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Siracusa, Sicilia
to Cetraro,
Italy
April 12-22, 2004
Travelogue #3 Spring 2004
We have departed Syracuse but
there is a bit more to say about the wine. There is a bulk wine
store in old town where there are 7 barrels of wine, 3 red, 3
white and one almost black. The barrels hold about 50 gallons
or so and it is possible to taste before you buy. We had some
of this wine the other night and I thought it quite OK. Then
I bought 2 liters of the best (read most expensive) red wine
at a price of 2 euros for a liter. It is still an ok wine but
there is an aside about it: one can get their MDR of fiber from
the stuff. It has not been filtered and is very cloudy, it doesn't
need to be chewed but it is thick.
We had a great Easter, as we
seem to do each year. We are now on our way back to Riposto,
where we are expected. We get to sail off and on for about 7
hours and then arrive in a well protected marina
at the foot of Mt. Etna. It really quite different to look up
either when sailing or here in the marina and see Mt. Etna. It
is a classic and of such historical significance, nature’s
way of saying Efes. This night is without swells and comfortable,
a change from the past week. At 9 am we are up and on our way
to Taormina, look that up in the web, which is the glitzy place
of Sicily. They say there is some serious wealth here, and it
is easy to believe after you visit it. The village is hung on
the side of a mountain with a view to the west of Mt. Etna, incredibly
beautiful. I was able to send the previous log from here, perhaps
you can tell it is from a special place!
All of us, you included, ask
people to say "cheese" when about to take a picture.
Well, there was a family walking down the dock here in the marina
and taking pictures. The photographer instructed, “say formaggio”,
which is "say cheese" in Italian. There is not one
syllable in the word formaggio which would produce a smile.
Another by the way, I was not expecting to find a good wine in
Italy, so when I have been fortunate enough to find one I bought
a couple of bottles; we now have a couple of bottles of several
different wines and seem to be adding to the cellar at the rate
of several a day.
The straits of Messina are referenced
in Homer’s Odyssey as follows.
“And all this time, in travail,
sobbing, gaining on the current, we rowed into the strait –
Skylla to port and on our starboard beam Kharybdis, dire gorge
of the salt sea tide. By heaven when she vomited, all the sea
was like a cauldron seething over intense fire, when the mixture
suddenly heaves and rises.” The Odyssey, Book 12 transl.
R Fitzgerald.
Scylla was said to dwell in a
cave atop a sheer cliff on the eastern side of the strait. She
had 12 feet which dangled down and 6 long necks with horrible
heads which reached down to pluck dolphin and swordfish from
the Strait or sailors from passing ships. At the bottom of the
cliff a whirlpool sucked down unwary ships.
We had a good walking tour of
Messina and found
it to be a rather stylish city. The buildings are not new but
are great looking with early architecture. The large El Duomo
in town has the largest pipe organ in Italy inside. It is the
third largest in Europe, and Kathy did not get a chance to play
it.
The finger pier that we are tied
to has a depth of 92 feet of water below. The ferries pass within
200 yards of us all evening and most of the night. It is very
active as this is the narrows between Italy and Sicily. Think
of a state with an area a little larger than New Jersey with
a population of 7,000,000 people and almost all enter and exit
through a single point. Like a major intersection where all traffic
converges. It is busy.
We pass through the Straits
of Messina and have no difficulty other than a monster head
current of 4+ kts. We went through several whirlpools
and in fact one of them had the force to almost take the wheel
from me. It is a very active locale. The water south of the strait
is 400 to 500 feet deep, 1 mile wide, and broadens to 2 miles
wide; north of the strait the water is but 200 feet deep and
running south.
We arrived at Isle
Volcano of the Aeolian Islands after a great sail with 14
to 18 kt winds. We anchored in a very closed bay on the NW side,
just below the still active volcano. There are trails to the
top and it is the main attraction of the island. There is an
Algida (ice cream) stand at the very bottom of the trail. I am
sure they do a great business in the summer, not today. It is
rather cool, we have not seen the temp rise above 69 since we
have been here this spring. We are ready for some warm days,
please.
