9/20/2025-Pallaro, Italy
Emerging from the cabin I could see a swarm of small fishing
boats all around us and more being launched from the beach. It was Saturday
after all and they were headed south to their favorite fishing hole. A passing
fisherman waved, we must be back in Italy where the people are so friendly.
We were in no hurry to move as we wanted to time our arrival
in the Messina Straight with the north bound current at about 1130. Suzette did
a load of laundry and I did some writing and posted my blog.
We got underway about 1000 and motor sailed north. The wind
was light but favorable and the current was helping as well. We hit the
straight at 1130 dodging ferries and small boats. The straight was calm and we
passed quickly through heading NNE to Porto Di Tropea, the first fuel stop in
Tyrulean sea.
Arriving at Tropea about 1530 we were third in line for fuel. We hovered as a 40 foot go fast power boat filled its tanks. When they were finished they stopped to have a cigarette on the fuel dock. I felt like they were doing it to be vindictive, they were sporting a British Flag and our President did manage to offend them once again, The fuel dock attendent finally encouraged them to get going. They offered the excuse that there blower was not working and the were airing out the engine compartment.
We filled up the tanks and headed out to the anchorage just
east of the marina. The water was crystal clear over unending sand, like a
swimming pool. We dropped in about 4m and set quickly. With these warm sunny
days and warm water a swim is the first order of business. Despite it being
only Saturday we whipped up a pizza and enjoyed dinner in the cockpit with the
sun setting over Strombolli. You could see the steady stream of steam escaping
the cone, hope she does not blow!
9/21/2022-Blu Bay, Italy
Up with the sun for another warm sunny day. Now wind so it
would be a motor boat ride. At least the current was favorable as we headed 71
miles NW. We were enjoying the ride when all of a sudden there was a clunk in
the engine and something was not right. Going to neutral we looked around to
see if we hit something or caught a fishing trap line, all clear. I backed
slowly and turned a circle but nothing floated off. I checked in the engine
compartment, nothing at of order. So we shutdown the engine and went for a
swim. It turned out that a very heavy duty nylon bag was wrapped in my prop. I
was able to extricate it easily and we were clear and got underway. This was
the only excitement on an otherwise uneventful ride.
Arriving at our anchorage, Punta di Fiuzzi, it was mayhem. A beach full of people, jet skis, peddle boats with little sliding boards on them, tripper boats and small boats anchored to enjoy a swim into the caves. We carefully inserted ourselves right in the middle of all of this and dropped a hook in about 9m. The bottom was rock and weed with a little bit of sand. We managed to set on the second attempt. It was 1700 so we knew that the mayhem would subside by 1800 or so and everyone would go home and leave this beautiful spot to us and we were right.
We went for a snorkel to check the anchor then over to the rocks that lined the cove. It was a little risky as there were still some crazy jet skiers bussing about and we were about 200m from the rocks. Schools of tiny fish were having dinner along the rocks, but my fish book let me down and I could not identify them. A pair of good sized, edible, Sea Bass swam past me. We did not make it to the cave, maybe tomorrow.
Grilled vegis on the barby with cous cous. It was finally
getting cool enough to cook. When it is so hot the only thing that sounds good
is a big salad. A very quiet night at anchor.
9/22/2025-Punta di Fiuzza
Up with the sun and out for a dinghy ride to explore the
island and its caves. Relative to the mayhem of yesterday the cove was quiet
and devoid of people and boats. The caves are always interesting, we keep
seeing this purple growth on the rocks below the water but I am not sure what
it is.
Departed about 1000 and motored north with no wind and calm seas. We found our next anchorage next to the harbor of Agropoli and dropped the hook in 5 meters on sand. When the boat had settled I could see rocks below my stern so I sounded them and found that they were about 5m below the surface, plenty of room. A swell out of the SW was developing and we were just tucked in behind the cliffs, comfortable for now. Of course the breeze switched and we were feeling the swell on our beam about midnight. It was rolling for the rest of the night but sleeping athwart ship made it bearable. Not the worst night at anchor.
9/23/2025-Lido Azzuro Bay, Italy
Up early under a cloudy sky. Rain was predicted for the afternoon,
but it was cool and comfortable for now. We took care of a few chores in
preparation for guests arriving tomorrow before departing for Salerno at 0900.
There was no wind, but the swell persisted out of the southwest as we motored
north.
I saw on Facebook that my old friend John Kapica was in
Positano so I reached out to see if we could connect. A plan was made to meet
on the evening of the 24th weather and schedules permitting.
We tried calling the marina in Salerno on the radio and the
phone but received no answer so we proceeded into the marina fairway. Finally,
someone responded and asked for our details. They requested that we stand by.
