Italy

Vela holidays in Italy: photo and travel diary

Below some of the most fascinating photos from sailing from Genoa to Sicily, and a fun and interesting travel diary full of information and anecdotes that describes the entire itinerary. If you haven't read them again, take a look at travel information and the itinerary map here: www.wildrips.net/sailing-italy.htm.

Vela holidays in Italy: travel diary

"So you would have the idea of ​​the idea to leave on a sailing boat from Genoa and reach Sicily by touching the islands and the strokes of the most beautiful coast of the Tyrrhenian? Sailing for 800 miles and two weeks on a sailboat of 10 meters?" > "Exactly."
"It seems to me a great idea. Let's go. "
Thus, in August 2013 agosta and I threw us into this business. The boat had to be brought to Trapani and this vacation-transfer was a great opportunity.
we left from Genoa in the morning, after galvanized. A light wind pushed us up to Chiavari and blackboard . It was a pleasure, as always, pass in front of the green promontory of Portofino and its beautiful cliffs. But everything becomes more beautiful when seen from the sea, even the hyper-built neighborhoods of Genoa and Rapallo.
The next day we left the tigullio and made broken towards Tuscany. Unfortunately we had to resort to the engine, although that little wind blowing was enough to inflate the sails and save us a little gasoline. The maximum speed is 6 knots therefore it takes a certain patience. But who is in a hurry to stop floating? I certainly don't.

For a long navigation, travel at night is necessary. This allows you to grind miles and to be able to exploit the day with more calm, stopping in beautiful or spectacular bays for dives, snorkeling, relaxation and walk along the coast.
The wind rose a little. Thus, when at 20 the sun began to roast, we explained the sails, we knew a bottle of white wine and we took a panoramic aperitif. Behind us, in the distance, the Ligurian coast, in front of the sea only , the boat went and we let it go.

After a splendid sunset and a discreet dinner we started the shifts for the night. Two stayed awake to adjust the course, checking any other boats and to admire the stars. The others slept. Be woken up at 2 am with the phrase "Hey, it's your turn" is never a pleasure. We feel a bit like sentenced to death called to the gallows, let's say. Then, however, he sits under the starry sky, he smelled the sea, chat, and time passes.

At night, one of the most remarkable shows and, for newcomers, unexpected is that of the phosphorescent plankton clouds (b> passing under the boat. They are simply bright balls that stand out in the black sea, but to me, personally, hypnotize.
another characteristic of night navigation is the difficulty to perceive distances. The light of a ship may seem very far, and instead we find it suddenly a hundred meters from the bow. To navigate there is the GPS and I ask my own closing congratulations to the sailors of the past, those who used the sextant and the stars. To avoid other boats and various possible problems, however, a marinaresca knowledge is needed today. Don't be imprudent, please.
Even the dawn in view of the island of Gorgona wasn't bad. He looked like the evening sunset replay before, but reproduced on the contrary.

We arrived in Capraia to lunch time, after having been caught by a beautiful wind that had pushed us to the cross. The island, beautiful, is already described Here .
The next day we wildered up to the Elba Island . We stopped to swim by cable before proceeding, under spinnaker, towards Punta Ala . Sheltered the promontory and we had a bath, unfortunately abbreviated by the hair of numerous jellys evidently interested in knowing each other. It was late afternoon, so we knew a bottle, we came to the motto "a man an empty", because a bottle of wine a day is, by boat, the recommended ration, and we opened. Thus the sailing cruise is lived, in my opinion: merging with the sea and with the elements and enjoy the small great pleasures of life. Wooden and then, around midnight, I squared to the 'Island of Giglio . Another night navigation carried out smoothly.

He was trapping when we reached the lily, of which we could admire the village and the brulles hills, as well as, unfortunately, the semi-sunken hull of the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship stranded in 2012.

