Yippee - Sailing Again!!
- kelligwiggins
- Jun 14
- 7 min read
It was so good to be back on our floating home, and moving further south. We left Ostia on April 23, and sailed past Anzio to the island of Ponza. We dropped our anchor in the small bay, and took the dinghy to a deserted beach. It was still early in the summer season, but we did find an open cafe, so had to stop for a cold beverage.
We stayed for two nights, then pulled up the anchor at dawn, and made our way to the island of Ischia, which is off the coast near Naples. We passed some sailboats racing (in the other direction), and dropped our anchor in a bay near the Aragonese Castle of Ischia.
The original fortress was built in 474 B.C, and it was transformed over the centuries by many different groups. When Mount Epomeo erupted in 1301, the Ischians sought refuge on the rock, and a small town was formed. In 1441 the original stronghold was rebuilt, and connected to the main island by a bridge. Near 1700, about 2000 families lived on the small islet. There was a convent, an abbey, a bishop, a prince, and 13 churches.
Steep tunnel with skylights up to the fortress, and a small chapel consecrated to John Joseph of the Cross, the patron saint of the island.
The Convent of the Clarisses housed around 40 nuns. The nun's cemetery, located underneath a church, has several 'draining seats', where the dead bodies of the nuns were placed. They decomposed, and their skeletons were removed to an ossuary. The living nuns would congregate here and pray daily, meditating on the nature of death. Very creepy!
The castle complex is made up of many terraces and towers, offering magnificent views of the Island of Ischia, the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Naples (you can see Sunspot Baby at anchor in the bottom pic).
Frescos in the crypt below the church.
Church of the Madonna della Punta (Virgin of the Point)
Footpath of the Sun
Citrus trees in the garden
View of Ischia
Our sailing friends Dan and Robyn met us at the anchorage in their boat, and we spent a day riding motorbikes with them around Ischia. It was really nice to spend time with fun people who speak the same language! It was also a great way to see the island.
We saw il Fungo, or mushroom rock, in the small harbor town of Lacco Ameno.
We visited the beautiful La Mortella Gardens, and spent a couple of hours wandering the hilly paths enjoying the exotic flowers and trees.
We visited the marina at Forio and enjoyed a nice lunch, then we continued on our tour around the island to the resort town of Sant Angelo. The views of the sea are beautiful, and we had some gelato then returned the motorbikes and walked back to our boats.
We said a fond farewell to Dan and Robyn, and we are hoping to catch up with them again on their sailing yacht Zoe in Greece or Albania this summer.
The next morning we motored around the island to the marina at Forio. The sunrise was lovely.
We stayed at Forio for a few days, then sailed across to the nearby island of Procida.
After a quiet night, we set off across the Gulf of Naples, and had a nice day sailing. We saw a huge trawler with his nets in the water, and gave him a very wide berth!
We passed a lovely Italian villa on the coast, protected by an old watchtower.
We anchored at the small coastal town of Vico Equense. We stayed here for two nights, and took our dinghy ashore for some groceries.
The views at night were pretty. First Vico Equense, then the lights of the Naples coast.
From here we sailed past the Isle of Capri and across the Gulf of Salerno to the Marina at Agropoli. We stayed here for three nights, and did some sight-seeing. There is a medieval town with a castle that we enjoyed exploring at the top of the steep hill.
We visited two small cathedrals. First, built around 1583, the Church of Madonna di Constantinopoli is a beautiful church, dedicated to the Madonna, who is considered the protector of the city. This image is on the ceiling:
And this similar image is on the door:
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is the oldest in Agropoli, dating back to Pope Gregory the Great. He mentions in a letter dated in 593 the alleged landing of Saint Paul near Agropoli.
It was relaxing to just be still and absorb the peaceful beauty of this place.
We spent a day visiting nearby Paestum, an ancient Greek settlement about 11 km north of Agropoli. It was originally known as Poseidonia, after the Greek god of the sea. The three enormous Greek temples date back to 550 - 450 BC, and have been well preserved.
There are many more temple and building foundations to see along the paved roads, as well as an amphitheater and some mosaics, of course!
The National Archaeological Museum of Paestum has three floors, and takes you through the Greek, then Lucanian, then Roman periods of this area.
Ancient Roman coins, and items recovered from graves in the region.
Frescos recovered from a large tomb from the Spinazzo necropolis
Vases dedicated to the Greek goddesses Hera and Aphrodite, urn with warriors, and small figurines, all recovered from the Greek temples.