After about 15 minutes standing by and seeing that the marina was chocked full,
we tried the radio again but no answer. It was just afternoon; my guess is they
went to lunch left us hanging. There was a storm building so we decided to
anchor outside the marina and shut the boat down until the thunder and lightning
passed.
Suzette napped while I worked on a couple projects. We tried
to reach a second marina but they only let us know that they do not speak
English. The storm subsided and we reached out to a third marina on the Navily
App. They gave a cryptic reply but seemed to have a spot for us. We pulled
anchor and headed into the main port of Salerno and in to a small marina tucked
into the NE corner.
The marineros waived us into a tiny little marina. There was
an exchange between Suzette and the marineros to determine it would be 300
euros for two nights. We slowly made our way between the rock jetty and some
small boats to find that we were being directed to shoehorn in between two
power boats. This was reminiscent of our time in Naples's marina. Suzette said
we would not fit, she was right, but I did it anyway. It took some finessing
and brute strength from the marineros, but we got in with a small scuff on one
of my stanchions. There was lots of talk but very little understanding. They
left us and we secured the boat.
The sun was coming out so it was time to go to the market
and replenish the boat. We unfolded the wagon, grabbed our shopping bags and
headed to the market. Stopping at the marina office they did not want to see
our papers and said we could pay later. The walk to the store had us passing a
massive cruise ship on the quay and walking the strand along the sea. The
strand was beautiful with palm trees and shade trees. The market was adequate,
and we filled our wagon. A second stop at the Enoteca for wine and liquor. The
Enoteca was beautiful and well stocked but again the communications were
limited.
Back on the boat and stowing our goods it was getting late, 2000, time for some light dinner and sleep to make up for the last sleepless night. All quiet in the marina save for a couple rain showers.
9/24/2025-Salerno, Italy
Up with a cloudy sky and a prediction of rain, thunder and
lightning for the day and it did. We ran around to the stores in between rainstorms.
Claudia and Marcia were due to arrive around 1700 and we were ready for guests.
Unfortunately, the storm forced their plane to Naples to divert to Bari where
they were going to be bused to Naples. They met another passenger who wanted to
go to Salerno and opted to split the cost of a cab to Salerno, a 3 hour drive!
The weather cleared about 1700, and we ventured out one more time. Claudia and Marcia arrive by about 1900 ready for a cocktail and some food after a full day of travel coming from Sweden. We welcomed them aboard with a quick tour of Raffaellesco followed by a smorgasbord of Italian delicacies and our last bottle of our favorite Italian wine. The group lasted until about 2200 then went down for the count. Unfortunately, the visit with my friend John in Positano would not happen, but we tried.
9/25/2025-Salerno, Italy
A slow start in the morning as we prepared to depart for
Positano just 14 miles west. We carefully extracted ourselves from the mooring
more easily then we entered. The weather was clear and calm for our motorboat
ride west. We past the towns of Vietri and Amalfi with their pastel building
cascading down the mountain to the sea.
Arriving in Positano we were directed to a mooring close to shore where we picked up two lines forward and two lines aft with lots of help and guidance from our new friend Joseph. We settled in and enjoyed lunch on board before calling for a boat taxi to shore.
The landing in town was chaos, tripper boats, ferries and
taxi boats descended on the town quay disgorging loads of tourists for their
day in Positano. We headed into town, up the hill, everything was up hill. We
passed the beautiful Santa Maria Assunta church and continued up the busy road
that we had driven a year ago on our last visit. The street was lined with
shops and restaurants, mostly beautiful and unique pottery shops. We were
shopping for a dinner restaurant but finding they were booked for the night. We
stopped for lemon gelato served in a frozen lemon, my favorite. The views from
the top of the town were spectacular, we could see Raffaellesco bobbing on her
mooring. We managed to find a couple options for dinner and settled on a place
called Max with a beautiful courtyard buried in the city.
We enjoyed aperitivos back on the boat before dressing and heading out for dinner. The wine and food were fabulous with everyone enjoying various seafood dishes and antipasti of stuffed ravioli and eggplant parmigiani. The service was great, and the venue was very wine cellar oriented. You could easily spend 2000 euros on a bottle of wine! Finding our way back to the town quay the crowds had dissipated, and the streets were quiet. The boat lay quiet for the night.
9/26/2025-Positano, Italy
A lazy start to a beautiful day on the water. We continued
west past Capri and headed north to Procida, an island on the north rim of the
Golfo Di Napoli that I wanted to visit on our previous trip but did not. We
attempted to sail but the wind died off so we motored into the anchorage on the
south side of Procida. The town is a beautiful pallet of pastel colors with a monastery,
Cenobio di Santa Margherita on the top of the cliff overlooking the gulf. We
all enjoyed a swim in the refreshing but not very clear.
