Sailing Stromboli and the Aeolian Islands Pt1

August 14-16, 2013

Karen’s parents, Trevor and Joy, stepped off the boat at Vibo soon after dawn and made their way to the station for their train trip up the Italian south coast to Rome. From there they would continue their European adventure via a luxury coach tour all the way to the United Kingdom. It had been fantastic having them on board to share so many highlights such as Isla di Capri and Amalfi and we’d all enjoyed the long overdue time together.

Some very welcome friends joined us on our way to Stromboli

After our farewell’s we got stuck into preparing Alcheringa for sea and had the ropes off within the hour for our passage across to the Aeolian Islands. First stop, Stromboli. It was a beautiful Mediterranean summer’s day but unfortunately the wind was having a sleep in so initially we were left to motor along the coast over smooth seas before heading offshore. Breakfast underway in the cockpit was certainly a pleasant introduction to cruising on Alcheringa for our friends Tony and Lynne.



Coffee and breakfast as we prepare to leave the toe of Italy

Rob had met Tony while completing his Royal Yachting Association Skipper’s qualifications sailing on Moreton Bay at home in Australia. He and Lynne chase the sun, escaping British winter living in Australia for that part of each year but return to their lovely home in Buckinghamshire for the northern summer. They have a trailer sailor in Oz and have got into a boat share plan in the UK spending a few weeks sailing the south coast when they’re home. We had enjoyed a great couple of weeks staying with them in Buckinghamshire the previous year and were very pleased to be able to return the hospitality.



Sailing in 2400 metres of water on the way to Stromboli

Fortunately the wind picked up a little during the day and we were able to get the sails up pushing westward towards the home of one of Europe’s most active volcanos. A small pod of dolphins joined us for some fun and games around the bow shortly before the tip of Stromboli’s smoking volcanic cone came into view on the horizon. A quick look at the chart plotter revealed we were sailing in 2,400 metres of water which may have accounted for the brilliant colour and clarity of the sea around us.



Tony on Alcheringa's bow as we approach Stromboli

The volcanic island of Stromboli rises over 900 metres above sea level straight up out of these deep waters and much of its coastline is vertical cliff face. Just fifty metres from most of the shoreline depths already reach thirty or forty metres and in some spot well over a hundred, all much to deep to anchor in.



Vibo Valentia to Stromboli – 42.9 Nautical Miles – 8 Hours 42 Minutes
Average Speed 4.9 Knots – Max 7.5 Knots

We arrived at our planned anchorage off the north eastern corner end of the island where there is an area of shallower water about 5.30pm but were totally unprepared for the scene that greeted us. There were literally hundreds of yachts and large motor cruisers squeezed into the relatively small patch and we could see many more coming. We decided it was time to ignore the Italian law which requires boats to anchor 100 metres from a beach and take advantage of Alcheringa’s shallow  draft of just 1.6 metres. We edged our way through the crowd and went inside them all, close to the black sand beach , where we dropped anchor in a bit less than 2.5 metres. There was not a lot of room for error but at least we had the benefit of very good holding in the sand as we saw many boat have a lot of trouble getting hooked in further out. As it got tighter and  tighter for room it wasn’t long before any boat with a shallow enough draft and game enough skipper was joining  us in close to the beach



Spot Tracker shows our anchorage on the north east corner of Stromboli.
Note the smoking crater at the islands centre. The population varies
 between 400 and 850 depending on the season and is located
at two settlements on opposite sides of the volcanic peak.

Just a small section of the massive fleet packed around us on Stromboli



Tucking in closest to the black sand beach gave us ring side seats for a
magical sundowners session with great friends as the volcano rumbled

 

Stromboli has been in almost continuous eruption for the past 2,000 years. A pattern of eruption is maintained in which explosions occur at the summit craters, with mild to moderate eruptions of incandescent volcanic bombs, at intervals ranging from minutes to hours. Eruptions typically result in short, mild, but energetic bursts, ranging up to a few hundred meters in height, containing ash, incandescent lava fragments and stone blocks. Stromboli's activity is almost exclusively explosive, but lava flows do occur at times when volcanic activity is high. An effusive eruption occurred in 2002, the first in 17 years, and then again in 2003, 2007, and 2013.

