Thursday July 2nd.

Course of Exotica. Brindisi to Sipan.

While waiting in the marina in Brindisi we were joined by Anna and Tim Cropley who only had one night on board before we set off across the Adriatic from Italy to Montenegro. This was a trip of 112 nautical miles and we set off at 6.30 pm on a dull and windy evening, although the forecast was quite good.  There was a fanfare of horns from adjacent yachts as we motored out of the marina, I think they thought we were a bit foolhardy embarking at that time and they would soon see us returning.  In fact, after three hours of beating to windward a little off course the wind dropped off and we motored very comfortably through the night.  (At least three of us were comfortable, Anna felt the motion rather severely.)

Lunch at Marina Brindisi before our evening departure

Sunrise over Albania

Hourly watches meant sleeping on deck, it was cold!

Nearly to Montenegro

Megayachts Porto Montenegro, Tivat

We arrived just after mid-day at Porto Montenegro, which is to the north of this country.  There is a very new marina still being built and is being tailored for the very affluent.  This appears to be working as the pontoons were full of Superyachts and also a handful of Megayachts. Exotica was a bit dwarfed by the magnificence.  Think Monte Carlo with a dash of Cannes to get the picture.  Nonetheless the staff were incredibly helpful, particularly in assisting us with the entry formalities to a non-EU country which required Terry to visit the Police, the Customs, the Harbourmaster and then the Police again with innumerable stamped documents before any of the rest of the crew could step ashore.

Happy Hour at Regent Hotel, Porto Montenegro

Despite the magnificence the daily cost was quite reasonable and 50% off happy hour at the boutique five star Regent Hotel, dominating the marina, meant two rounds of cocktails every night of our stay.

Regent Hotel

Otok Gospa od Skrpjela. Manmade island with church built in 1630 dedicated to Our Lady

After two days to get over the night passage we motored a few miles within the Bay to the ancient seaport and city of Kotor.  Yet more city walls, ancient churches and history of earthquake, famine and massacre.  There was also a 1400 step city wall climb to the summit of the castle.  An American tour group started with 65 but only three reached the top. All the Exotica crew managed to achieve the summit.

Orthodox church in Kotor

Old town Kotor in foreground. The World cruise liner on dock, Exotica, smallest boat end of jetty!

The Great Wall of Kotor

We left Montenegro on June 20th. and on a grey but completely calm day motored into Croatia stopping at the first available port, Cavtat, to clear customs and immigration.  Again more trips between police and harbourmaster, where despite there being computers on the desks, all our details were laboriously entered in long hand in a huge ledger.

Duty free diesel in Tivat. Any spillage of fuel, boat impounded and has to appear in court.

We decided to spend the night in the bay at Cevtat.  This was a mistake as, despite there being apparently plenty of room to anchor, we had great difficulty in getting the anchor to hold.  Finally we got dug in just as the wind started to come up and night to fall.  It was a rather fraught evening and Terry spent the night on deck watching the gusts increase across the bay and us get closer and closer to other boats and mooring buoys.  Finally, shortly after dawn it was clear that we were dragging and in fact had snagged the mooring line of a small fishing boat.  So we got everyone up, managed to extricate ourselves and motored out on a very windy morning.

Cevtat, our introduction to Croatia, before dark and increase in win

City walls of Dubrovnik in early morning

After an uncomfortable night we headed straight for the marina at Dubrovnik where by 9am we were safely tied up to a pontoon, hang the expense!.  Anna and Tim left us there to continue on to Korcula for a few days.  They were splendid crew and models in their willingness to participate in all the activities of Exotica, particularly the washdown and clean after every trip.

Lost our Croatian courtesy flag, Terry’s brilliant solution, sideways French flag with textor adornment.

Farewell lunch Marina Dubrovnik, thank you Anna & Tim

Churches, with bells, Marina Dubrovnik

After a day of washing and cleaning new crew arrived on July 1st. – Janelle Berents and Kate John, after a quick shop we set off for the islands of Croatia.

Our mooring, Konoba Kon, Sipanska

Our first stop is Luka Sipan, a delightful small village at the bottom of a long inlet. We picked up a mooring buoy a few metres from a restaurant where we had one of the best fish meals so far.  Followed by a very comfortable night.