We continued off the beautiful Argentario promontory to the Wild Giannutri, then still southeast. We saw the first dolphins of the holiday (less nice than usual, I have to reproach them) and we arrived in the afternoon in Riva di Traiano, near Civitavecchia, a big harbor, unattractive, where we were filling of wine, water and Fuel (in order of importance). We wildered in the late afternoon to Marinella. We still apply to take a dip in front of his beautiful villas over the sea. We ate panzanella , a typical navigation dish made up of wet bread cakes with oil, water and vinegar and seasoned with tomatoes, onions and, in reality, whatever you want to put: tuna, olives, anchovies , Capers ... depending on how hungry, and we were generally very much. I have to mention that the panzanella is bridged well with the white wine ?
we worked for another night navigation, noticing the light of the lights of Rome into the distance. After admiring the umpteenth colored sunrise we arrived in Palmarola, the first of the Pontine Islands, as well as an authentic masterpiece of nature .

White and colorful cliffs, clear waters, bays and rocks and ravines ... The island is completely uninhabited, except for a small restaurant on the beach and some cottage, excavated in the rock of tuff, rented to tourists. (There, they tell me, even the villa of the Sorelle Fendi, the stylists, who but I don't understand how they do in the morning to go shopping. Povers, will have a really grama life).

We moored in the splendid bay and, worn the mask, we swam for an hour admiring fish and backdrops. It is incredible as the sizes of the world that interests us is reduced in these cases. Generally we leave for a trip by saying: "I want to visit that city, that region, that state." But in a bay so wild and beautiful, the goal was to visit that rock, that blue sea point, that tiny beach. And it was not to settle, indeed, every rock seemed to us different, a world in itself, equally deserving to be explored to the end.

Thus, we brought into a hole between the rocks and we surprised us swimming in a sort of underground natural pool . Then we admired a kind of white shrimp swimming quietly, glances, chestnuts (black fish, little appetizing), of the splits between the rocks that flew down to disturbing depths, of the meadows of colored algone, curls ...

There was to be lost, in those details.
With the tender, we then reached the beach, where we explored those curious holes carved into the tuff processed in homes, a bit like they did in Pitigliano (Tuscany) or in Cappadocia (Turkey).

We left in the afternoon, along the splendid island, more and more impressed. We arrived at Ponza when the sun was almost to set and moored in the Bay of Luna Chiaia , which was practically deserted.

Fortunately there are photos because, otherwise, I would lose myself in another long list of enthusiastic adjectives, giving you drowsiness. I just mean that On the one hand there was sunset over the sea, among the rocks, on the other there was this infinite vertical rock wall to whose feet stretched a long beach. On the left and on the right there were the usual white and colored cliffs . The volcanic eruptions and the landslides that had formed these islands were authors of authentic masterpieces. I do not know how good artists as nature - even if, I admit it, the creations of the volcanoes are random and sometimes even a little catastrophic.

Cenemmo While made dark and the bay from Azzurra became pink, red and finally black . After dinner, in three we took the tender and decided to row for four hundred meters to the beach. In the dark, it was a fairly strong experience, with the reflections of the moon that sometimes shone on the foam of the waves, detecting the presence of a nearby rock or the beach in the distance. Once you arrive, we realized we have forgotten the slippers and returned to take them. We left and finally landed on the shoreline.

Access to the beach of Chiaia di Luna is prohibited for the risk of falling boulders from the cliff, so it is always deserted. Otherwise, there is a way to reach it from the town of Ponza: A tunnel in the tufo along two hundred meters, dug by the Romans 2000 years ago , which hole the cliff until you reach the other side of the island .
Torched with a torch, then in the tunnel, with a vague sense of claustrophobia, and after a few minutes walk (which seemed very long) we sprouted outdoors. Those a sigh of relief and walked on a paved road until you reach the Ponza country waterfront. There were a marina, colorful houses, ice cream parlors and tourists (so in the world other people existed besides us: we were forgetting). We didn't live a particularly lively evening, tired after a day started with a night navigation and continued swimming and running, but it was a beautiful adventure.
was midnight when we walked the tunnel again. To enter, we had to climb up a gate: if moving from the beach to the town, access seemed open and lawful, the reverse route was apparently blocked.
On the beach we found the tank and we returned to the boat. The right one, fortunately, despite the darkness. We had sleep. Goodnight.
The dawn at Chiaia di Luna is not bad at all, indeed, amazes and moves.