It was a little surreal enjoying post passage beers with the rumbling eruptions of the active volcano to one side of us and a massive fleet of holiday makers on the other. Sundowners that evening were truly memorable but given the crowded nature of the anchorage we abandoned the idea of a night circumnavigation of Stromboli to witness the fire and lava show visible from the north-western side. It would have simply been a nightmare trying to get a spot to anchor when we got back.

Instead we set off around the northern points mid-morning the next day after most of the bareboat charterers had gone on their merry ways. It was truly awe inspiring watching explosive releases of volcanic gases hurl massive fireballs of rock and lava high above the peak of the crater at surprisingly regular intervals. With some of these smoking boulders splashing into the sea below, it was easy to see why our charts showed a safety exclusion zone stretching  .2 of a nautical mile (380 metres) from the shore. Skirting along the edge of this prohibited area Alcheringa was very quickly coated in a thick layer of very, very fine volcanic ash.



Stromboli's volcano had plenty to say as we sailed past for a closer look



Tony and Lynne with the sun peeking over Stromboli's erupting crater

In search of cleaner air to breath, we left Stromboli in our wake and headed south.  We planned to anchor off the town of San Pietro on Isla Panarea but along the way sailed past a spectacular small rock islet called Basiluzzo. There were a number of boats anchored close into the cliffs of its northern side but we spotted what looked like just enough room for us to drop anchor in the seclusion of a very small indent on the southern side. As it would provide protection from the mild north westerlies predicted overnight we jumped at the chance to get away from the summer hordes for a while. Shortly after we got nicely hooked in at the first attempt another yacht did anchor in our little inlet for a couple of hours but we didn’t let them spoil our relaxing afternoon swimming, enjoying the sunshine, some fine Italian vino and great conversation. Life is good on Alcheringa.

Stromboli to Isla Basiluzzo– 12.7 Nautical Miles – 2 Hours 47 Minutes
Average Speed 4.6 Knots – Max 5.8 Knots

We had obviously picked the right side of the islet as late that night a very large motor cruiser moved around from the northern side looking for calmer waters for their high dollar charterers to sleep in and took about an hour and four or five goes at anchoring in the deeper water outside us before finally deciding they were secure enough. It provided us with some entertainment while we downed our final night caps before hitting the bunks and sleeping like babes.



After Stromboli's crowds we had, almost, solitude at Isla Basiluzzo 

 AN APOLOGY

 Since returning to Australia at the end of last European summer’s wanderings around the Med, we have been extremely busy, catching up with friends and family, finishing and publishing our first book, ‘Stuff it. Let’s go sailing anyway’, mounting a very successful exhibition of Karen’s artwork and buying a new boat to sail the western Pacific and South East Asia.  We’re now working at finalising the story of our adventures in the Med in this blog and getting it all back to current so keep checking back for new instalments.


To stay right up to date with what we’re up to these days and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at Dreamtime Sail on Facebook

If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway.  We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.

 

Exploring Vibo and Pizzo - Our last stop on mainlaind Italy

August 11-13 , 2013

 

Yet another memorable Mediterranean sunset over Pizzo's Castello Murat

 After the previous days rubbish weather, we were so happy for a resumption of the brilliant, summer conditions we had grown accustomed to when we stepped off the boat to do a bit of exploring.  

The marina manager strongly recommended that we check out the Medieval town of Pizzo, situated high on the headland overlooking Vibo Marina. She even called a taxi for us. We were a little surprised when the ‘taxi’ proved to be a three wheeled contraption with handlebars instead of a steering wheel. Oh well, when in Pizzo do as the Pizzonians do.



Joy, Trevor and Karen in our Taxi. Rob got the scary front seat after taking the pic.