A Bavaria 50 pulled in to share
the anchorage just before dark. It is a chartered boat out of
Piraeus (Athens). He is a long way from home if he has to return
the boat to Athens. The night was a bit unsettling as the wind
rose a bit. By morning it was blowing hard enough to cause us
to check everything out and sort of plan what ifs’. The
Bavaria picked up anchor and left in the face of a gale, don't
know what possessed them to do that. They were gone.
The wind is a constant 20 to
30 kts with gusts from 40 to 50 kts, top gust was 54.4. We now
have a 22 # Bruce fastened about 10 feet up the chain from the
Bruegel. This is the way Costas taught us. We have a 45 # Bruce
dragging along astern to slow down the sailing at anchor. It
is raining buckets full right now; we are about 100 yds off the
beach and the wind blown spray is what you call a williwaw. This
is a storm where we are fortunate to be in a very secure protected
anchorage. By night there is a relative calm outside, only 29
kts, but you can sleep with that wind if you are connected to
the bay as we are.
There is a new thing in the US
where one can have instant messaging; it has been in Europe for
the past several years. For only 10 cents I can send a 160 character
message to anyone with a cell phone. I have recently contacted
one of our most electronic friends in Tucson and the system is
now working there, what a way to get weather reports!
The night was uneventful and
the morning started with brightness and clarity, what a difference.
The decks are black with volcanic ash and dust but it sort of
washes off with a few buckets of salt water. The problem is that
there is also dust and ash in the rigging and spars, it will
wash down with morning dew and later rain. We are now on our
way to Isla Salina which is only 10 miles away.
Salina is a small green island
grown up around twin volcanoes, inactive for centuries. The marina section is very
small and we are the third sailboat in place. We are on the far
southeast part of the island and just below a rather high volcanic
peak. The wind is currently from the west and we are getting
the action of a pretty good downdraft and a second action caused
by the wraparound of the end of the island. It is windy but again
we are safe and have no seas. These islands are very aptly named,
The Aeolians, as we have only been here 3 days but the wind has
been high each of the days. The town is linear, as was Roccella
Ionica, and has its main street one block away from the water.
Our first impression is that it is charming in much the same
way Gaios on Paxos is charming. I believe we will stay here a
few days and tour the island, it beautiful island and offer a
superb dining experience. For lunch we had an antipasto of a
baked broccoli item, it is of broccoli, egg, milk and a little
water. It is baked in individual portions in a small 3”
cup and served surrounded with a generous serving of mussels.
The broccoli and a pasta dish which is cooked with fish eggs,
and voila you have a meal.
There is a brochure about the
island, just like all of the towns we have visited, but this
one has a major difference; it is written by someone who speaks
and writes English very well. Speaking of the communes of Malfa
and Leni: “They were the emblem of an ethnic-cultural diversity
accentuated by the geographical divisions of territory that was
often hostile to social interpenetration.” The complete
brochure reads like this and has great photos of beautiful places
to see, thus we get on a local bus and for 5 euros we can ride
around the island all day. We go to Malfa and walk about the
town until we find a very small restaurant with a very small
menu. After lunch we traveled the interior of the island. Salina
consists of two volcanoes with a verdant valley
between them. It is not a real valley, it is just the steep sided
passage where the two volcanoes come together. The area is extremely
rich in plant life. The volcano peaks are always in the clouds
during this time of year and the resulting moisture combined
with the growing conditions make for healthy plants. The area
reminds me of areas on Maui.
Monday April 19 and we are still
here. The weather news is full of gale warnings, both near and
in other locations. Some are in gale conditions now, some are
scheduled for a later time, most likely when we sail. We decide
to leave the boat in its secure spot and take the hydrofoil to
the next island, Lipari. It is only 15 minutes by the fast ferry.
