Author: chinook

Sanremo was our last Italian port and Menton-Garavan was our first port in France. Wonderful to see baguettes, croissants and pate again! And lower marina rates.

We travelled this coastline in the fall of 2019. This time we hope to do more anchoring however anchoring now in France is more difficult with the new rules for avoiding the posidonia sea grass. Some anchorage areas are cordoned off with special bouys showing approved anchorage for boats less than 25 meters but you still need to avoid the sea grass. We downloaded the Donia app which proved to be very helpful when choosing where to drop the anchor.

Next stop was a motor to Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat. This was a very upscale marina but without the superyachts. After going into the marina you wished you had polished the boat and put on your very best sailing apparel. The shops along the waterfront did not cater to the common sailor. Still, it was enjoyable. No real town to speak of but lovely countryside. The whole penisula is full of uptown villas with lavish grounds. I’m sure the most common phrase used at cocktail hour in these villas was “I wonder what the poor people are doing today”. The bay in front of the town was filled with large to super yachts. It was the first time since the Amalfi coast that we had seen a large collection of super yachts.

The next day we motored onto Rade di Villefranche – this was on skipper’s bucket list. Just on the other side of the peninsula. We spent 2 nights anchored there. It was a busy anchorage during the day but thined out considerably by dinner time. We were able to take the dinghy into town and dock at the Villefranche old harbour. We picked up dinner at the fishmarket and wandered the narrow streets looking for boulangeries and cold beer. We also managed to get some chores done on the boat – sealing inspection ports, gelcoat, new dinghy lights and adding velcro for our sunshades. One night we started to hear some voices off in the distance. Listened further and then we saw it. It was a movie playing on the castle wall. We found out later that they run outdoor movies during selected summer nights.

A great anchorage! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Worthy of another visit.

We stayed in Cannes for 2 nights at the marina. We were closer to the town than two years ago. Close to some very large sailboats and motor yachts. We wandered the old town and visited the much Covid diminished market. Sea bass and bullots on the BBQ for dinner. Laundry day the next day – love the onboard washing machine especially during Covid. With this heat, every day seemed to be laundry day.

We anchored the next 2 nights. First night at Baie de Briande where we had rain, thunder and lightenting. There was a snack boat wandering through the anchorage but our boat was too small to warrant a stop.

Next night we anchored in 8M clear water at Isles de Porquerolles. A pleasant night with Cicadas chirping. The seas calmed later in the evening for a good sleep.

To be continued ….. travelling to Tulon, Marseille and back to Port Napoleon in Port Saint Louis du Rhone where Chinook has spent the winter.

After Pisa, we passed by the Apuan Alps, a mountain range in northern Tuscany that reach 2,000 meters high. The mountains appear snow covered but it’s the Carrara marble seen on the mountian side. It has been used for buildings and sculptures since ancient Rome times.

We made our way to an anchorage in a bay just south of Lerici and anchored under a castle wall. Picture perfect and a nice calm night for a change. Most of the boats left in the early evening leaving only 4 overnight.

The next day we sailed by Cinque Terre starting at Porto Venere and going north. These villages are postcard perfect. We could see from the water that these villages were teeming with tourists so we decided not to anchor to go ashore. We spent the night in Chiavari and stopped for a swim (28 degree water) before entering the port.

We looked into spending the night at Portofino however at 450 euros a night for a mooring ball we decided to pass. It is a beautiful village and is on the bucket list of many sailors.

We continued onto Genova. The harbour is huge with many cruise ships. It was a 20 minute entrance to the marina. We docked right in the porto antica next to a Pirate ship and an Aquarium.

We spent a very hot day wandering around Genova. Google maps (not our friend) got us lost a few times in the narrow streets but we made it to the top for a great view. A fun city! Many piazzas and old buildings in old Genova. Garibaldi street is where the wealthy families of Genova built their mansions. Most so them are now banks. The Deutche bank was closing but allowed us to the atrium which housed a fountain and lovely sculptures and paintings. We just had to lock up when we left. We had takeout of fresh fried fish and calamari from one of the old sciamadde shops near our boat.

After two great nights in Genova, we sailed on and anchored the next night at Capo di Noli (south of Malpasso) and and the next night at Capo Santa Corse (near Alassio). The later was the most uncomfortable night of our trip. The direction of the winds differed from the direction of the large swells. We had to use the gimbal stove for dinner at anchor! Nice landscape and good swimming.

Sanremo was our last Italian port. It was more of a city than town with more people and traffic than Genova. Everyone drives a motorcycle in Italy which is the preferred mode of transportation. The harbour was on the outskirts of Sanremo. Went to the fish market but not early enough as only one vendor left but were able to get some fish for that nights dinner. We first met a Dutch boat here which we would meet another two times. The nights are finally starting to get cooler – mid August.

