August 28th.  Riposto, Sicily

Finally we have had a long period of what the Italian Waters Pilot refers to as settled weather. This in southern Italian terms means hot, sunny and not much wind.  Ideal for anchoring in pleasant spots although not much sailing.

Beautiful Positano

We left the Gulf of Naples on August 18th. and travelling alongside attractive cliffs dotted with villages, sailed past Positano, nestling in a large bay, came to Amalfi.

The sardine can in Amalfi Marina

The yacht harbour here is tiny but we managed to book a berth and thus were privileged to meet Julio.

When we arrived he jumped aboard and took over the helm without so much as a by-your-leave.  We were somewhat taken aback but he steered the boat through the tiniest entrance imaginable and then, with the aid of a mate, backed Exotica into an impossibly small space between a restaurant and small jetty. He did this with all the yachts that came in after us so that we were packed like sardines in a can. He is one of the most cheerful Italians we have met, we were particularly delighted when we learned he is married to a girl from North Sydney!.

Despite being a massive tourist attraction, Amalfi has much charm and we stayed a couple of days.  On our first evening we took the bus to Ravello, a hilltop top town about ten miles from Amalfi.  This was quite the most frightening bus trip we have ever taken.  The road twists and turns alarmingly with drops straight into the sea on one side. Every kind of wheeled transport is driving at what seems like breakneck speed and when two buses meet they have to manoever around each other while motor cyclists race through the gap between them. Our driver on the way up had permanent road rage and I put his life expectancy at about four months.  Fortunately on the way back it was dark.

The Villa Rufolo

In Ravello we visited the Villa Rufolo.

The stage at the Vila Rufolo

This is an historic villa which now hosts the Ravello music festival on a stage built overlooking the sea.  It is also famous for its gardens and being the place said to have inspired Richard Wagner to write the words and music for the second act of his final opera Parsifal. It was thus a place of pilgrimage for us and we had anticipated terraces of lush semi-tropical flowers redolent of the exotic and erotic fantasies purveyed in Klingsor’s castle. Perhaps it was like that when Wagner was there.  Not now, a mouldy old ruined house with scaffolding holding up the tower and a few beds with petunias and marigolds was our three Euros worth.  However the view from the terrace out to sea was spectacular.

The next day, having failed to get ashore in Capri the previous week, we decided to join the day trippers and take the ferry from Amalfi.  Capri’s port area was seething with people.  It was like a football crowd and we had to queue for nearly an hour to catch the funicular from the port to the town, which was equally crowded.

Tiberius’ Villa

We walked to the villa of the Emperor Tiberius, who ruled Rome from here for ten years.  Suetonius gives details of the splendour of his life there as well as the orgies and brutality.  There is certainly a steep cliff where, allegedly, his enemies and ex-lovers, both male and female, were thrown off.  It was a 45 minute walk uphill in the heat and this sorted out the day trippers as it was quite quiet.  We managed to catch an earlier ferry back to Amalfi.

The amazing Julio

The amazing Julio managed, with astonishing finesse and great cheerfulness, to extract us from the sardine can of boats without touching the bottom or any other obstructions and we left Amalfi and headed for Salerno where our next crew, Deborah Humble, joined us.  From here we sailed south anchoring for the night behind Cape Palinuro.  Our friends from Juno had named this the Bay of Peaceful Sleep and they were right as, unusually for this coast, the bay was relatively shallow, the anchor holding good and the swell minimal so we all got a good night’s sleep and met up with Johanem again in the same bay.

Dolphins on the bow. Photo by Deborah Humble.

More Dolphins. Photo by Deborah Humble.

We started the next day at dawn for the sixty mile trip to the Aeolian Islands.  This is a group of islands close to the north coast of Sicily which includes two active volcanoes.  It was a ten hour motor over a glassy sea with few distractions apart from a large pod of dolphins several of whom swam, around the bow of the boat for about ten minutes before going on their way again.  We have never seen so many so close before.

Approaching Stromboli  from the Italian mainland..

Stromboli erupting with hot rocks descending.

We anchored off Stromboli, a very active volcano with smoke and steam continually emitting from the summit.  The next day we motored around the island and could see the hot lava rocks being forced from the crater and descending the side of the mountain leaving a trail of smoke. Despite this activity there is quite a community living on this island.

Sunset in the Aeolian Isles. Photo by Deborah Humble

We stayed around these island for four days in perfect weather conditions for anchoring and swimming although some of the nights were less than comfortable rolling in the swell.

