Riva St Biagio.
Santa Maria della Salute.
San Giorgio Maggiore.
Back on land: The belfry of St Mark, with the lion of Venice on the column.
The Basilica di San Marco.
The architect liked columns – lots of columns.
The Ponte del Sapiri between the Palazzo Ducale and the old prison.
Heroic monuments.
With the ubiquitous lion.
The Rialto bridge.
Amazing Murano glassware in a shop window.
Interior of La Pieta church – also called Vivaldi’s church.
Following are a few street scenes. Don’t ask me the names!
Finally, some sculptures at the Venice Biennale. Evidently the black and gold sculptures are in bronze, highly polished and painted. The futuristic coloured sculptures are cast resins a la Jeff Koons work.
My sort of gal – in traditional concrete.
After lunch, a little recovery lie down in the park outside the Biennale.
To sum up: Our route north west.
We will now head back to Umag and then sail south east through the outer Croatian islands, before crossing to Bari in Italy.