We sampled the anchor and we headed towards Ventotene , twenty miles, to the south-east. After a beautiful sailed moored in the harbor, this time, so as to turn comfortably for the country and refueling and ... Well, wine, of course. The peculiarity of this beautiful island is the Roman port, excavated in the tuff, with moles and bollards obtained from the rock two thousand years ago. The town is very picturesque.

There are some beaches, very popular, as opposed to Palmarola and Chiaia di Luna. Despite people, they are noteworthy because, snorkeling, you can explore the diving tanks dug by the Romans to raise murnes and other fish . It was all surprising that we stayed without words ... luckily because otherwise underwater we would have drunk. It was enough to wear the mask and with two struggles we met between clouds of glances, natural tanks, obviously clear water, a marine star ... go there, please.

We passed a quiet night in port (ah, then it is so sleep ... finally).

We soon started towards our next destination, Procida. We reached it quickly, after having lined Ischia, thanks to a quite sustained wind, so we decided by sailing along the Proiplus of Procida . We then moored in front of the bay of Corricella , A country of old colored houses, stuck and piled up , with on one side the rocky promontory of Murata Earth and its castle. It was a masterpiece. Except for a lot of wonder we dived to the sea before and in the panzanella then .

We reluctantly let Corricella and we went to moor in the port of Procida, on the other side of the island. There was a hell, but the place was very nice.

For dinner we walked to Corricella, where we ate outdoors with the most good (and heavy) alle's pasta of the lower Tyrrhenian. By eating out, please use the differences between North and Southern Italy. We saw portions in restaurants increase, prices decrease, tax receipts disappear. A negative aspect, the latter, which does not take anything to the heat and sympathy of people, for charity. It is only a habit, moreover also widespread in the North, and that it will definitively send Italy to ruin very soon ... together with the numerous other problems of our country.

I sleep in the open air, to better bear the heat. We left early the next day, head south. We wildered with pleasure up to Capri , then the sky began to unbound. The wind fell and we had to give a motor, I decided to escape from any thunderstorms. We passed in front of the Amalfi Coast, where we fished a bass and a ton (I am not able or to take nor to kill a fish, but fortunately we had an experienced friend on board). In the late afternoon we arrived at Salerno and moored in the new marina of Arechi. Here there was a crew change, with some friends who left and others who arrived. I obviously remain.
Meanwhile, we were caught by a violent storm. Fortunately we were quietly moored in port. Casener by boat with freshly caught fish, puffed and marinated, and with a substantial pasta pasta.
The day after the fear of further temporal convinced us to stay in port. How to kill time? We took a sudden decision: to reach Amalfi by bus.

Thus we found ourselves on the winding and striminted road that follows the Amalfi Coast. It was an hour and a half journey that lasted a life, between spectacular panoramas and five-hour curves. Amalfi is a small masterpiece , with its church and its houses along the coast. There is a public boat that for two euros leads to the nearby beaches at the foot of the cliffs. We took it and, attracted to the wind, we decided to stop where Windsurf rented. As soon as I left, BOMA in hand, as beautiful as the sun, someone - a baffardo god - turned off the wind, which for an hour does not exceed 0.5 nodes of intensity. I stayed so still on the table in the middle of the bay, until a slight brezzolina brought me back to the beach and returned the equipment. Then, the wind resumed. Eolo pig .
After a panoramic beer we resumed the boat and returned to Amalfi. From here, we returned to Salerno by ferry, not being able to bear to waste another life by bus. It was a tourist trip to German tourists, but allowed us to enjoy unforgettable views, thanks to the fact that the expected thunderstorms did not actually show.

