SEA FEVER JOURNAL

by Wendy Catlin

ISLAND HOPPING...ITALIAN STYLE!

June and July 2001

It was a Saint's Day in old Gaeta the day before we were to leave port.  So the night before our departure, there were fireworks galore  not far from our anchorage.  I took all the celebration personally as a good send off for our 2001 sailing adventure!

Departing Photos.....

THE PONTINE ISLANDS

Our good friend, Bob, joined us for this first departure of the season.  We left our winter home in Gaeta for our "shake down" cruise heading south west to the island of Ponza.  We had a good South South east wind so we were able to sail a good part of the way with a lovely lunch on deck. 

Ponza is an island which is part of the Pontine Island group located off the coast of Naples. There are five islands to this group, each with its own special personality.  Ponza, is a long narrow crescent shaped island.  It is the remains of an ancient volcanic crater which creates steep cliffs and pinnacle rock formations.  

Rob, Bob and I went on an coastal exploration in the dingy. We found remnants of fish farms carved into the rocks dating back to Roman times. There is good diving here as there are wrecks of ancient Roman ships under the sea.  Rob and Bob took a long walk almost the length of the island, and I rode my bicycle much of the way.  Great views of the small town and sea, sheer cliffs, clear water with a few white sand beaches.

The next day, we sailed 22 nm to Isola Ventotene, an archaeological gem of Roman times. We had a nice clear day with the wind at our stern.  We sailed for three hours, wing on wing. We settled the boat along the wall (which we do not recommend in a wind, anchor out if possible.) Ventotene is a low island with little vegetation, a small, quiet village, and a hand carved harbour still in use today.

 Here one finds the remains of a villa, built by the daughter of Emperor Augustus.  Julia was exiled here by her father because of her bad (loose) behavior in Rome which caused embarrassment to the family. I have been reading the classic I Claudius sent to me by my friend Jean in UK. It has enhanced my  appreciation of these islands in that they are mentioned (different name of course) in the stories of the time of the Roman Emperors.

After a good morning walk on the one main road on the island, we depart for Isola Ischia.  No wind, so we used the motor.  We found a good spot stern to in the port of Forio.  This gave us the opportunity to explore the town by foot and the island by bus. A bus to Saint Angelo took us to the beginning of a lovely walk along the coast to the village of Maranto.  We walked by fertile gardens, luxurious villas, beaches, and spas.  We came to a narrow valley, finding a taverna covered in brilliant bougainvillea in bloom soo...we stopped for leisurely lunch.

After a restful night, we left the port rounding the island to anchor just below the Aragonese castle.  Bob and Rob went ashore for an explore while I stayed on anchor watch.  They returned with lovely fresh fish for our dinner! 

We upped anchor and made the short crossing to Isola Procida, one of our favorite islands. It was a Sunday and it seemed all of Naples was visiting this island.  There were hundreds of (motor) boats anchored  everywhere.  Between the hours of 5:00 and 6:00 pm there was a mass migration to Naples.  All of a sudden we were the only boat to be seen!

Rob and I like Procida, because it is an island that has not yet been done up to please the tourists.  It is a bit noisy with traffic in the center of the town, but there are very nice walks and good anchorages.

Bob has traveled to many parts of the world.  He had not heard of the Pontine Islands before and really enjoyed discovering them with us.

CAPRI & ALMALFI COAST

Bob's time with us was getting short, so we headed south to the Island of Capri.  This island has been a play ground for the rich and famous since Roman times. It is a beautiful island with dramatic cliffs, so  I can understand why people like to be here.  Our plan was to let Bob off to catch a ferry back to Naples, and continue on south. However, the  wind gods were to us and we were able to anchor off the beach for a couple of days.

The three of us went ashore to explore.  Lots of American tourists!  (Ischia had German tourists.) We took a  tram up the hill to the town of Capri and explored the small narrow streets.  Shopping is the thing here.  All the top designers have shops plus others...very expensive! Still, it does not cost money to walk around and admire the views and get a feeling for the island from small residential streets dripping in bougainvilleas and far from the maddening crowd. The three of us had a good time exploring, taking photos and I window shopping!

Bob had to leave in late afternoon for a ferry to Naples.  It was great fun having him on board!!!! I hope we will see him again in the Caribbean next year, if not before!

The next day Rob and I took a bus to the higher town of Ana Capri to visit the villa of San Michele, a spectacular location to live, built by Alex Munthi.  Munthi was a well know physician in the early part of the last century and built a very comfortable home, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea and much of the island.  It is filled with Roman (Tiberius) artifacts he found during construction as well as spectacular sculptures and art he had collected.  Munthi liked the outdoors and nature. His garden of the villa reflected this...absolutely spectacular! Plants as well as birds, flowers, small corners with views of the island....bluest of hydrangeas. After a very nice day we return to the boat for the evening and a rest.

The next day we took Sea Fever on an tour around the island.  Capri really is a beautiful place, even more spectacular from the perspective of the sea.  Steep cliffs, beautiful villas, brilliantly colored bougainvilleas dripping over walls with a back drop of the blue sea and sky....we had a lovely and decadent lunch on board!  

The wind gods continue to be good to us....we head on to the Almalfi Coast, famous for its beauty, ruggedness and quaint villages built over the land's edge to the sea.  Only in good weather could we be here.  We stop in Positano and Amalfi, both interesting but touristy towns.  We enjoy the view from Sea Fever while taking swims in the clear water of this spectacular coast line. 