Health and Safety at Vulcano

Deborah and Julie climbed 800 metres to the top of the active volcano on Isola Vulcano where the smell of sulphur and yellow colouration from the fumaroles with views of the surrounding islands, including Stromboli, were spectacular.

Julie misbehaving on Vulcano

With Deborah Humble in Riposto

From the Aeolian Islands we proceeded to the mainland of Sicily spending a night in Milazzo where we had an excellent traditional Sicilian meal in an alleyway. We have discovered that Sicilians come out to eat at about 8.15 pm.  If you get to a restaurant at 8pm it is deserted and you get excellent service but by half past eight it is full.

Yesterday we made the passage of the Straits of Messina, one of the world’s most famous waterways in myth and legend.  The straits separate Sicily from the toe of Italy and at the top are only a mile and a half wide. To the north is the Tyrrhenian Sea and once through you are in the Ionian Sea. Unusually for the Mediterranean there is a significant current so we made sure that we were at the entrance with the first of the south going tide.

The whirlpool Charybdis in the Straits of Messina

Thus we motored through the whirlpool of Charybdis leaving Scilla to our left.  The water was choppy but not enough to suck us down.  However we did have 10.8 knots over the ground at one point.

Fishing for Swordfish, note the captain at the top of the mast and the harpoon man half way along the bowsprit.

One of the amazing sights seen in the Straits are the swordfish fishing boats.  These are motor boats with immense lattice steel masts and a bowsprit far longer than the boat.  The captain sits on the top of the mast and when a fish is seen a man makes his way to the end of the bowsprit and harpoons the fish.  Apparently the swordfish like to bask on the surface during the heat of the day.

Off Messina itself the wind came in, up to 28 knots at times,  and we were able to sail for the first time for many days and with a favourable current we really sped along down the east coast of Sicily in a following sea.

We booked into the marina at Riposto, an undistinguished town overlooked by yet another active volcano, Mount Etna, but a comfortable berth for the night.  Our plan is to continue round the coast of Sicily and scout out a berth for Exotica for the winter.

What can one say?

There are plenty of silly boat names around but this one was special.  Do you think he has had two previous boats with this name?

Sunday August 17th.   Marina di Stabia, Bay of Naples

As a postscript to our Bulgarian Opera trip we include a short four minute recording of the Bulgarian Morning Television Show in which your correspondents make their European TV debut.  It also shows a few snippets of the production which was remarkably interesting and colourful.

Waiting at the station shortly before the phone was stolen

Saturday August 2nd.

Our planned tour of the Vatican was curtailed when Julie’s mobile phone was stolen from her handbag in the Rome metro. Sadly, “find my phone” did not find my phone and we slunk back to Porto di Roma having missed the tour and feeling somewhat down.

The amphitheatre at Ostia Antica

The return of Jeremy the following day cheered us up so we braved the Italian train system again and visited Ostia Antica, the ancient port of Rome at the mouth of the River Tiber. It had covered with silt after the fall of the Roman Empire and only discovered in the early 1900’s. A huge area of well preserved buildings complete with amphitheatre which has performances today. It was late Sunday afternoon, so free of charge.

Venus

Monday August 4th. Porto di Roma had been our safe harbour for 17 days, at a very reasonable rate for Italy in high summer. It was where we met the owners of a Moody 47, Johanem,. We also discovered a community of barnacles had made our hull their home during our time at the marina. The paddle wheel of the speedometer was completely clogged with living matter.  We stopped the boat outside the harbour to scrape them off alongside the late Steve Job’s super-yacht, Venus. A futuristic design with huge walls of glass and full of Mac computers. Log back in working order we had a great sail to Anzio,and anchored off the beaches where a less than wholly successful landings were made by allied forces in 1944.  There we met up with Johanem again.

Tuesday 5th. A fast run to Isola Ponza, part of the Pontine Islands, to anchor under spectacular walls of white volcanic rock falling into aquamarine water.

Jeremy and the barbecue

At last crystal warm water. Jeremy and Terry did an amazing job scraping barnacles off the waterline. Next day a trip into the charming town of Ponza with its pastel houses and cobbled stoned lanes, we anchored in a bay just outside Ponza Harbour amongst the largest number of boats we have ever seen. There was an easterly wind causing a huge swell and chop overnight which meant very little sleep. It was still rough when we weighed anchor so we were unable to get the outboard or dinghy on board until we sheltered in Ponza harbour while dodging the ferries and tourist boats.