In the evening I and a friend was around for Salerno in order to enjoy some social life after days (or were years) of navigation. The city surprised us for the liveliness of its streets: numerous shops, bars, restaurants ... After an aperitif we explored the beautiful alleys, full of people and boys. Cenemmo in a gastronomy filling us with fresh fish and drinking a bottle of phalanchina. We spent just 9 euros each . And even the bars were extremely cheap: a bottle of beer or chuck went away for a euro (with receipt!). Obviously, there were also chic and more expensive places.

It was a cheerful evening that left us a good impression of Salerno, a lively city where people know how to get around.
For the whole holiday the winds from the north were predominant, with intensity between 5 and 15 knots, and also the next morning Tramontana was. We left at dawn towards the south, sails explained, at a good speed of 7-8 knots.
Immediately south of Salerno there is a large gulf with Battipaglia's plain behind. Even further south reappear fascinating cliffs. It is a stretch of a little famous coast, but still pleasant and not too built (we talk so much about the building abuses in the South, but the coasts of northern Italy are not better putting, indeed).

We arrived in the late afternoon at the bay of good sleep, protected by Capo Palinuro . It was a nice gulf, in which there were a dozen boats moored. We enjoyed the usual spectacular dinner on water and a good sleep (as suggested by the name of the bay). The next morning we made a corroborant bath exploring ravines and rocks and beaches, so we continued towards the Bay of Infreschi, spectacular but too popular (in August it happens to find traffic even at sea, occasionally). He was enough to move around a kilometer, however, to dive undisturbed under a steep wild coast.
After a few hours of pleasant marine translatings (dives and relaxation and tanning and walking on the rocks), I buried towards the Aeolian Aeolian. Eating by drinking joking and sleeping we passed the seventy miles of long navigation. A slight wind pushed us when, around 4 am, we saw a red light in heaven, in the distance: it was the Sciara del Fuegra di Stromboli, the wake of lava erupted by the volcano always active. In the tenuous light of dawn, that bright red became less evident, but Stromboli did not miss charm. It was exciting sailing sailing, in absolute silence, at the foot of the volcanic cone, admiring the black magmatic walls that arrive at the sea.

In Stromboli there is a village of white houses. It comes to be asked because someone lives us, between an eruption and another. The point is that thanks to the volcano the land is very fertile. In addition, today there is tourism.
Stromboli and Panarea are separated by ten miles of water, which we walked to the engine (they were the Aeolians, but the wind was over). We didn't have to stop the mainsail, leave the Cunningham or rest, but also only admire the two islands and volcanic cones of Lipari and Salina in the distance was a worthy and pleasant occupation.
at Panarea Moored to A buoy and descended to the ground with the tank. We saw amazing things. White houses in the middle of flowery trees, green and celestial and transparent sea, brulle hills, from Far West, with cactus and figs of India; And then the remains of a prehistoric village perched on a small peninsula with its baiettes from the so clear water that could be counted the stones on the bottom .

We took a strong breath and excited we left the path that does the dungehog of the island and descended to take a dip. A half-hour snorkeling allowed us to discover fish, orange algae and some small jellyfish that, thanks to the mask, I cleverly dodged.

If you don't know, I am that the figs of India are very tasty, but touch them is one of the worst ideas that can occur to you, even worse than offering dinner to a sumo wrestler. They are in fact fitted with small, irritating transparent thorns (I am talking about the pricks of India, not of the sufferers), which shove everywhere. Being practically invisible, it is very difficult to remove them and go more easily than the bubonic plague: if an innocent man uses a glove to collect pears of India, then rests it on a chair, so another touches that chair, then holds his hand to Someone ... ZAC!, an epidemic of figs of prickly spreads.