Exotica on mooring, Spinaska Luke

Sipanska , excellent anchorage

Brindisi – Italy    Saturday June 20th.

Today is our James’ birthday, Happy Birthday James!

The next stage from Crotone was a longish day across the Gulf of Taranto. This was one of our best sails so far with a steady breeze from the north-west which meant that the engine was off for over five hours, calm seas and hardly another boat nor land in sight.

Gallipoli, Alpulia after a 70nm passage across Goflo di Taranto

Our destination was the seaport of Gallipoli, yes, there is one in Italy as well. As with nearly all the ports we enter there is a fine walled old town, this one on an island, with multiple baroque churches and a Duomo full of religious sculptures and paintings. This appears to be a popular tourist resort as the narrow streets were thronged with people and lined with souvenir shops selling fridge magnets.

Baroque Duomo

It does not appear to be too popular with yachtsmen however as we were the only transit yacht in the rather sterile marina in the main port.

Small fish market for such a busy fishing port. Exotica in empty marina

This may also be explained by the rather surly attitude of the local marina staff and the price of a night which was over double anywhere else in the region. We had planned to stay two nights but left the next day, after visiting the local fish market for our favorite fish, Orata (Sea Bass), for Santa Maria di Leuca on the southernmost tip of the heel of Italy.

Fresh Orata

Moorish summer houses of the local gentry

Santa Maria is a charming seaside resort with a pleasant and safe harbour for yachts. We spent a couple of nights there alongside a number of other boats nearly all of whom are heading for Greece. With the current financial crisis looming there, I think we are wise to be going to Montenegro and Croatia.

Leuca in 1902

This is where these breakwater blocks are made. First seen in Mallorca

From Santa Maria we had another long day to Brindisi. This is a major sea-port in the south-east of Italy, a large and not very charming town, famous for their very colourful Appian Steps, the end of the Appian Way.

Steps at the end of the Appian Way, Rome to Brindisi

Marina Lega Navale, great view of the town but noisy marina

After our first night in the main town harbour we moved to Marina Brindisi a safe, and reasonable, marina and we were happy to be here as quite a severe storm came through during the week and we were grateful for the extra strong lines which held us securely.

Marina Brindisi

Since we were here for a week we hired a car and took a trip into the hinterland of Apulia, visiting towns such as Polignano on the coast.

The beach at Polignano

A truly Trulli town

Then the fascinating town of Alberobello, famous for its Trulli – small circular houses with domed stone roofs – which they coalesce to construct larger dwellings. This is another very popular place for tourists and so no shortage of fridge magnets.

Lecce Duomo

Thence to Lecce passing through acres of olive plantations, by the narled enormity of some of the trunks these trees must be very old indeed . A “town of churches” has a central area of historic interest and a massive Duomo, bell tower and square.

Church Santa Croce, stunning ceiling

Like all these towns it has its history of earthquake, conquest, massacre, plague and competitive building and decoration by local bishops and other lordlings.

Otranto beach from the old town with the weather closing in

Our last stop was the town of Otranto, which we thankfully didn’t overnight in en route to Brindisi. A town of very ancient origins, first Messapian, then Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Norman, Angevin and Aragonese before being sacked by the Turks in 1480, when they slaughtered the entire population. The guide book says they have never recovered but are rich in memories and monuments! The weather turned very grim on our drive back to the boat and remained that way for 48 hours!

Wonderful example of laid mooring lines in the small marina in Otranto

Somewhat inconveniently on our return to Brindisi Julie broke a tooth, which has given us some insight into the local dental services here. Dr Borsetti’s English was as good as our Italian so we had to communicate through the secretary at the marina by phone. Luckily, he can do a two stage temporary repair before we leave Italy for Montenegro on Monday.

Since leaving Sicily the two of us have travelled 296 nautical miles, 45.75 hours at sea. From now we will have crew to help with long hauls!

June 2nd 2015, Riposto, Sicily

On Wednesday May 6th. Exotica finally departed from Marina di Ragusa having been moored there since September.

Leaving the winter berth at Marina di Ragusa.