Thursday August 7th. We thought Isola Ventotene (where Mussolini incarcerated those of a persuasion other than Fascist and Nero’s wife, Octavia was exiled at the request of his mistress Poppea Sabina) would be our next stop, however we took one look at the only anchorage there and decided another sleepless night would be inevitable so booked into Marina di Procida, another 24 nautical miles towards the Bay of Naples. We tied up safely in a tight space only to be disturbed by an Italian Jeanneau 49 reversing too quickly into the berth next to us. We fended him off and only discovered the white scratches on our port side the following day. No wonder they apologized profusely and gave us 2 bottles of expensive wine!

Procida is a small island close to the larger island of Ischia, which with Capri, comprise the islands of the Gulf of Naples.

Procida from the anchorage

It is another charming town complete with castle high above with colourful houses and churches sweeping down to a very sheltered Calla di Corricella on the other side of the hill. We met up with Nick and Juliet on Johanem, by chance in the bay so had a very jolly evening on their boat. Nice to be at anchor on Jeremy’s last night. Back to Procida marina to drop Jeremy to the ferry to Naples and wait (all day) for an engineer to diagnose a generator problem. The impeller needed replacing, so fixed in an hour as we had a spare on board. We watched the sunset from the castle then wandered down to the little harbour in Corricella. It was full of small fishing and motor boats. Restaurants along the water’s edge were busy, we got the last available table as the full moon rose over the castle.

The Madonna comes every five years.

As we finished our delicious pasta there was a great commotion as a lit up fishing boat full of local dignitaries arrived carrying an enormous icon of the Madonna which was motored through the harbour to the excitement of the locals and ceremoniously paraded under fireworks up the cobbled streets to her resting place in the church. We learnt from a glamorous Roman, out for the night with her ex-boyfriend (they had come from Naples to this restaurant on his speed boat) that this festival only occurs every 5 years and it’s very good luck to be there when the Madonna arrives. We doubted this relationship would be re-kindled!

Sunday 10th. We circumnavigated Isola Ischia, a nature reserve, stopping in the bay of Sant Angelo for lunch, the sand was so fine our anchor slid along it. Fine for a lunchtime stop but not good overnight holding.

Monday 11th. We sailed for Capri with blue skies and a gentle breeze. While attempting to put down an anchor off Marina Grande, who should sail into the bay but Caroline and Paul Frew on Juno, whom we hadn’t seen since Cagliari.

The narrow passage at Faraglioni where Italian warships are said to pass through at 35 knots.

After several attempts to dig into the weed we admitted defeat and made for the southern side of Capri passing through Isola Faraglioni, pillars of rock emerging from the sea on the south east corner. We anchored near Marina Piccola in sand and had a magical evening watching the moon rise above Faraglioni. Sadly, this was short lived, a swell came in from the south and the wind dropped so we were tossed from side to side all night.

Tuesday 12th. All thoughts of going ashore in Capri were squandered so we made a hasty retreat to the beautiful bay of Sorrento, where we swam before going into the tiny Marina Piccola, right in the centre of the town, mostly frequented by superyachts. We were the only owners washing down our boat!

Sorrento

We anchored off Sorrento the following day, loved seeing Caroline and Paul for lunch and had a quiet night.

Thursday 14th. Rather reluctantly left Sorrento for the safety of Marina di Stabia to find a chandlery before a public holiday on Friday. This new marina is vast, very smart but in a ghastly area. We had arranged to visit Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius on Friday so it was convenient although didn’t prove successful finding a replacement for our propeller anode.

Friday August 15th. We joined Caroline, her son and his girlfriend at Pompeii for an early tour of the ruins.

Overlooking Pompeii and standing on remains still to be excavated.

It is truly impressive, however, in two and a half hours we saw only a quarter of the town.

The path to the crater.

We then took the tourist bus to Mt. Vesuvius. A 4 wheel drive bus winds up the side of the volcano, dropping the tourists at the site of the 79AD crater, we then walked a further one and a half kms up the side of the well-known mountain,

The crater of the 1944 eruption.

which is in fact another crater and the site of the 1944 eruption. The views are spectacular over Naples and its bay and to walk on a volcanic site is awe inspiring.

Two weeks after the most successful Italian job, our cockpit chartplotter is still working, mostly. It does have a mind of it’s own and requires sensitive handling to give us navigational data on deck.

After a day of housekeeping we will begin the next leg of our adventure, the Amalfi coast then on to the Aeolian Islands with our next crew, Deborah Humble.

Porta di Roma  Friday August 1st.

For the past two weeks Exotica has been lying forlornly in Porta di Roma, a marina at the mouth of the River Tiber and a short train ride from Rome.