Casener by boat, moored in the beautiful bay, and as fruit devoured of the prickly figs. Then we all find ourselves to scratch us, and still today, to think about it, I feel sting.
The next day we left the beautiful Panarea and we sailed towards Lipari, the most populous of the Aeolian. We went down to admire the view, then brought into the canal that separates this volcano island and, returning to the north-west, soon moored in a beautiful bay of Lipari, overlooking a Faraglione . Beautiful, masterpiece, spectacular, etc. etc.

After a long bath we left along the western volcano cliffs, under his colorful smoking crater . We moored in another bay, practically deserted (while the most renowned ones were very popular).

A long row on the tender took us to bathe under a black cliff. The water was clear, the moved backdrop, with rock arches underneath to swim in apnea and rocks that made from den to small fish. It was one of the most beautiful moments of snorkeling of the holiday.

It was late afternoon when we left for another long evening sailing, towards Palermo. The night was illuminated by the flashes of a thunderstorm not far away. We would gladly have done less, but we didn't bathe or we were invested by trumpets of air. We arrived at dawn at Palermo , which we ran.

We admired the rocky mountains behind Mondello and continued in the direction of Castellamare del Golfo . We reached it in the afternoon, at the speed of over 8 knots, driven by a nice air from the north-east.

Mooring in Castellamare is a real pleasure for the dealer: it is a safe and modern shelter from which you can admire the old citadel, with its castle on the sea and the houses perched on the hill .

Cenammo in un Delicious restaurant - as is known, Sicilian cuisine is something heavenly. Since our table was in the middle of a distanced alley, we could also observe the Sicilian female beauties: of the one hundred and fifty women passing during dinner, at least 143 were between the cute and the splendid. I think men were not bad, but I don't mean.

From Castellamare to Trapani, it was the last day of navigation. We passed in front of the characteristic Scopello and to the beautiful reserve of the Zingaro, then to the touristy San Vito Lo Capo , also famous for the Cous-Cous Fest. We saw old salt pans, then we ran cliffs and beaches. We stopped for a dive under a Monte Dolomitico, the promontory of Monte Canoe , in front of the seaside resort of Cornino. We didn't know what the Dolomites did in Sicily, maybe they were on vacation. Behind the town, there were huge marble mines.

By continuing to coast, we passed in front of the Tonnara di Bonagia . Tuna fishing uncursites. First, if you think about how many they are caught every day in the world you are surprised by how they may not yet be extinct. They reproduce incredibly, but similar mattances a little disappear. The other interesting aspect is that in the tonnal pulling on the fish it was a risky skill and strength game, with tuna that formed a scared and harried pile and that they were harpooned when they jumped. The fisherman who harped a 70 pound tuna at the wrong time was dragged into the pile and made a great ugly end.
A beautiful wind (always from the northern sectors) pushed us for the latest miglies. We arrived in view of the Egadi and our destination, Trapani , was not far away. The coast was now flat, so much so that half kilometers off there could just be about ten meters background. A good use of GPS, cards and portlanes is recommended to avoid dry.
The port of Trapani has a single entrance for commercial ships and boaters. We called the capture to identify us (strange formalities introduced to avoid clandestine boats) and moored in the new "parking lot" of our ten-meter sailboat. We arrived after 800 miles of navigation for the Italian coasts. We knew a bottle. In the evening we walked through the lively Trapani, where you had a cous-cous sound. The restaurants were full and the very slow service, so eating with the tiredness of sailing on it was the last great effort.
The evening ended with fireworks. For a moment we thought that the Trapanians were celebrating our arrival; In reality, the Madonna of Trapani was stealing the scene. We discovered that on August 16th he was a city party. We went to sleep.
The company was accomplished . The boat was in Sicily and we above it, healthy and Salvi. We felt a sort of symbiosis with navigation and the sea, which is a beautiful thing even if it can cause dependence. But what we tried more than everything was the sense of satisfaction, the joyful team spirit and strong conviction in ourselves. We were ready to new trips, in new life and new winds.

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