Arrivederci Italia – Bonjour la France!

We had a good sail with only the jib to Portoferraio (meaning “Iron Port” in Italian) on Elba Island.  Napoleon was exiled in Elba in 1814 after his defeats in Europe and his forced abdication and made his residence in Portoferraio. He did not stay long and Waterloo was history.

We anchored in 16-20 kn winds at Rada di Portoferraio. It was a very large bay well protected from the swell but we were still subjected to the winds. Our anchor held well but we did see another boat drifting through the harbour amazingly missing the other anchored boats. We received some welcome rain but did not last long. Unfortunately, we felt it was too windy to leave the boat to head to shore to see Portoferraio. Beautiful town viewed from the Rada.

From Portoferraio we went to Marina Cala de Medici. Another uninteresting place (it did have the best all round grocery store we had seen in Italy) but a good marina. After that, to Porto di Pisa which also had a double narrow entrance like Roma. We docked at the back of the port with good access to supplies. Skipper found a great bike path into Pisa, some narrow roads as you got into Pisa. So, we got the bikes out, dusted off the rust, lubricated them up and down the passerelle. The next day we had a hot cycle into Pisa (15 km) and only got lost a few times.

We rounded the corner into the Piazza del Duomo there was the Torre di Pisa. It did not disappoint. The tower, the Cathedral, Bapistry and surrounding buildings were great but a lttle crowded. Most we had seen since Napoli. Except this time they were tourists. We did not have an EU vacciation certificate so we could not enter the buildings. This was the first time that the lack of the certificate hindered us. We tried to get one but usual bureaucratic fashion, there was no response from the Italian government even though we had gone to the site they recommended to get one. We found a nice spot for lunch before the cycle back. Well worth the trip.

Out new BBQ (Lotus grill) has been great for the hot evenings. We grilled octopus (very popular in Italy) for a tomato pasta dish.

We continue our way up the Italian Coastline. There was busy ferry traffic leaving Napoli but we had a good sail to Gaeta with 20-25 winds most of the day. We stopped at a small local restaurant in Gaeta for Tielle (octopus pie) and pasta con cozze. Nothing too interesting about the town.

Our sail to Anzio included a lot ot tacking with rough seas. The Anzio harbour had a narrow entrance and we docked along the city wall. This harbour also had WWII significance as this was the site of some further landings by the Allies including Canadian soldiers. One of our good friends father landed here in 1943 with the 1st Special Service Force, the Devil’s Brigade.  The town was rather uninteresting as the buildings were mostly post war since the war razed the town almost completely. We were visited by the Guardia di Finanza (Customs) in Anzio. They were friendly but took up a couple of hours of our morning with paperwork and delayed our exit to Roma.

The Roma marina is man made and we entered through 2 crescent-shaped moles designed to reflect any swell before it enters the marina. However, the waters were quite turbulent at the entrance but calm after we were fully inside. It was a steep passerelle exit from Chinook. The marina is quite isolated with nothing of noteworthy about it other than it was a good marina and relatively close to Roma, about 30km. A number of Romans keep their boats there.

During our sail to Riva di Triano, our excitement of the day was a Guardia di Finanza boat (with the deck gun manned) who jammed our radar and pulled beside us with their fenders lowered for boarding. Fortunately they left after a few questions and did not board the boat. Riva di Triano was a huge sterile marina with 1,180 berths, also in the middle of nowhere. We had dinner close by on the pier – tonnarelli allo scoglio which had become a favourite of ours.

Our sail to Port Ercole had light winds and large rolling waves. The extreme heat continued so afternoon dips in the sea were becoming regular. The Marina di Presidi had cold birra at the marina side bar which we welcomed. The town was quite small.

We had a lazy carefree sail to Punta Alla. The marina was full so we reserved a slip privately with payment in cash. We’re always skeptical of cash payments at the marinas. The marina was fine but our Italian slipmates were not friendly which we found was common for sailing during the summer months. Again, not a destination spot but a good overnight place.

After Amalfi, we anchored at Fiordo di Crappola (suspicious that is not a real name but it is the one Navily gave it)(near Positano). Many tourist and private boat traffic during the day but by evening it was quiet. We reset the anchor for the night in order to stay well clear of the ‘no boating’ zone. As with many of our anchorages, the wind changed direction numerous times during our stay.