We slipped out at first light, 5.50 am for the 60 mile trip to Malta.

The entrance to Grand Harbour, Valletta

There was little wind and we motored most of the way which was just as well as our batteries badly needed replacing and would not have sustained the self-steering gear had we been sailing! We entered Grand Harbour in Valletta just after 2 pm. One of the great deep water harbours of the world and is truly thrilling to enter from the sea.

Malta is a most interesting place, although consisting of three small islands it has been at the crossroads of European history for millenia.

Neolithic temples older and as mysterious as Stonehenge

There are Neolithic sites to rival Stonehenge in their size and from then on they have been the occupied by all the empires of western civilization standing as they do athwart the main west – east route across the Mediterranean.

History is all around you in Malta and particularly the two great sieges, the first 1565 when a massive Turkish fleet and army failed to dislodge a handful of Knights of St John and the second from 1940 – 1943 when Italian and German air forces attempted to bomb the island into submission.
There was tremendous damage and enormous loss of life both of the islanders but also of the seamen of the convoys and escorts who provided relief.

It happened to be the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of 1565 so there were many parades, re-enactments and fireworks (but nothing to rival Sydney’s) during our stay.

Renovations in Valletta are still going on paid for now mainly by the European Union.

The lift which smashed the antenna

Whoops – the crushed antenna!

We had been advised to come to Malta as they have many good shipwrights, chandleries and  boatyards…and they speak English! We had booked a lift out at Manoel Island Yacht Yard for May11th.  Sadly, as they were lifting her out of the water loud shouting came from Terry as he watched our TV satellite dome being crushed under the crane. The antenna only picks up German and Italian television channels, which we never watch, but that’s neither here nor there, it had to be fixed. Thus, even though Exotica was back in the water after a week we spent an extra week in the boatyard waiting for parts and workmen.

With John and Dennis

We were joined by our good friends John Studdert and Dennis Mather, both in the apartment which we took while Exotica was ashore, and then on the marina while we waited for the broken parts to be located and replaced.

John and Dennis are food and wine aficionados and we have learnt much about fine food although I feel that they have been somewhat disappointed with the quality of the Maltese wines. That didn’t, however, prevent us from tasting them!

Debbie Humble also flew down from Hamburg to join us over the weekend and update us on the goings on in the opera world.

The moat at Medina

Our enforced stay in Malta allowed us to take day trips to the ancient capital Medina – Rabat with ornate palazzos of the Maltese aristocracy, still living there and many baroque churches.

The Island of Gozo from the Castella.

On another, very windy day we had a rough crossing to the island of Gozo by ferry and visited yet another hill top castella.

We had two short day sails around Malta, on the last one we noticed that the GPS was failing so that had to be fixed, another side effect of the boatyard blunder. Thank goodness we noticed before we left Malta. There were two quite nasty storms while waiting for the repairs but by the time we left Malta on Tuesday May 26th the weather was set fair although we had to motor-sail the whole way to Siracusa in Sicily where, after a twelve hour passage, we dropped anchor in the most perfect harbour, plenty of room to swing and excellent holding.

Siracusa at dusk from the anchorage.

Last year every time we anchored we seemed to roll really badly and sleep very poorly, however, in Siracusa we had three of the most comfortable nights at anchor ever.

The Basilica at Siracusa.

Siracusa is another city full of history and has been besieged by all the rulers of the Mediterranean.  Now it is the tourists who take the town by storm.We stayed three nights under the walls of Siracusa.

The theatre at Noto.

We took a trip to Noto, a 40 minute bus ride up in the hills. Another ancient town devastated by the earthquake of 1693 and rebuilt in the baroque style in the early18th century. It has not weathered time well but did have a wonderful little opera house.

Fresh swordfish and tuna at Riposto.

On May 29th we made our way north to Porto ‘dell Etna, Marina Riposto, at the foot of the belching, snow-topped Mt Etna volcano. This is a dusty working town with little to recommend it apart from a very good marina and excellent fish markets. We had stayed here last August, the fruit and vegetable seller well remembered singing with our own Diva then.

Mount Etna boiling away as seen from the deck.

Taormina on the hillside seen from the anchorage.

