Ponza, Naples, Pompeii

Ponza

What a haven this tiny island turned out to be.  Extremely pretty, protected bay and a delight to explore.  When the weather turned bad and our protected anchorage became bumpy Don took White Rose 1 around to the other side of the island – I always become nervous when we are the only boat in a bay especially in bad weather – “what do they know that we don’t”.   Within a few hours the other boats arrived, beaten and wet as the seas outside were now very rough.  One large power boat had a Scotsman as Captain and was currently under charter by 2 business men (surreptitiously on a fishing trip) who collect their “females” from a different Port and spent 4 days in luxury.  The boat was heading home once the weather allowed and the charter was complete.  We chatted with the Captain and had a few laughs at his “guests” expense.  Next he arrived with bags of food – excess to their requirements.  Hermetically sealed bread, sponge flans 18” in diameter, cakes, packet mixes and fruit and veges – more than we could ever eat but much appreciated, interestingly a lot of the packet mixes, cakes and bread were gluten free. 

Mainland Italy

Sailing from Sardinia to the Almafi Coast of Italy we decided to call into a small town Torr del Greco which was the closest to Mt Vesuvius.  The small fishing harbor was entertaining – it appeared there were several different fishermen in charge of the various derelict wooden platforms that were dubiously called “docks”.  The tiny harbor was crowded but we were welcomed with many shouts, waves beckoning us into the most impossible tight spots – we got in but did worry about how on earth we were going to get out again unless we were towed backwards.   All types of rubbish were floating in the water surrounding our boat – which was embarrassing because of its size – at least twice the size of any other vessel in the harbour.  We quickly became very popular and it did not take us long to realise why – the cost for dockage was ridiculous (€80 / night) – the docks were floating in a cesspool, tied to an ancient wall in between active fishing boats that had not seen a hose or soap for many years, rubbish bins were not heard of so rubbish and 4 legged creatures lined the path – no bathrooms nor water available but we were close to Vesuvius!  The locals were friendly and soon had us laughing, we shared out some of the food given to us by the Scotsman in Ponza – now we really were popular.   The following day we took the train to Pompeii and after trekking around the amazing site we sought Herculean, simply amazing how well preserved these site are.

Vesuvius

Mt. Vesuvius looms over every bit of the Naples region. The only active volcano on the mainland continent of Europe, Mt. Vesuvius is over twelve thousand years old. Its highest point is 1,270 meters high and records show that before 79 A.D. its slopes were probably covered by forest. At its foot the lush soil made cultivation of various crops easy, especially vines.

Vesuvius last erupted in 1944.   Allied fliers took photos of the eruption.

What we call "Vesuvius" is really the younger part of the mountain complex that geologists call "Greater Vesuvius." The older part of the mountain, now an extinct volcano, is called Monte Somma. A fresco recovered from Pompeii shows a single summit--and much taller--Monte Somma covered in vegetation before the eruption of 79 AD.

It is estimated that 2.5 million people could be affected by a significant eruption of Vesuvius. Conditions are closely monitored. There is a plan in place for the evacuation of people nearest the volcano that assumes between two weeks and 20 days warning of an eruption.

Pompeii

Late August, almost 2,000 years ago, the two towns at the foot of Mount Vesuvius went about their daily life as they always had.  Earth tremors, dry wells, howling dogs, and silent birds forewarned the 20,000 residents of Pompeii and the 4,000 citizens of Herculaneum, but they regarded their majestic mountain as a gift from the gods and beyond suspicion.  All this would change in less than twenty-four hours.  A little after midday on 24 August 79 AD a tremendous roar and gargantuan column of flame, rocks, smoke, and dust gushed forth from what had previously been regarded as a mountain; not a volcano. Within a half hour Pompeii, a mere 6 miles southeast of the crater, was pelted with pumice stones so light they floated on the seas. Concerned Pompeians initially took refuge in their homes, but as the weight of the volcanic debris began crushing rooftop structures they began to flee. By dusk it is estimated 90% of the citizens had reached safety.

Thus far Herculaneum, a short 12 miles away, had been spared thanks to strong winds pushing the worst of the volcano’s abuse on Pompeii and nearby Stabiae. Their fate would quickly change when a heavy column laden with dust, ash, and rock weakened, causing the superheated cloud to collapse upon itself. The result was an avalanche of hot ash and gases racing down the mountainside. This pyroclastic surge engulfed Herculaneum, instantly consuming every living being. Hours later a fourth pyroclastic surge would sweep through Pompeii killing all who had remained, approximately 2,000 people. Two further surges sealed both cities within earthen tombs that would take nearly 2,000 years to rediscover.

Excavations at Pompeii

Excavations were begun all the way back in 1748 by Carlo Borbone. Seeking fame, he dug at random for treasures.  It wasn't until the appointment of Guiseppe Fiorelli in 1861 that a systematic excavation was undertaken. Fiorelli was responsible for pioneering the technique of making plaster casts of the victims of the eruption.