 

The gorgeous Italian southern coastline at Pizzo

Our first stop was the little Church of Piedigrotta The church dates back to the seventeenth century and is a cave dug out of a soft rock in a bank facing right out to sea. It was originally created in gratitude by shipwrecked sailors who'd been saved from a storm. The interior is ornamented with statues carved enthusiastically from the rock by a local family in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There is a small charge to enter and it is a little hard to decide whether the groto is a devoutly kitsch curiosity or a just a tourist trap. Still, it is definitely worth seeing if you are in Pizzo.



The beachfront church of Piedgrotta was established by fishermen in 1700

With scores of statues carved out of the soft rock, Piedgrotta is certainly different

The centre of Pizzo is a picturesque network of narrow lanes, historic but bustling with everyday Calabrian life. The heart of the town is the Piazza della Repubblica, where we enjoyed a gelato at one of the two dozen or more gelatarias that line the square. Close to the piazza is a very picturesque castle, known as the Castello Murat. It was built in the fifteenth century but is most celebrated for being the place where Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, was executed. The castle is open to the public, and features a number of excellent historic displays. Below. in the shadow of the castle, is Pizzo's small harbour, with a very pleasant seaside promenade.



Castello Murat in Pizzo was well worth a visit.

 

Looking up to Castello Murat and the Piazza della Repubblica at Pizzo

After wandering the streets we settled in at one of the open air cafes in the Piazza for a bite to eat. We have found that rather than studiously trying to decipher the menu, simply asking the waiter for a recommendation often produces far better results.  This place proved to be a prime example with the suggested Piatto di pesce (seafood plate) being amongst the best  9 Euro ($12) we’d ever spent. Complete with a mackerel steak, baby octopus, two squid, a whole fish and huge prawns, accompanied by fresh crusty bread it was a VERY filling feast and a great way to see out our day’s exploration. The fine local vino bianco (white wine) certainly contributed to the merriment.



That's a very big plate and one very generous portion of seafood.

The next morning was spent reprovisioning the boat for the next leg of our adventures. This was the last day that Karen’s parents, Trevor and Joy, would be with us, however we had great friends Tony and Lyn arriving from England that afternoon to spend some time with us on Alcheringa.

We discovered all the necessaries such as a well stocked supermarket close by the marina and loaded up on fresh fruit and vegies at a small street market. None of the vendors could speak any English and while we’ve grown reasonably adept at making our needs understood via hand signals and the VERY limited Italian vocabulary we have acquired during our three months or so in the country, Karen’s father, Trevor, hadn’t really caught on at all. On seeing a vegetable plant he was not familiar with, Trevor points to it and asks ‘What’s that called mate?’ generating a reply of ‘Quanti?’ (How many) as the trader on the other side of the bench naturally assumes we wanted to buy some.  ‘Karen what’s this quanti? Have you tried it before? Do you want any?’, Trev asks. Karen replies ‘No Dad. It’s not called quanti. He’s asking how much of it you want.’ Prompting Trevor to turn back to the vendor and ask again, ‘What is it?’. The increasingly confused Italian comes back with, ‘Mi scusi’ (Excuse me). Trevor follows up, this time asking slowly ‘ What vegetable is this?’ which only generates an even more confused look on the poor local’s face.  Trevor is not one to give up easily. Undeterred, he tries again speaking very, very slowly, ‘What   -  is  -  this  -  called?’. Rob couldn’t hold back any longer chiming in with ‘Trev, if he spoke to you very slowly in Italian would you understand him? No? Then why the hell do you think he’ll understand you, no matter how slow you speak?’ We said our ‘Scusati’ (sorry) and payed the poor bloke a few meagre Euros for our purchases and moved on before Trev tried just one more time.