It serves as a jumping off point for Taormina, a charming hill top town with a fine Greek Amphitheatre and splendid views over the bay.

The Greek Temple at Taormina with Exotica anchored in the distance.

Our night at anchor, however, was uncomfortable due to the rocking of the boat in the swell so we returned to Riposto to let John and Dennis take a taxi to Catania airport.

We are in Riposto for a few days while we prepare for the trip across the heel of Italy towards the Adriatic Sea.

Tuesday May 5th 2015. Marina di Ragusa, Sicily

Weather like this made it easy to farewell Sydney for 5 months.

Perfect Spring day at Overways

Thought we really had continued endless summer when our first day in UK was 20 degrees C and blue skies, but just to remind us why we still don’t savour the delights of English living, April showers and plunging temperatures convinced us returning to Sicily was the right decision.

So, on Monday 27th April we landed in Comiso, just half an hour taxi ride from Marina di Ragusa. Greeted by Anne and Stephen, who had looked after Exotica beautifully all winter, we were delighted to be back on board.

Exotica after 7 months

A strong, chilly norwesterly blew for 3 days, but the marina hummed with “liveaboards”

Marina di Ragusa town

who had been here all winter and returned owners, like us, commissioning their boats and making plans for 2015 cruising and enjoying this lovely seaside resort. Yachties meet every Tuesday and Friday evening in a local bar, we gained lots of helpful information and met many who plan a similar cruising ground to us.

We were advised to wash down our forestay and mast to get rid of the Sahara sand blown in by wind and rain over the winter so on a calm morning Julie was belted onto the forestay in the Bosun’s chair and sent aloft with hose attached. Don’t know quite how high it is but a magnificent view, the tragedy is J’s camera was out of battery and Terry was too anxious to take his eyes off her to get a photo from the deck, so we sadly have no photographic proof!

The decks have been scrubbed and have 3 coats of oil, they look like new. The engine tested and boat provisioned. It’s 30 degrees C and we leave at 06.00 tomorrow for Malta

September 28th. – Marina di Ragusa

Sciacca is a renowned fishing harbour, thermal baths and a stopoff port for boats travelling to Tunisia for the winter. We had a couple of very jolly evenings with a delightful Swedish couple, Marie and Pelle, and their dog Milou.

Hosteria del Vicolo

We also had the best meal of the summer at Hostaria del Vicolo, tucked away in a tiny lane and fully booked on a Wednesday evening apart from the last table we grabbed. Go there when you are next in Sciacca!

JC in sulphur spa.

We spent a couple of hours bathing, obligatory swimming cap purchased, in the thermal spa in tepid water smelling of rotten eggs. It must have been good for us.

Our plans changed when Terry’s sister Margaret and friends, Sue and Richard McKenzie, joined us in Sciacca. Instead of our planned cruising the south west coast, we decided to sail eastwards back along the south coast of Sicily. The weather was against us for this trip later in the week so instead of banging into headwinds and swell we had some of the best sailing weather this year, moderate westerly winds allowing Exotica to be seen at her best.

We sailed to Porta San Leone in beautiful sunny weather. This time we ventured into Trattoria Il Pescatore, we could hardly see the peeling paint in the night light. It was busy and the fish excellent.

Valley of Temples, Agrigento

Bronze Icarus

The following morning we got a taxi to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Greek and Roman temples to rival both Athens and Rome.

Thence to Licata, another excellent sail, only marred by a 20 knot side wind while tying up at the marina against a “pirate ship” with no fenders.

A somewhat slower sail back to Marina di Ragusa, but it was the last sail of the summer, so sail we did.

Terry and Richard ready to barbecue

The barbecue

The crew’s last night on Exotica entailed the obligatory hose down and Inox shine before dinner on board, a BBQ no less, accompanied by Terry’s iPod playing Wagner and Strauss to Tom Lehrer and Bing Crosby.

Our guests were booked on a flight from Palermo airport, diametrically across the island of Sicily from Ragusa.  So we hired a car and made our way to the seaside town of Terrasini.

Caltagirone – the tiled steps.

