“Ships are the nearest thing to dreams that hands ever made”
Author: Rich
This is a diary of hope, adventure and living life to the full
My passion is the sea and travel.
I enjoy meeting new people and visiting new places.
As a Commercially Endorsed Yacht Master Instructor I am happy to share my knowledge and offer my services to fellow sailors.
We reached Stromboli early afternoon and headed up the western coast. Our intention was to see “Sciara del Fuoco “ a blackened lava scar running down Stromboli’s northern flank. We were not disappointed, the scar is incredible and we witnessed gas eruptions and using the binoculars managed to see rock and lava being hurtled into the air. Our intention is to return here at night. We sailed on to our anchorage on the north eastern side of the island. We choose a spot a hundred metres off Spiaggia di Foggia Vecchia beach. There were several yachts here already and more joined throughout the afternoon.
Sciara del Fuoco – The scar of Stromboli clearly visible
At around 22:00 we weighed anchor and set off for our night sail to the norther side of the island and hopefully witness some gas eruptions. We were not disappointed and within minutes we were rewarded with excellent views of lava being thrown high into the air and tumbling down the volcanos steep lava inclines. We watched for hours as every 10 or 15 minutes the lava went spurting Ito the night sky followed by large rumbling explosions. A fantastic firework display, but unfortunately our cameras were not adequate enough to take a decent footage of this awesome display of Nature at work.
Elated and entertained we headed back for our original anchorage and for a goods night rest. Tomorrow the Italian mainland.
Today we decided to hire a rental car and take a trip to Etna and Taormina.
The office staff at Capo d’Orlando were fantastic, especially Laura. We asked for a hire car and within 20 minutes she had it delivered to the marina and we set off on our journey. We had to stop off in town at the car hire company to fill in the paperwork and pay. We drew lots for who wou;ld drive and Bill became our driver for the day. I car was grossly uder powered as we soon found out. The GoogleMaps application took us the scenic route, which off course ment cross country and for roads not fit for cattle let alone a car. Indeed some slopes were difficult to ascend, with the wheels spinning for grip. But we mad it. Arrival at Etna was disappointing for two reasons. Firstly it was raining and visibility was poor and secondly, in my point of view, it is very commercialised and not at all like a heritage site. Nonetheless, we had a bit to eat and the set off in a car back down the slopes, which was considerably easier than the climb up, much to Bill’s relief.
The rain had cleared somewhat, and we managed to get some great shoots of the clouds below and the decimated landscape.
Our hire car with Ed and Bill. Bill looking anxious about the next slope.Rough terrain and decimated landscape from previous eruptions.
We then set off for Taormina, a suggestion of Elaine, Ed’s wife, who texted us that this was a place to visit, and indeed it was.
A fantastic and beautiful town, full of life and culture, beauty and off course thousands of tourists. Wonderful views and spoilt for choice for resturants, bars, shops and churches. Photos below hopefully show its beauty.
We left Vulcano weighing anchor at 12:00 and sailed the 4 miles to Lipari. Our home for the night was Porto Pignataro. A very pleasant small marina, with very friendly staff. The facilities here a clean and functional with a pleasant caring environment.
The walk into town is 15 minutes, along a costal road. The town centre is full of tourist, even at the beginning of May. Lipari, seems to be the main setting off point for tourists visiting the other islands. The ferry traffic is enormous and the ports crowed with people setting of with their hiking gear to the island of Stromboli.
Porto Pignataro- our home for the nightA view on our walk from the marina and into town
Bill’s last day was visiting Pompeii, Palermo. Palermo is a busy city, full of wall to wall tourists and the usual tourist shops. Not my cup of tea.
In the evening we went for a meal in a fantastic fish resturant called Portovecchio, literally 300 metres from the marina. A great fish and pizza resturant which we have been to before, but this time we all decided on fish or Steak. A farewell to Bill, who has to return tomorrow morning. A great sailor and fantastic company. Bon Voyage Bill.
Edward, contemplating his starter.Fantastic Octopus saladIs it Anderdeen Angus ?
On Sunday we venture out to Vesuvius and Pompeii. It’s my second visit to Pompeii and it’s more wonderful and intriguing each time I visit. It’s unbelievable how wonderfully preserved this ancient city is and how devastating it must have been for it inhabitants. You can actually imagine how wonderful life for the romans who lived here must have been, with play and education areas, shops, saunas, baths, theatres and Gladiator games. I could spend hours walking this massive ancient city and will want to visit again some day.
Well the day has come and Ed and I are preparing for our ascent of Vulcano.
Vulcano is 501 mtrs high and an active volcano. We were well prepared with climbing boots and back packs containing, food, 2 ltrs of water and some extra wind chill clothing. The clothing proved unnecessary as at 501 mtrs its still pretty hot up there. Bill dropped us off via tender at a small tender pontoon and Ed and I set off.