Lipari is the capital island of the Aeolian Islands and is a
very nice, moderately sized town. We are able to find a so-to-speak
large market, at least 3 aisles of displays, and purchase some
needed items. The harbor is active and clean. There is a very
large cathedral at the top of about 60 ramped stairs. Each stair
has a rise of 8 inches and ramps up, perhaps 10 inches, to the
next step about 7 feet away, and at the top you can view
out across the town and the sea. We found a small shop, tavola
calda, where we had lunch. He had tables in front of the
shop but they were in the sun, so he pulled the table and our
bench up onto the sidewalk for shade. Everyone walked around
us as though this is what was done each day. We came back to
our island and our boat in midafternoon and prepared to leave
tomorrow for Stromboli, we hope.
Tuesday morning and we are stuck
again; the forecast was for force 7 winds and increasing. This
morning the wind is blowing at least 50 kts as there is salt
spray blowing off of the small wave tops. This is within 100
yds of shore but it is not much different when you go further
out. I notice that there is a sailboat going from left to right;
this is one of the few we have seen. He is under a deeply reefed
head sail and going about 8 kts, and is being followed by another
sailboat with a deeply reefed main and reefed jib. He has too
much sail up and is rounding up in the very high winds and 10
foot seas. While watching and scanning the horizon I now count
4 more boats, so this must be a race. No one, let alone no group,
would be cruising in this weather. The third boat has three forestays
and only has the innermost jib hanked on, and it is raised only
halfway up the stay for a 30% jib. Still, the boat is ripping
along. I have checked my chartplotter and by their direction
it appears that they are headed for Palermo, another 65 miles.
Thunder and lightening send me back to the confines of Traumerei
where I will write of sailing and not sail myself; perhaps tomorrow.
The above mentioned race was
called off at 8:45 this morning. This afternoon some of the race
boats started to arrive in this small harbor where we are. So
far 7 of them have arrived and are telling horror stories. The
race started in Rome on Sunday and was supposed to be a non stop
race around Lipari and back to Rome, one way it is 250 miles.
They covered the 250 before dawn this morning, and one of them
is a 24 foot boat with a purple mast (shades of the McDades).
We heard that one of the 103 boats in the regatta sank and the
two aboard were rescued from their life raft. On another boat,
some hardware associated with the main sheet and traveler burst
and released the boom which hit a young man in the head and killed
him. They are a bunch of very tired people and glad to be in
a harbor away from the big seas where they reported winds exceeding
45 kts, with gusts up to 60, and very large seas. The boats are
draped with bed sheets, foulies, rugs, clothes, sleeping bags,
etc.; everything got wet. A couple who are sailing the regatta
moored adjacent to us and used our boat as a pathway to the dock.
They are from Rome and very delightful to meet. He is a member
of a yacht club and asked if he could help us find a berth for
our boat this summer while we are in Rome.
Wednesday and this is our day
to escape. This is a nice place but it is difficult to be forced
to stay in a spot. We leave at 5:30 pm sailing with a couple
from England and have timed our departure so as to arrive at
Stromboli after dark to better see the eruptions, then arrive
on the mainland at early light. In that it has been raining for
the past few days, Mt. Etna, look left and see a beautiful sunset
crowned by the green flash and see the smoke coming from and
the volcano does an eruption show for us each 10 minutes for
an hour and a half as we pass by. The sparks, read lava, are
thrown into the air with great force and shower down the mountain
side. There is a red/orange glow at all times but just prior
to an eruption there is an increased intensity in the light,
what a sight. We are 1 mile off of the shore. The fronts having
passed, we are moving in no wind and agitated leftover seas.
About sunrise we arrive in Cetraro. Last night as we were sailing
beneath Stromboli,
via the sms cell phone protocol. We kept up a running dialog
regarding our location, Stromboli activity, destination, and
so forth. He complained that at the time he was at his desk and
having to work while hearing of the trip. This is a neat way
to communicate. We are in a secure harbor after an all night
journey and it is time to put this log and ourselves to bed.
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