Lunch at Caltagirone, famous for their tiled steps, and just out of Piazza Armerino, the fascinating Villa Romana di Casale. Built in the first quarter of the 4th century containing the richest, largest and most complex collection of Roman mosaics in the world.  There were signs forbidding photography so we didn’t take any pictures despite the fact that most of the other visitors took no notice and flashed away happily.

Early morning – Terassini

We delivered our guests early to Palermo airport after the breakfast component of B&B, a coffee and croissant at a local cafe.

Cobbled street – Erice

Then drove to the north west of Sicily to the mountain top town of Erice, 750 metres above sea level overlooking Trapani.

Erice

Known as Eryx to the Greeks it has a history stretching back to the Phoenicians.

TC ascending to Venus’ Castle

Sunset over Trapani

It is crammed with ancient churches, palaces and towers on narrow cobbled streets.

More opulence in Modica

The next day we drove back along the south coast to Modica, founded in 1360 BC. Another picturesque steep hillside town, it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 after which the 29 churches were restored in the baroque style. It’s other claim to fame is the chocolate factories influenced by the Arabs during their occupation.

Leaving Exotica

On Sunday 28th September we waved goodbye to Exotica in her home port of Marina di Ragusa. It took a week of servicing, scrubbing, oiling decks and packing to get her into pristine condition to leave in the care of Anne and Stephen from Wandering Dragon, who will watch over her until our return.

All packed away for the winter. See you in April.

So we come to the end of our first year of Mediterranean cruising.

Route of Exotica 2014

It’s been full of adventures, we’ve learned a great deal and made most of the mistakes of beginners.  We were certainly a little unlucky with the weather.  Everyone agrees that it was not a good summer in the Med. June and July saw multiple weather systems with heavy winds around Sardinia and Corsica causing us to spend much time avoiding them.  We weathered a couple of quite nasty storms.

Altogether we travelled 1,676 nautical miles in 57 sailing days.  We used the motor for 262.9 hours and had 14 guest crew plus 10 day sailors.

We have met some marvellous and fascinating fellow sailors on the way and we have learned that things go wrong with them too.  In fact the motto of yachtsmen seems to be “There is always something!”

It was probably a mistake to spend August in the busiest and most expensive time around Capri, Amalfi and the Bay of Naples.

Our time in the Aeolian Islands and Sicily have been stunning and we had some excellent sailing particularly in the final month of the cruise.

Next year we plan to return to Exotica in mid-April and take off for a mini-refit in Malta.  From there we hope to sail up the Adriatic coast of Albania, Montenegro and Croatia as far as Venice.  We intend this to be a more leisurely cruise than 2014 with a greater proportion of the time spent at anchor around the islands of the Adriatic.

We have also had some wonderful crews during the year and hope they and others will return in 2015.

Sciacca –  September 10th. 2014

We continued our journey down the east coast of Sicily stopping for two days in Catania, the second largest city on the island and a busy seaport. The yacht marina is on a rather ramshackle pontoon but despite that we managed to get two important repairs done to the chart-plotter and the air conditioning.

Fish market in Catania.

Catania market.

After a jolly dinner party on board Deborah Humble left us at 5am the next morning. Later in the day we explored Catania.  It is pretty grimy and uninteresting around the port but the centre has quite some charm if somewhat faded and the open air markets are a feast for the eye although very wet under foot in the fish section.

One expects extra fresh food in such markets but they won’t let you choose your  own. He can’t have liked the look of us as the bag of tomatoes we bought were rotting the next day. Where was our Diva to charm him!

Port of Catania with Etna smoking in the background.

From Catania we motored over a glassy sea to Siracusa where we arrived mid-afternoon.

Siracusa

This is Syracuse, a city of much power in classical times.  We took a walk around the island of Ortiga, which together with the harbour, was the reason why the city was to rule the Southern Mediterranean for so long. Now, as so often in Italy, it is faded glory with a seafront of impressive buildings which appear deserted and even the occupied ones have plaster falling off the walls.  The centre of the town, however, is much smarter, full of designer and art shops for tourists.

We had planned to spend a couple of days in Siracusa to explore more thoroughly but on awakening the next day Julie checked the weather which forecast a strong Mistral headed our way.  We were on a mission to find a place to overwinter Exotica and did not want to be holed up in Siracusa for a week so made a quick decision to leave for Ragusa, a large marina on the south coast of Sicily.