The weather reports says we will have some very heavy winds in the next few days, so we head  south to the port of Agropoli, a port we visited last fall.  It is nice to come into a port you are familiar with. While waiting for the winds to be in our favour, we decided to just head on down to Sicily rather than cruise along the southern coast of Italy ( which we did last fall).

We departed Agropoli at 0700 and had a perfect wind the whole way to Sicily. We arrived Palermo (Arunella) at 1500 the next day.  A perfect sail for 30+ hours! It was a sail all we yatchties dream of!  We had a good rest and hung out at anchor for a day or two before heading off to the the western tip of Sicily and on the to Egadi Islands.

SICILY AND THE EGADI ISLANDS                                   

There are three islands to this little known group of Egadi, which lie off the west coast of Sicily.  They are a popular summer holiday destination for Italians, but not internationals. We could only visit these islands in favorable weather and we had it for about 6 days.  From a far, these island seem to have little to offer, but on a closer look there is a lot to see and enjoy.

Fishing is king here in these waters and all yachts need to be on the alert for fishing nets.  Permanent tuna nets are set up in prominent places.  They are well marked during daylight, not sure about night time.  It is good to keep a constant look out while in these waters as all nets are not always well submerged.  This is not a good place for dolphins to be!

Isola Levanzo...a very quiet village about as big as a back yard.  Great walks and good anchorages in fine weather. The yellow-legged (herring) gull lives here and at this time of year (June) many first year birds are just learning their skills..second year birds have it pretty together, but still not to the par of the adults who are great flyers along the cliffs and sea.  None of these gulls are beggars that we are so used to in many parts of the world.  They are truly wild (and noisy!).

Isola Maretimo... the most western island of the group.  This is my favorite.  Spectacular cliffs, bird sanctuaries, few people. Lush vegetation compared to the other two islands as each day a moist cloud would cover the tops of the mountains.  Wild flowers were abundant among the rocks of the cliffs.                                             We had a anchorage with a 2000 foot cliff as a backdrop.  The water was crystal clear, cool.  There is a nice little town with provisions if necessary...good fresh produce is available from small shops or fully laden vehicles which come over on the ferries. 

Rob and I took a sunset cruise around the island.  We felt quite decadent as we viewed immense golden cliffs rising from the sea while we sipped wine and grazed on tasty cheese and fresh bread.

ISOLA FAVIGNANA.....the largest of the three Egadi Islands. It appears quite barren (summer) with little vegetation.  I imagine the winter winds here could be quite brutal.  The island is a holiday place for Italians wanting sun and sea. We found some very attractive anchorages and took a couple of swims in somewhat chilly but refreshing waters.

Rob and I took a bike ride and found much of the eastern part of the island is the quarried for "tufa" a soft stone that is used throughout Sicily for buildings, jetties, wharfs, saltpan walls.....almost everything architectural and sculptural.  The older quarries were hand carved many yards into the ground.  Tunnels were created, as well as "slides" to the sea.  This would  be to load the blocks on small ships or barges. Today, many  of the houses have sunken gardens planted in old quarries.  It is quite attractive with orchards, vegetable and flower plantings.

In Gaeta, Rob and I bought two full sized, multi-speed folding bicycles from another vessel, La Contenta.  It was a bargain we could not pass up!  The bicycles have added a whole new dimension to our travels.  We can go many more places and a lot farther than we would on foot.  Favignana was made for bike riding, very few hills.  We had a great explore of the whole eastern part of the island...country roads lined with rock walls, looking at bays for future anchorages.  

After our exploration of the Egadi Islands, we headed back to Sicily. We cruised down the southern coast, stopping to visit places of interest along the way... 

Erice, a Aragonese (medieval) village high up on hill above the port city of Trapani  has a castle, the remains of a temple to Aphrodite and beautifully patterned cobblestone streets.

We biked past some salt flats on our way to do some bird watching.  They cover the salt with tiles to keep it clean and grind it with windmills.

We spent a few nights in Marsala, home of Marsala wine.  We did a tour of one of the biggest producers and tasted some nice wine. The hero of Marsala is "Garibaldi".  He was a revolutionary that unified Italy and began his campaign in this city.  The winery gave him two ships for his cause.  The locals are very proud of this part their city has played in the history of Italy. 

We continued on our way along the coast of Sicily  stopping in Agrigento.  We stopped here to see the magnificent Greek ruins of the ancient city of Akragas built in 582 BC. The ruins were not far from the port, so we rode our bikes to the site. Along a ridge, were built magnificent Doric Temples.  The city has been thru the rule of the Carthaginians and the Romans barely surviving the sacking and destruction of the temples.  Although some restoration has been done, much of the original architecture still stands.  The necropolis was extensive underground network of catacombs carved out of the soft rock of the ridge.  Deep rutted rocks indicated a busy street with heavy carts going by.  This was definitely a very busy place at one time!  A must to see if in Sicily.

Rob and I decided it was time to move on south to Malta. We departed San Leon, Sicily on 11 July 2001 at 6:00 in the evening for an overnight sail to a new country, a new culture and experience.

We arrived the low island of Gozo, Malta at 1200 hrs on 12 July 2001.  We had a fairly good voyage from Sicily. The wind was from the NNW, five knots at the stern.  A big swell followed us all the way making the trip a bit rolly, the the main sail helped to steady the boat.

All for now!    

If anyone is interested journal information regarding the Aeolian Islands, please see journal entry Southern Italy.