Suzette and I took the dinghy ashore to walk the town while Claudia and Marcia relaxed on the boat. We hiked up the hill, again everything is up! At the top we stopped in the square to take in the view where we could see Capri and Sorrento in the distance. A couple stops for fresh bread and some vegis then back to the boat. Suzette made a vegetable pesto to which we added grilled zucchini over a fresh Scialatielli pasta. Scialatielli is a local favorite in the Amalfi region.
It was a very quiet night at anchor where we had 4 or 5
other boats anchored up with us.
9/27/2025-Procida, Italy
Up early under an overcast sky to take advantage of a
favorable morning breeze. We made our way NNW to Gaeta, our next anchorage. The
wind was 10-16 from the NE making for a perfect sail. We made great time and
only had to motor the last few miles as the wind died, and the sun came out.
The sea was calm making for a perfect sailing day.
We anchored off the medieval town of Gaeta under the huge cathedral on the hill. We piled into the dinghy and headed to shore. It is always a challenge to find a safe spot to leave the dinghy, but we found a spot and tied up at the end of the town quay. We hiked up to the old castle, Castello Angioino that dated back to the 15th century. It was converted into a prison in the 19th century. Above our boat anchorage was the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi that was built by Saint Francis in 1222 and further expanded in the early 19th century.
We kept seeing men in what looked like an alpine style hat with a feather in it. Obviously, some sort of gathering as we saw them everywhere. Down in the town we stopped for a cappuccino and from around the corner came a marching band wearing the alpine hats. We stopped a couple gentlemen and inquired as to what was going on. It turns out they were a military group from a local northern Italy, Alpina, and they held and an annual celebration to honor their group.
Later in the evening while we were dining on the boat we
were serenaded by the marching band as they made their way through town.
Suzette made a fabulous Paella as we enjoyed the quiet anchorage with 3 or 4 other
boats.
9/28/2025-Gaeta, Italy
Up early for a long motor northwest to Marina Touristica di Roma. This was the closest marina to the airport in Rome so Claudia and Marcia could catch their flight on Monday. The weather looked pretty good with wind building on our nose later in the day. We departed a little after 0800 and motored the first 25 miles in relatively calm wind and sea. The turn at Capo Circeo had us crossing a large bay and here the wind and sea picked up on our nose. The wind was 12-14 and the sea was 2 to 4’, not terrible but a little uncomfortable. Monte Circeo appears from a distance to be an Island. It is identified with Aeaea, home of the enchantress Circe with whom Odysseys and his men lingered for a year. Odysseys was protected by Hermes gave Odysseys the following instructions, “When Circe smites you with her wand, draw your sword from your side and spring at her as if you meant to take her life. Now she will fall before you in terror and invite you to her bed. Do not hesitate to accept the favors of the goddess…” I did not encounter Circe, probably just as well.
I contemplated stopping in Nettuna but continued around Capo
di Anzio which is where the wind was getting up to 20 and the seas 3-6’ still
on the nose. This was a bash, but we survived and the crew was salty and
uncomplaining. We rolled into Porto Touristico di Roma about 2000, it was dark,
but the marina lights were good. We moored fairly easily in 12 knots of breeze
on our beam. It always helps to have a couple of extra hands in these
conditions.
On numerous occasions we have witnessed boats arriving after
dark and the crew disgorges as soon as the boat is tied up. Now I know why,
they are hungry, thirsty and tired of being on a bouncing boat. We headed into
the marina complex and selected Riz for our dinner. Another delicious seafood
dinner with a great wine.
Back on the boat we were tired and ready for bed in a quiet
marina.
9/29/2025-Marina Touristica di Roma, Italy
For Claudia and Marcia, it was up early and packing for
departure. We managed to get them into a taxi by 0845 for the short ride to Rome
airport. They reported later in the morning that they were on board their
flight and headed home. Such great crew, we had a great time, and I think they
did too.
Suzette and I set about cleaning up the boat, lots of salt
spray from bow to stern. A load of laundry and a trip to the chandlery had us
ready to depart, heading NW up the coast. We had selected an anchorage just
inside Capo Linaro. The wind came up and provided us with a perfect close reach
nearly direct to our anchorage. A couple tacks as we neared the shore and it
was anchor down. The anchorage was rocky; the anchor skidded at first then
found its purchase rather abruptly. I hoped I would not regret it in the
morning.
Suzette set about polishing stainless while I got caught up on paperwork below. Work gave way to sundowners and dinner in the quiet cove. I say quiet but we could hear the train on shore as it past by, it did not keep us awake. We touched base with the shipping company that will ship Raffaellesco to the Caribbean and they indicated that it will likely be late October when the ship will be ready for us to load in Genoa. We can slow down a bit. We are planning a meet up in Scarlino with Italian friends Philipo and Delita, they are berthed there with their boat Anabella.
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