The walk is tough, but easily manageable and many children and elderly people were seen of the way. We arrived at the crater rim within an hour, had a rest and then proceeded to the summit and a walk around the entire crater rim. A fantastic experience looking down into the crater and walking through spurting sulphur clouds, which bubbled and spurted sulphur to the surface.
We arrived at the sulphurous island of Vulcano at 17:00 and anchored in 3.6 metres of water, approximately 200 metres from the black pumice beach. The bay we decided on was Porto di Ponente, seen above. This bay is to the North East side of the island, with the main ferry port literally the other side. The holding was good and we found no problem anchoring at our first attempt. Wonderful views of Vulcano, with its steaming sulphurous vents. There is however no smell of sulphur in this bay, this is left for the opposite bay, where the mud baths lie.
And so we settled for the night, which was comfortable with minimal rocking, even though we were beam on for part of the night.
Our first day in Capo d’Orlando was spent cleaning Arctura and getting the shore lines ready for the forthcoming storm. We’ll be here for a few days, probably until Saturday as it’s to windy to go the the Aeolian island and do some anchoring, which is our intention. Winds in the marina hit 42 knots and perhaps more when the log wasn’t recording.
Just after 1400 we ventured to the Marina office and met the very charming Laura who helped us with local information and car hire companies etc.
We then walked a few hundred yards to “Ristorante Villa Bagnoli di Nibali Giuseppe”. A very nice local place and we were presented with a fantastic seafood starter, a swordfish steak and chocolate desert.
Finally the day has arrived for the beginning of our 1000 mile odyssey.
We started the day with a coffee and then began our final preparation for our voyage. A boat wash down, water tanks filled and crew washed and watered. Our friend Massimo dropped by and wished us a fond farewell and we plan to meet up in the Madelenna island in about 5 weeks. Bill had prepared a spaghetti bolonesse for consumption en route. It’s a great idea to have hot food prepared for long passages and the Mr D Thermal cooler proved its weight in gold yet again.
The boys for the first leg Rich, Ed and Bill
I think Sicily is in that direction
arrivederci SardiniaA stowaway
The journey started with a resonable breeze, but within 3 hours the wind had veered around us and behind us with a strength of 25 knots. We reefed, obviously and settled down to some downwind sailing, eventually rolling away the genny entirely.
After our evening meal of spaghetti bolonesse, which was still piping hot, we settle into our night watch routine of three hours on and six off.
My duty started at 2400, but I got up early for a chat with Ed and a handover. The wind had picked up to over 30 knots with some fantastically huge breaking and surfing waves behind us. Some as high as 3 metres or more. I hope it keeps up until day break as I would love to get some video footage, not to mention keeping the boat speed up to between 7.5 and 8.6 knots.The full moon lit the night sky and the sea and it was almost as bright as England on a dark and cloudy day. Fantastic feelings and thoughts rushing through me as I become one with nature and enjoyed the wonders of this unucluttered life at sea. A wonderfully bright Jupiter accompanied the moon and I thought back of my days as a 10 year old staying up late and gazing into the night with the telescope that my Aunt Krystyna had bought me. Plotting the orbits of Jupiter’s four largest moons over many month. How I wish I had kept those plots. Who would have thought at that early age that I would be sailing this wonderful world and not only looking at the same planet, but also with my best fried who I befriended at the age of five. I obviously Refer to my best mateEdward.
Apart from Ed and Bill on board, I think the nearest human is probably 70 miles away horizontally or perhaps a bit nearer vertically, in either planes or space shuttles.
After a rough night with mixed episodes of sleep I awoke to a beautiful and calmer day. Not a cloud in the sky, but still a heavy sea.
I made a breakfast of scrambled eggs and salami for Edward and myself and then took over his watch at 0900 for my three hour stint. Fishing line out and got a bite, but whatever it was got away.
I found a little squid on deck, that must have been wash up by last nights large waves….. to be continued
The day started early with washing bedding and then going to the fuel pontoon to fill up for our upcoming voyage. We took on 110 litres of diesel at nearly €2 per litre, so not cheap.
Whilst on the pontoon, another yacht berthed up. English registered, but with a small Polish flag on its port side. I greeted them in Polish and in turned out they were a group from Poland, from town like Poznan and Warsaw. Nice to meet fellow countrymen.
We also saw The Queen Victoria, berthed up in Cagliari. We normally see her in Southampton Water, so a pleasant surprise and a reminder of home.
Queen Victoria in Cagliari.
Back to our pontoon and to the continued preparation. This included getting a cabin ready for Bill, tying the tender to the deck, and completing a huge shop of bottled water, tinned goods, pasta etc etc and off course wine and beer for those emergency moments.
We are so lucky to know Massimo, as he gave us a lift to and from the supermarket.
After unloading and packing away the good, Ed and I headed out for a pizza. We went to a very basic pizza restaurant “Pizzeria da Alessandro”, which we have been to before. The food is basic, but very good and two large pizza’s with wine and water and desert set us back 14€ per head. Lovely staff and very friendly.