Rob walked up to the station to meet Tony and Lyn after lunch and sat and waited, and waited, and waited. A text message from Tony informed him they were sitting in the stationary electric train, about fifteen kilometres away. They had been stopped for a grass fire along the tracks ahead. It was out now but they were waiting someone to turn the power back on. Another case of TII (This IS Italy)

They eventually arrived a meagre three hours late, dehydrated and starving. After dropping their bags on the boat and making the relevant introductions, we quickly decided a return to our seafood mecca we’d discovered at Pizzo’s piazza would provide a ready cure to both problems and away we went. This time the six of us were spread across two of the wondrous three wheeled chariots which proved to be the only form of Taxi available in the area. It was a fantastic afternoon/evening which continued on later than it probably should have when we returned to Alcheringa but what the hell.



We watched paragliders soring over Castello Muratand  another awesome
sunset on our return visit for more of Pizzo's incredible seafood.

 

After crossing from Menorca to Corsica and northern Sardinia in mid May we reached the Italian
mainland at Livorno neat Pisa then sailed north as far as La Spezia before turning south all the way
to Vibo, our final stop on the mainland before heading west to the Aeolian Islands and Sicily.

AN APOLOGY

Since returning to Australia at the end of last European summer’s wanderings around the Med, we have been extremely busy, catching up with friends and family, finishing and publishing our first book, ‘Stuff it. Let’s go sailing anyway’, mounting a very successful exhibition of Karen’s artwork and buying a new boat to sail the western Pacific and South East Asia.  We’re now working at finalising the story of our adventures in the Med in this blog and getting it all back to current so keep checking back for new instalments.

To stay right up to date with what we’re up to these days and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at Dreamtime Sail on Facebook

If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway.  We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.

 

 

 

Don’t turn your back on the weather gods. They bite!

August 11-13 , 2013  

Another magic day sailing the Southern Italian Coast

 As much as we loved our time relaxing around Isla di Dino we dragged ourselves out of our bunks, raised anchor and continued on our way south. Down this next section of the Italian coast there are  no protected anchorages and very few harbours. We were heading for a marina at Cetraro which was listed in the pilot guide as being the last refuge for a boat of our size before our final destination on the Italian mainland at Vibo Valentia some fifty odd nautical miles further south.

It was another beautiful, sun filled day as we rounded the island and pointed our bow directly into a slight headwind. We were burning diesel instead of sailing yet again but at least it was very relaxing cruising along taking in the views of beachfront towns, hilltop villages and massive road bridges spanning the numerous ravines.

The wind strengthened a little mid morning but stayed right on the nose. We looked with serious envy at the lone yacht we passed headed north which was ghosting along nicely under spinnaker alone.

By the time we reached Cetraro around lunch time the breeze had disappeared completely. As we neared the harbour we began debating whether to go into the marina or simply anchor in the calm water outside the breakwater. As neither the appearance of the town from offshore or the brief description contained in the pilot guide proved very attractive and in light of the very benign conditions, we eventually elected to continue on southwards for a few more hours to save the expense of the marina fees and reduce the distance we would need to cover the next day. The forecast was showing that the windless weather we’d been experiencing for the past week or more was set to continue so anchoring off a beach somewhere should be no problem.

We ate a relaxed lunch on deck in the sunshine as we chugged along hugging the shoreline to get the best views of the towns dotted along the way. In the late afternoon we found ourselves off the town of Paolo which was fringed with attractive white sand beaches. This looked as good as anywhere to spend the night along this long, straight coastline so we tucked in close and dropped anchor.



August 9 Isla Di Dino to Sao Paolo – 36.7 Nautical Miles – 7 Hours 20 Minutes 
Average Speed 5.0 – Max 5.5 Knots

Where we anchored off the beach at Paolo.