Leaving Siracusa in a hurry.

So within twenty minutes of making the decision we were on our way.

We motored for many hours but once round the south-east corner of Sicily the wind came in and we had a few hours sailing and arrived in Marina di Ragusa to a warm welcome from the marineros.  The next morning the westerly wind came in with a vengeance, it blew for 6 days covering the boat with Sahara sand and thick salt. We doubled up the lines and were comfortable and secure.

Marina di Ragusa is a large and fairly new construction, well laid out and tidy with really excellent, helpful and pleasant staff.  It is a favourite place for live-aboards.  These are people, nearly all couples, who have sold up everything to live on their boats.  They cruise the Mediterranean during the summer and hole up in marinas during the winter.  Ragusa is very popular for wintering and we met people who have returned here for a number of years running.

Many have already returned for the winter so we took much advice, the outcome is that we will leave Exotica in Marina di Ragusa over the winter where we are very happy that she will be secure and cared for. This is a great relief and means that we can enjoy the last few weeks of this year’s cruise without the anxiety of not knowing where we will end up.

We stayed in Marina di Ragusa for a week and got to know some of the live-aboards very well.  Went to their regular Friday night drinks session, they have a very active social life when all the boats are in for the winter.  It almost made us feel like staying on.

Modern Ragusa on the hillside.

During our enforced sojourn in the marina we took a bus to the town of Ragusa.  Another place of great antiquity and power in classical times although destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, along with most of the south east of Sicily.  It was rebuilt in two parts, the upper town, Ragusa Superiore, is the current modern city while Ragusa Ibla, is built on the site of the destroyed city. Stunning Baroque churches, palaces, museums and colourful houses built into the side   of a steep ravine.

The steps down to Ibla.

The walk down to Ibla, is accessed by a very long and steep set of stairs.

The Duomo in Ibla, one of the innumerable churches.

The town itself is marked by narrow streets and a wide central piazza dominated by the Cathedral.  There are also multiple other churches, almost as many as houses.  We speculated as to where all the congregations were to be found to fill them.

We had an excellent lunch at a sidewalk restaurant where we were serenaded by an accordionist playing the theme from the Godfather.  There is a rather ‘Don’t mention the war’ attitude about the Mafia.  Some deny that it exists.  Terry is currently reading Midnight in Sicily, a book about the Mafia and if half of what one reads is true then I don’t think I would be playing that tune on an accordion.

Once the winds had abated we set off for a leisurely cruise along the south coast of Sicily, stopping first in Licata, another popular marina for overwintering.  Here the marina is close to the town and the shops but has the reputation of covering the bottom of boats with a forest of growth.

Licata old town near the harbour

There is a great Arabian influence in the tiny streets near the port where the balconies on both sides seem almost to touch. Tiny produce shops with groups of men passing the time of day outside. One could only see women on the balconies, usually smoking cigarettes.

Castle and Mausoleums of Licata.

Sailing from Licata we could see the mausoleums in the cemetery on the hillside characteristic of this area.

From Licata we had another short motor to San Leone, we were guided through the shallow entrance to the small marina full of RIBS and small motor boats. A dusty and rather downtrodden town overlooked by the city of Agrigento.

Il Pescatore with the dirty roof and dead hanging baskets.

It was Julie’s birthday and we were determined to eat out, however the best restaurant in town, we were assured by the female harbourmaster, did not look so splendid in the daytime.

We settled for one adjacent to the petrol station which turned out to be very elegant with excellent service and delicious food.

The harbour at Sciacca from the top of the steps.

We have now arrived in Sciacca, (pronounced ‘shacker’) yet another hillside town.  There are 241 steps up to the main square from the port but the town looks charming. It appears to be a centre for ceramics and almost every second shop is filled to bursting with gaudily painted pottery and tiles. We don’t have any room for them on board Exotica.

Here we plan to stay for a few days and meet our final crew for the year, Terry’s sister Margaret and friends Sue and Richard McKenzie. We plan to explore the south west of Sicily while they are here and then head back to Ragusa.

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.