The marina at Agropoli was very nice and welcoming. This area is one of my favorites in our travels so far.
Our next stop was an anchorage called Isola di Dino. We stayed for one night, and witnessed a truly spectacular sunset.
We stayed one night, then moved to an anchorage off the coast of Cetraro, near the entrance to a marina. On our trip, several dolphins decided to join us, and had a wonderful time frolicking with our boat. Hopefully you can view this short video.
We pulled the anchor up early the next morning and made our way across the large bay, and around the Capo Vaticano, to an anchorage near Santa Maria. Unfortunately we ran into a thunderstorm in the open water, and things got very wet and a little wild for a couple of hours. We were relieved to stop for the night, and were treated to another amazing sunset. You can see the smoking volcano on the island of Stromboli in the distance.
Stromboli is one of seven Aeolian Islands off the north coast of Sicily. According to Greek mythology, it is the home of Aeolus, the son of the god Poseidon.
The next morning, we sailed past the enormous port at Gioia Tauro.
We motored a short distance to the Costa Viola Marina, and stayed at a berth run by the local yacht club. The members were very welcoming, and met us on the dock to make sure our boat was well secured, and we had everything we needed.
We met several other sailing travelers here, and enjoyed a shopping trip and a bbq with them in the club's outdoor kitchen.
It was a great place to stop and rest, and wait for a good weather window. Our next leg took us through the Messina Strait, which is the body of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the western tip of Calabria, the southern tippy toe of the boot of Italy. The tidal currents and whirlpools can be tricky through here, due to the mixing of the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. We also had to keep a lookout for Scylla and Charybdis, the two sea monsters that Odysseus encountered in Homer's Odyssey.
We left the marina on the clear and sunny morning of May 18, hoping to enter the narrow strait at low tide. Luckily, we made it through safely, only having to navigate around a couple of speedy sword-fishing boats, called feluccas, and large ferries. The sword-fishermen move very quickly, and once a fish is spotted by the captain at the top of the mast, the 'lanzaturri' rushes down the long gangway at the front of the boat, and hopefully spears the fish. (I 'borrowed' the third pic below from an online article, to show you the front of the boat).
Lighthouse near Calabria Reggio
Our next stop was a small family-owned marina at Porto Bolaro, where we stayed for one night. We were moored next to a nice couple from the UK on a powerboat, Mal and Theresa. They travel with two springer spaniels.
We left early the next morning, making our way around the 'toe' to the Porto delle Grazie Marina di Roccella. This was one of our longest days, we made it 56.8 nm in almost 10 hours.
Once again we moored near the powerboat with the springers, and enjoyed a quiet evening.
We left very early the next morning, as we had another long day ahead of us. The sunrise was stunning!
We pulled in to the Crotone Marina around 5:30 pm, after a record trip of 62.9 nm in 11.5 hours. Our powerboat friends were already there, they had made the same trip in about half the time! Of course it took them about twice the fuel...
We stayed at this marina for a couple of days, traveling north by bus to Cariati. There is a marina there, and we wanted to see if they could accommodate our boat while we traveled back to the US for about 6 weeks. Unfortunately they could not, so we made arrangements with another marina at Policoro, a little further north.
We said goodbye to our friends Mal and Theresa, and left Crotone early on the morning of May 22 to an anchorage in the arch of the boot, at Foce del fiume Crati. On this trip we saw more dolphins, and it is always a thrill to see them up close.
We also sailed near to some parasailers, and this guy got quite a charge out of seeing how close he could get to our boat.
Our anchorage was nice and quiet, and we left bright and early for our last stop, the Policoro Marina.
Of course the sunrise was lovely.
The mountain scenery was beautiful, and the Italian Air Force must have been practicing their sky-writing. We heard several sonic booms, and they made lots of neat designs in the sky overhead.
We made it to the marina, and docked our boat at last. We plan to leave her here while we are in the US for our son Taylor's upcoming wedding.
Our journey from Rome to Policoro, about 603 nautical miles, took almost exactly one month. We left Ostia on April 23, we arrived in Policoro on May 23.
When we return in late July, we plan to make our way around the heel of Italy, and over to Albania. We will check our boat out of the European Union (EU), and enjoy sailing in Albania. We will then start sailing in Greece.
For now, we are back in the US, staying in Davenport, IA.
Ciao friends!
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