We all enjoyed another swim and were settling in for sundowners when a small Gardia Costiera (Coast Guard) boat approached. We were concerned they may think we were anchored too close to the beach as the regulations in Italy seem to vary greatly from place to place. One of the young officers on board had some basic English skills and was very pleasant and courteous. After a perfunctory check of our ships papers, Rob’s ICC (skipper’s certificate) and passport he wished us a Buona Sera (Good evening) and they were on their way much to our relief. By this stage of the summer, we had seriously over stayed our Schengen Zone visas. To be honest the Italians never ever raised the issue with us and other cruisers had told us they don’t really care as long as you’re spending money in their country and don’t get into any trouble but we were always a little nervy dealing with any arm of the law. We didn't really fancy having 'DEPORTED' stamped on our passports.

We were still working on catching up on the sleep we lost at Isla di Dino and all turned in early for a nice, peaceful night . At least it was peaceful until we were woken by the sound of thunder just before midnight. Rob went on deck and was greeted by the sight of lightening out to sea stretching both north and south as far as the eye could see. A quick check of the radar showed three separate lines of thunder storms heading our way. So much for the fine weather forecast. We laid out an extra 15 metres of anchor chain giving us a total of 40 metres down in just over six metres of water and waited.

Within 15 minutes the sleepy shore and calm water we’d anchored in were transformed into a raging surf beach as 20-30 knot gusts drove in from the sea. Heavy rain stung any exposed skin and made visibility extremely limited. The quite sizable waves were breaking just 10 metres or so from our stern and the strong wind had the boat trying to sail at anchor, continually stretching out on her chain from side to side. For the next four hours we stayed in the cockpit being bounced around and pelted with stinging rain keeping a close watch on the distance between us and the now dangerous beach. There was nothing Joy and Trevor could do to help so they kept out of the way by staying in their bunk but suffered an extremely rough night in their forward cabin. Rob was by the wheel the whole time with the engine running, ready to power away from the maelstrom behind us the moment we felt the anchor lose its grip. If we were pushed back into the breakers the sand churned up off the bottom could quickly clog the filters on our motor’s water intake with an inevitable outcome of the engine failing and Alcheringa being washed aground and pounded by waves. Certainly not the way we wanted to end our Mediterranean cruising. 

By about 4.30am the lines of storms had passed although the swells continued to pound the beach and the wind was still reasonably strong. Thankfully the additional chain we’d put out did its job and the anchor held firm despite the wind and sea’s best efforts. As soon as the eastern sky began to lighten in the predawn, we upped anchor to head for the safety of open water. We had no intention of waiting for sunrise and set course for the security of the marina at Vibo Valentia almost 40 nautical miles away. We could feel the tension flow out of our bodies as the autopilot went on and we finally swallowed down the mugs of very welcome hot coffee we'd longed for all night. After the excitement of the early morning, it was a fairly miserable eight and a half hour slog south into a fifteen knot headwind and sloppy seas under sodden overcast skies. Not fun.

In incredible contrast to what we’d experienced the rest of the day, as we approached our destination the sky cleared, the wind dropped out and the seas abated providing a fantastic welcome into the harbour at Vibo Valentia.  The staff guided us to our well sheltered berth, we found the marina is managed by a very friendly Canadian woman who was extremely helpful and we discovered it has very nice facilities including laundry and even its own café/bar. We were in no doubt we were going to enjoy our few days in Vibo Valentia and the storm dramas were all but forgotten. Life is still good on Alcheringa.



San Paolo to Vibo Valentia – 39.0 Nautical Miles – 8 Hours 33 Minutes 

Average Speed 4.6 Knots – Max 6.7 Knots



It was very nice to be in the security of a good marina after our fun at Paolo

Vibo Valentia on the toe of Italy

AN APOLOGY

Since returning to Australia at the end of last European summer’s wanderings around the Med, we have been extremely busy, catching up with friends and family, finishing and publishing our first book, ‘Stuff it. Let’s go sailing anyway’, mounting a very successful exhibition of Karen’s artwork and buying a new boat to sail the western Pacific and South East Asia.  We’re now working at finalising the story of our adventures in the Med in this blog and getting it all back to current so keep checking back for new instalments.


To stay right up to date with what we’re up to these days and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at Dreamtime Sail on Facebook

If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway.  We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.