The next day we sailed to Sorrento where there was good marina with helpful staff. We hiked along a narrow cliffside walkway to reach the town. Below we could see the marina and the busy seaside resorts filled with tourists baking in the sweltering heat. Another quaint town with narrow streets but his time laid out in a realtively organized way. We went back to town for dinner at La Cazzarola.

Enroute to Napoli we hauled out our Code D sail and toured the Salerno coast where more WWII landings took place. We arrived at the Napoli marina with views of Vesuvius and Castel Dell’Ovo. All this for only 185 euros a night! Electricity was extra but it did include great security. Napoli is a very busy and noisy city with lots of traffic but very few traffic lights or stop signs. Amazingly no traffic jams but watch out crossing the street. Quite a contrast from Sorrento.

We spent 2 nights in Napoli and hit all the sites: Piazza Plebiscito with the Royal Palace at one end and Basilica Pontificia San Francesco at the other, Teatro di San Carlo, Via Toledo, Galleria Umberto (a 18th century glass covered mall), Cathedral (Duomo di Napoli), Quartieri Spagnoli (very busy) and had our first taste of sfogliatella. The Basilica Pontificia San Francesco was an interesting copy of the pantheon roof. We had birra at MacDonalds (ice cold on a very hot day) and takeout pizza (of course, we are in Napoli) for dinner to offset the steep marina costs. Being in a larger city, it was expecially hot.

We left the Aeolian Islands on July 23 and made way back to the Italian coastline. There was no wind so we mototed all day in the heat allowing skipper to repair 2 winch handles along the way. We stopped along the way for a swim in the Tyrrhenian Sea with water temperature 29 degrees!

Because of our battery problems, we were forced to stay in more marinas than we hoped. However, as we went up the coast we noticed that there were not many protected anchorages in any event. Most were exposed to the north and west, the prevailing winds. Because we were now in the heart of the Italian vacation summertime, we needed to book our stays at marinas 3-4 days in advance, especially on the Amalfi coast, when previously, only the day before or that day was needed to book a spot. We were generally successful in finding a spot but sometimes we had to move onto the next harbour to find a spot.

We stayed at the marina in Cetraro [it was all fenced in for some reason] where a helpful neighbour gave advice on anchorages and marinas along the Italian coast and booked us a berth in Pisciotta (Italian only speaking port).

Next stop was Scario which was busy with boats. We were first directed to a small space but after a couple of attempts, we told them it was too small and we moved onto a larger spot. Harbourfront was busy with Italian tourists.

This coastline is very rugged with lots of small boat activity around the caves and small calas.

Pisciotta is a small town clinging to the cliffs overlooking the sea. The harbour was also small and very shallow requiring the center board up all the way. We med moored against the breakwall. We walked up the steep hill to the town in the extreme heat. It was not a welcoming town but very quaint with narrow windy streets and many cats. It also had a PA system through the town streets where a local politician was droning on. Quite strange. We had a good dinner at the top overlooking the harbour at Tre Gufi (3 Owls).

We moved onto Agropoli where we picked up some fuel ($1.65/litre) before making our way over to the marina dock for a tight squeeze between 2 large yachts. We had our first cuoppo (Italian fresh fish and chips) at a take out restaurant Cuopperia Tuffiamoci Qui. Deeelish.

Next day was a good sail despite low winds. We used Pink Panther and the mainsail to get 5 kt speed. We stopped at the picturesque town of Amalfi nestled in the cliffs. Beautiful! We moored with our stern against a tall cement wall and used a large marina passerelle to exit the boat with the dinghy moved to the bow. We walked into town. Like all of the places along the Amalfi coast, it was very busy. Lemons were abundant and were the size of grapefruit. The lemon Granitas were most refreshing in the hot afternoon. We also had our first taste of Limoncella. Nice dinner at Taverna Buonvicino.

On July 20 we left Scilla for the Aeolian Islands. Our first stop was at Yacht Harbour at Lipari. Our plan to anchor was aborted by some battery issues that started early morning as we left Scilla. Many mega yachts moor in this harbour and nearby stores are filled will crew picking up supplies. Wine on tap is popular! We had quite a wind leaving Lipari and the marina staff assisted our exit with a push from their dinghy.

Our next stop was Salina where we anchored in an area just north of the harbour. Pleasant spot. There were many boats when we arrived but most boats left around 1900. It was a beautiful night but it became very rolly over night – the first of many rolly nights to come at anchor.

Our next stop was Stromboli. We had a good sail to the west side of Stromboil (the lava side) which is one of 3 active volcanos in Italy. The wind was strong when we were tieed up to the mooring ball. We took a water taxi to shore and walked up to the church in search of supplies. The streets were narrow with lots of taxis and scooters keeping us on our toes. Roadside bars were quite popular there. It was another very rolly night.

