Underway... Naples to Gibraltar

This blog brought to you by Shaz:

As soon as Roy and Jane arrived on Tuesday 13^th November, it was a quick departure from Naples to Gibraltar.

The initial passage was not as smooth as we had hoped, due to winds and seas, especially on the western side of Sardinia. If we were running 12 hours later we would have run into headwinds off Palma. Very glad we missed that! Even so, with some unsettled weather around Gibraltar we arrived to loads of cargo ships; and the fanfare of lightning, rain and squalls and finally finished eveything on arrival in the early hours of Sunday morning.

We saw a few dolphins underway and the ones at night off Spain, lit by phosphorescence “torpedoing” their way towards the yacht, were spectacular to see.

Sunday was spent provisioning for the next leg and waiting on fuel which didn’t arrive until Monday morning, finally allowing us to depart in the early afternoon for the next leg across the Atlantic.

We had a good exit from the Gibraltar traffic channel, luckily managing to get a quick break allowing us to cross.

Gibraltar

19,000 gallons of fuel later...

...Roy and Joc find it's time for a well-deserved beer!!!
 

Packing It In...

  

Down to our last 3 days, we had a lot of territory to cover.  Our first stop was at the town of Amalfi, which is at the southern end of the 35 mile Amalfi coast (south of Naples on Italy’s western coast).  A truly breathtaking area, with lemon groves, buildings and houses clinging to the sides of rugged cliffs, just waiting for the next earthquake.

It’s hard to believe that this sleepy little town, with its lovely piazzas, a popular community beach at the marina’s edge, and a magnificent 12^th century cathedral was once an influential seaport with a population of over 70,000.  After a leisurely walk around town, we hired a very chatty taxi driver to take us to the tiny village of Positano, 11 miles away, along a very windy road built high into the cliffs, and giving us all near heart attacks as the driver negotiated the many narrow hairpin turns.  Positano is the most photographed town along the Amalfi coast, with lovely pastel-colored villas rising above a really cool black sand beach.  We liked the town so much we had a wonderful waterfront lunch and then went back for dinner (where we probably had the best home-made pasta dishes in our entire trip!)

The next morning, the Andrea Cay negotiated dramatic rock karsts to get to the island of Capri.  During the Roman times, Capri served as the summer getaway for the Roman elite. Today, it is the haunt of the rich and famous. We hiked from one side of the island to the other over the crest of the hill, with beautiful bouganinvillea-adorned villas.  After our “exhausting” hike over the island (… not really), we had earned ourselves another wine and pizza lunch.  The tourist season is pretty much at its end, but Carol and Nancy did manage to get a little more shopping in.  Capri, as well as the entire Amalfi coast, is famous for its lemon groves, and most importantly, its production of limoncello… so of course we had to buy a couple bottles!

After a few hours cruising north late afternoon, we anchored off the Sorrento, a town sitting high above striking limestone cliffs that plunge into the sea.  Known as Surrentum to the Greeks and later the Romans, it has a long history of trade, culture and wars.  Some of the oldest ruins originate from Italian tribes dating back to 900 BC.  It is also the site of the mythological “sirens” that tempted sailors to certain doom with their mesmerizing voices and singing.   

One of our days in Sorrento, we rented a car and drove to Pompeii, one of Europe’s most amazing archaeological sites.  A city of 20,000 people in the 1^st century, a huge explosion of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD buried the city under a layer of hot pumice and burying thousands.  Subsequent eruptions over the next few centuries, buried the town even deeper and the 60 acres of the ancient city of Pompeii were not discovered until the 18^th century.  We had a fascinating tour by a local guide and were amazed at the preservation of these 2000 year old ruins.

The only disappointment of the day was our attempt to hike to the top of Mt. Vesuvius.  After Peter Andretti skillfully negotiated the narrow and harrowing road to the national park near the top, we were foiled in our plan to hike the final half hour to the top of the crater.  Our tour guide (and book) told us you had to start the hike by 3:30, but when we arrived at 3:15, they had just closed (and there was no talking them into letting us go!)

Our last official day of the fun filled vacation was spent in Sorrento. After a short walking tour of town and lunch, of course… there was last-minute shopping for all!  Carol and Nancy bravely tackled the many gift shops, while John and Peter found a local wine store and overly provisioned the Andrea Cay for its winter in the Caribbean. 

Tuesday morning, our regular crew, Roy and Jane, flew in to join Joc and Shaz on the Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean.  The four of us headed to Rome where we spent the night and all flew out the next morning.

And so ends a fantastic four month adventure.  And hopefully, it’s just the beginning of more great explorations!

Check in periodically for progress reports on the Atlantic crossing if you’re interested…

 Stromboli -- an active volcanic island off Sicily

John preparing his world-famous waffles

The town of Amalfi

Cathedral of St. Andrea
(ed. note:  I can't say my Andrea is always a saint...)

Crypt of the cathedral

Main chapel of the cathedral

View of Amalfi from the scary coastal highway

Yes... we drove across this road

The most photographed village of Positano
(along with the most photographed couple...)

Andrea Cay anchored off Positano

The black beach of Positano

Church of Santa Maria Assunta (interior of church in previous photo)

Capri

Capri

The big hike across the island of Capri
(it was a pretty steep climb...)