The rather sad Porto di Roma

This place was obviously constructed as a tourist resort with a promenade and shops but these are now victims of economic recession and are mainly closed and it has a slightly desperate air.  On the plus side it has been safe and secure, our mooring fees have been astonishingly cheap for this part of the world in high summer and the toilets in the gents all have seats!

So for the past ten days we have visited Rome for a night and then eight days in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria where we have been staying in a very comfortable hotel and enjoying the four nights of Wagner’s Ring Cycle plus an excellent outdoor performance of the ballet, Zorba the Greek.  I am posting the review we have written for the Wagner Society of New South Wales to give an impression of our time there.  Non-opera lovers can skip to the end.

The Sophia Ring : July 2014
We left our yacht in a harbour close to Rome and travelled to Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, for the Ring at the end of July. Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Community but rich in history and culture. Apart from a few potholes in the pavements the towns are clean although designer shops at street level belie the crumbling buildings above. The people, however, are extremely pleasant and helpful. English is almost universal, there were even English surtitles at the opera.
There was only one cycle of what they claim to be the first ever fully staged performance of Wagner’s tetralogy in the Balkans and these have been lovingly prepared over the last five years. The enthusiasm of all the participants was palpable and their determination that their visitors should enjoy their stay and appreciate the Bulgarian artistry was overwhelming. Coming from Australia we seemed to be the object of special attention by the organisers and were interviewed four times for Bulgarian television.
The performances themselves were notable for the complexity of the stage management and the lighting. The basic stage motif was a circular elevated ring which could be cut in two and moved in a variety of shapes, as the River Rhine, the magic fire, Dragon’s cave and much of the stage setting. There were also a number of large cones which were used to represent Valhalla and power. They were also used as horses for the Valkyries. The almond-like mandorla , a swing for birth and death also turned into a boat for the journey along the Rhine.

Much of the lighting was by projection. This was used throughout to make for extremely bright and colourful scenes. There was a remarkably effective flowery spring for winterstürme and fire for Brünnhilde’s rock and the final scene was breathtaking.
This is the first opera Nikolai Panayotov, a notable Bulgarian abstract artist, has designed. The sets and costumes were colourful, timeless and futuristic, if sometimes a little strange. Hunding, dressed as a kind of Korean warrior had one and a half metre horns projecting sideways from his shoulders and Fricka, in Act Two of Die Wälkure appeared with huge white plastic cloak which ballooned out behind her. Since she arrived on a moving walkway above the stage, which juddered rather than moving smoothly, this appendage bounced in a way alarming for the audience as well as the poor singer. There seemed to be no expense spared in the costume department, no boring single get-up for Siegfried and even Gutrune had four changes of dress.
All the singers were Bulgarian, apart from the first of three Brünnhilde’s, who was Mongolian although she studied at the Conservatoire in Sofia from 1986. She had to sing the whole of the second act of Die Wälkure standing high on a narrow cone which was wheeled around by a stage hand. This precarious position made her singing somewhat strained.
          Siegfried Act 3

The Bulgarian National Opera provided two excellent Siegfrieds, Martin Ilev also played Siegmund and Konstadin Andreev whose ringing voice stayed with him right to the end of his eponymous role. Not so his Brünnhilde who transposed all her high notes down an octave so that the final note of the love duet was completely lost. The Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung was strong throughout.
The orchestra numbered 93 and filled the pit to overflowing and produced a rich and exciting sound. They were conducted by Erich Wächter, one of only two German’s to be involved in the project. The other was the 81 year old Richard Trimborn who has been involved in 11 Rings and has donated the last five years to this project.

There was so much to enjoy in this Ring that criticism is invidious. The credit for the success of the project must go to the Director Plamen Kartaloff whose dream this has been for many years. His desire to express what he feels about the Ring meant that every stage picture was packed with meaning and nuance, much more than one could comprehend on a single viewing. He meticulously follows the text and music,
thus a splendid and fascinating production. It is to be repeated from 4th – 9th July 2015. I would urge anyone who may be near Sofia next year to attend. It is inexpensive and you will be treated royally.

Oiling the decks.

We will remain in Porta di Roma until Monday August 4th doing some essential cleaning and maintenance jobs such as oiling the decks and getting the chartplotter and outboard serviced.

Another trip to Rome and the Vatican is also planned for Saturday.

Then we are joined again by Jeremy Garling and plan to set off for the Bay of Naples, Capri and Amalfi.  We just hope the weather improves a bit as we have had a summer of high winds, storms and rain.  Most unusual according to the locals!

Exotica ready to sail again.