Herculaneum

Herculaneum is smaller and better preserved than Pompeii - the town’s destruction being caused by different volcanic debris.  Much of Herculaneum is still being uncovered today.  The site is easily accessible, compact and definitely worth a visit.

Corsica Sardinia

Arriving in Corsica was a highlight.  We tucked into a tiny pretty bay, white sand beach, rocks to explore and snorkel along and small plate size fish that happily fed on the fuzzy growing on our hull, we wondered if we stayed long enough would be leave with a clean hull.  The spectacular town of Bonifacio was a frustrating few miles east but very difficult to get to via land from our anchorage.   To access Bonifacio by water is easy, a short entrance maybe 1 mile long and rather narrow winds around a few bends and ends in a very busy marina and town.  We pulled into the fuel dock, asked about a berth in the marina whilst getting fuel but it all seemed too hard – the over zealous marinaras were keen to put us in a slip but we could not get a price per night – knowing how high some marinas were charging and the difficulty in manovering in the tiny space we did a 6 point turn and headed out.  Going out was entertaining – normally rules of the water say keep right but we have found it is “keep out of the way of faster and bigger boats” more the rule here.  The faster boats wanted to pass the slower ones and the tourist ferries wanted to pass everyone – at one stage we were 4 boats across taking up the entire channel leaving no room for any incoming traffic.  Don and I laughed as we watched a very large vehicular ferry go speeding into the narrow entrance leaving a great wake behind him and imagining all the outgoing boats scrambling for cover.  We sailed north up the coast to Porto Vecchio, anchored in a calm protected bay and motored ashore to check out the French famous patisseries. 

Public transport on Corsica is not geared towards tourists but rather school, we wanted to visit Bonifacio and walk around the town high on the cliffs – to get there we took a very early public bus and had the choice of catching the same bus back on its return journey or waiting 5.5hrs for the next one – we opted for the 5.5 hrs and were surprised how easily we filled in the time.  The town is quite a decent climb from the marina where the bus stops.  Wandering around the tiny streets, stopping at sidewalk cafes, marvelling at the limestone cliffs and amazed at the cemetery which has the prime position in town filled in the hours.  Porto Vecchio was wonderful also, its old town is again up a steep hill and a maze of narrow cobble stoned streets.  

Sardinia

A short sail south and across the notorious Bonificio Strait and we were in Sardinia.  La Maddalena archipelago are islands compose of red granite, low and rocky.  Many of the islands are off limits and a permit is required to anchor on the permitted ones.  Having heard the locals were refusing to pay fees to visit their islands and the authorities not pressing for the fees we did what other cruising boats did and found a beautiful protected cove and dropped the anchor.  Within one hour we had the authorities beside our boat and a lovely English lady asking to view our permit – they were not concerned that we did not have one but insisted we purchase the permit from them.  The Park people charge boats per day not per night.   As it was 3.30pm we had to pay for that day and intending to stay in the bay overnight we had to pay for a second day even though we intended leaving early at 60 euros per day we decided to pull up the anchor and leave – oh the beach was an old “Clud Med” site so we were not allowed to go ashore despite 2 groups partying on the beach, one a child’s birthday party and obviously arrived by the boat tied to the old dock. 

We continued around the group of islands to the mainland and anchored in a lovely bay.  Upon waking the next day we were confused as we watched each of the 8 other boats leave the bay – when the two 100 footer yachts also lifted their anchor we decided we had better leave also – just as the wind turned into our bay and picked up speed.  Less than ½ hr around the corner we found a calm protected beach and spent the day snorkelling and lying around in the sun.  Our next destination was the town of Olbia, spending a night in Golfo Aranci along the way.  Olbia is a small town in a very protected bay – it is large enough to host cruise ships therefore has infrastructure such as a public bus system, railway, airport and hire cars.  I did my research and found a spectacular canyon which was difficult to get to by public transport so we hired a car for the day and went exploring.  The walk into the canyon was further than expected, also hotter, hillier and exhausting – we had read about a 4wd that takes you from the carpark into the park then it is a 1hr 20 walk into the canyon – our car park did not have a 4wd and we presumed it was because it was no longer peak tourist season – in reality it was because we were at the wrong carpark and the furthest distance from the canyon.  Having a discussion about giving up on our destination many times along the walk and deciding to see what was around the next corner we trudged on for 3 hrs arriving at the canyon exhausted, sweaty, dusty and wondering how we were going to walk back to the car.  The canyon had a pay booth to enter an area strewn with very large bolders and still a distance to the actual canyon – the tourist information didn’t mention any of this !!  Not having the energy to go bolder hopping for hours we soaked our feet in the beautiful cool water and began our trip back stopping several times for a soak in the river.  When we got back to the boat I found all my photos of the trip had been wiped – I was not the most popular wife around.

Olbia offers free dock space along their town dock.  This was a treat – to simply walk ashore whenever we wanted the trade off was the locals and tourists standing mere inches away from our cockpit, inspecting our dinner plates – we ended up closing our hatches to stop inquisitive people looking in at us.

Next stop – The Pontine Islands – Ponza to be exact – approximately 50 miles off the coast of Naples, Italy.