We waited 3 nights in Roccella for the right weather to go through the Strait of Messina (a narrow crossing with strong currents between Sicily and Italy). We set out on July 19 at 0458 (it was already hot) for a 12 hour trip to ensure we crossed the strait near slack water and during daylight. Unfortunately we motored the entire way with no wind until we rounded Riace Capo where we had 15-18 on the nose. The wind was great for the kiters who were surfing back and forth across the strait but it was of no assistance to us.

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The entrance to the strait was very busy with crossing ferries between Sicily and Calabria. The ports on each side had a number of privately owned ferries which were on different schedules and destinations. That made it difficult to avoid them. We arrived at narrowest point 45 minutes before slack water and the crossing went well.

According to Greek mythology, mythical sea monsters named Scylla and Charybdis were on opposite sides of the strait. Because the strait is so narrow, they were considered an inescapable threat. Scylla was a six headed monster on the Calabrian side who plucked sailors off boats which passed too close but if passed too close to the Sicilian side, Charybdis was there, who was a whirlpool monster that swallowed ships. In Homer’s book, the Odyssey, Odysseus was advised to sail by Scylla and lose only a few sailors, rather than risk losing his ship to Charybdis. We took Homer’s tip and even managed to escape the clutches of Scylla.

Once we passed through the strait we were intrigued with the traditional swordfish fishing boats. Very strange looking boats. They have a mainmast about 25 metres high, at the top of which is one of the crew looking out for swordfish which at times swim near the surface. The boat also has a very long bowsprit where the fishermen perched ready to hurl harpoons with a long fishing line to catch the fish. Fresh swordfish in the summer is always on the menu in Sicily and Italy.

Swordfish boat in action

We settled into our mooring in Scilla, Italy not far from the Strait. No marina at Scilla. There is only a small harbour for the local fishing boats. We used a mooring ball and tied off the bow and stern for 50 euros but hey they did collect garbage as part of that fee and provided a water taxi to and from the town.

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Scilla is a quaint town which climbs up the step rock wall above the harbour and also has a beach front area for tourists with restaurants . We took a lift up to the main town for supplies where there was a beautiful view of the sea and The Ruffo Castle, a fortress built by the Dukes of Calabria. This is also the traditional site of the sea monster Scylla of Greek mythology.

We walked down with supplies and had dinner at a restaurant clinging to the rock wall on the water. Charlie had swordfish, of course. While eating we watched one of residents in a neighbouring house go snorkeling and later came back with octopus and fish for their dinner.

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After a pleasant night at anchor in Othonoi, Greece we left for Santa Maria di Leuca, Italy.  Our stops along Italy’s southern coast were the same as our trip to Albania except for a stop in Gallipoli.  We tried out the free mooring in the Gallipoli commercial harbour.  A few spots are reserved for transiting boats and we were able to snag one.  We med moored and stern tied (without assistance on the dock) to the high wharf wall beside the fishing boats, We had not done a Med mooring with anchor for sometime and with the not so helpful wind we provided a great source of entertainment as we settled into our spot for the night. We met Ralph on the cat Frida moored next to us. We were impressed with his repair skills. Their throttle cable broke while docking and he had to quickly jury rig a new one. His one-handed bowline hanging off the wharf wall with the other hand as he was helping in another boat impressed us further and made it clear we have a long way to go with our knot tying.

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We didn’t venture far from the wharf but from what we saw Gallipoli was a very vibrant spot with unexpected crowds in the streets which we hadn’t seen before.  It was a bit more of a tourist place that we were anticipating. We had dinner at a great restaurant, La Lampari, close to the marina where you picked out your raw seafood and they grilled it.  This turned out to be our best seafood dinner along our journey. 

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We had some good winds from Gallipoli to Crotone.  En route to Roccella we had strong winds and were entertained by pirate music along the way. As we approached Rocella, we could see there was a fire in the hills behind the marina we were going to stop at. We waited to see what the fire was going to do before we entered the marina. The weather had been extremely hot and dry this summer – this was not the first fire we had seen while sailing the coastline.  The Italian forestry department quickly responded to the fire. We saw for the first time the Canadair water bombers in action putting out the fire with very short turnaround times. We had a good dusting of ash on the deck of our boat by morning but fortunately it cleanly washed off.  

We stayed 3 nights in Roccella as we waited for the right  weather to pass through the Messina Strait.  It gave us time to do some boat chores including servicing the two stern winches, do laundry and walk into town (2km) for supplies. We had a light rain for the first time but it did not last long. We would not see rain for many days thereafter.

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