The marina at Capri

Toasting and toasting and toasting some more with Limoncello

One of the well-preserved gates of ancient Pompeii

Pompeii ruins

Bodies unearthed in Pompeii
(plaster was pumped into the body cavities to preserve them --
you can see the bones and skulls which is amazing)

Amphitheater at Pompeii
(perfectly preserved from 2000 years ago)

Mt. Vesuvius

Sunday mass in the main cathedral of "modern" Pompeii

This was one of the most beautiful churches we visited (Pompeii)

Sorrento

Sorrento

Main piazza of Sorrento

Beautiful hotels sit at the top of the limestone cliffs of Sorrento

The "ladies" church
(never found any info on this, but that's what it was called!)

The last supper

Sicily

After 40 hours crossing the Adriatic in fairly calm seas, we arrived in Siracusa, Sicily and anchored in a beautiful bay Sunday morning. John and Peter went ashore to clear immigration and check us into Italy. Back 45 minutes later, the port authorities had summarily dismissed them and told them to come back at 5pm because they were much too busy participating in the All Saints Day festival that was taking place in town -- complete with parades, military dignitaries, bands and a marathon. With permission to roam about the city as “illegals”, we wandered the medieval streets of the small island of Ortigia (connected to Siracusa by two bridges), which is said to have the most beautiful piazza in Sicily. We explored the churches, the narrow streets, the town fort, and strolled the waterfront promenade, having a delightful lunch at one of the many outdoor cafes. We then stumbled upon a local wine bar where we had a very entertaining afternoon. The proprietor brought 6-8 bottles of wine on a tray and proceeded to fill only one glass at a time for tasting and handing the glass to John only. I’m sure she was horrified as we passed that one glass around the table, and then did the same things with the other five “tastings”. After giving extensive details of the wines in both Italian and Sicilian (with all the appropriate hand gestures), she eked out a few words of English to give us some idea of what we were drinking. After we each made our selection and ordered a glass of wine, she came to appreciate having 4 wine aficionados (or, lushes…) at her establishment, and we parted as friends with a large bottle of our favorite wine.

Unable to clear customs at 5pm, as we’d been instructed to do, we were told to return the next morning. John and Peter left bright and early, but after being gone for 3 ½ hours, we assumed they had been locked up and that we were going to have to pay a ransom to get them back. (Carol and Nancy spent some time considering what they were worth.) They did finally manage to escape, but shortly after they returned to the boat, we were shaken down by the Italian mafia (whose decedents moved to the US and started Waste Management). Instructed to pay a 180 euro ($250) per day garbage pickup fee (although we had no intention of dropping off any trash), John accosted them with his relentless negotiating skills and finally reached an agreement where we could stay on the town dock that night and pay only 120 euros total for the previous 2 days. Before pulling anchor, John and Joc got even with these government bureaucrats by cleaning the Andrea Cay’s smoke stacks and covering their lovely bay with a cloud of soot (… just kidding… kind of….)

We did manage a 4 hour walking tour of Siracusa  and the ancient walled city of Ortigia that afternoon once we had established our temporary residence. This city was one of the most important in the ancient world, settled by the Greeks in the 3^rdcentury BC, and rivaled Athens in culture and military might. After a devastating earthquake in 1693, the Romans rebuilt the city in the Baroque style, which is manifest throughout the old city in the many beautiful churches and public buildings.

One of the days we were in Siracusa, we rented a car and drove to Taormina. Probably the most breathtaking town in Sicily, it is perched on a hillside overlooking the Ionian Sea, with Mt. Etna looming even higher behind it. Usually over-run by tourists shopping the very expensive shops, we were fortunate to be visiting late enough in the season that it was not crowded. John stayed behind for “boat projects” (i.e.…he was not interested in shopping). Peter accompanied Carol and Nancy for a fun-filled day of sightseeing and shopping… (fun for us because he carried all our loot).

And now…what can we say about the election (that we got the results of at 5:00am Wed. (11pm EST Tues.) Some of us were more disappointed with the outcome than others, as one might discern from a photo below…

We have played a lot of bridge over the last two weeks, especially on the days that we have been at sea. Rather than keeping a cumulative score, we keep track of who has won the “day”. Had we finished this blog yesterday, we could proudly report that the girls were ahead, but unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. bad cards), the boys are tied (temporarily) for the Andrea Cay World Championship Bridge Tournament title.

We’re currently on an 18 hour run to the Amalfi coast and should arrive about midnight.

We picked up a friend on our Adriatic crossing (he couldn't make it across by himself)

Siracusa

Military parade in Siracusa

Marathon -- check out all the runners packing into the the narrow street of the old city

The fort on the island of Ortigia

More happy tourists

Interior of the castle/fort on Ortigia

Wine tasting in the funky little bar we found 

Ancient Roman amphitheater in built in the second century (Siracusa)

John's ready for his wine lunch (enough sightseeing)

Our Lady of Tears Sanctuary, the tallest building in Siracusa, built in 1993

It houses a statue of the Madonna that supposedly wept for 5 days in 1953.  Chemical tests showed
that the liquid was the same as real tears and attracts many pilgrims.  The church was built in the
shape of a teardrop.  The interior is amazing as you look up at the vertical windows stretching skyward.
              

The garbage shakedown

Taormina built into the hillside

The main square in Taormina

The cloud-covered Mt Etna is in the background

Interesting cloud formation over Mt Etna (kind of looks like an upside down jellyfish)

Carol and Nancy overwhelmed by their shopping options! 

Originally built by the Greeks and then rebuilt by the Romans,
this amphitheater is still used for concerts today (Taormina)

A few faithful Republicans mourning the outcome of the election

The volcanic island of Stromboli blowing off smoke (hard to really see)