santa maria de leuca
4th August 2022
We arrived in Santa Maria de Leuca after a fantastic crossing from Ciro Marina. We were able to sail for ¾ of the way with good speeds and were excited to have come just over 1000 nautical miles in the month since we set off from Port Saint Louis du Rhone. We would have liked to have slowed down and taken in more of the country along the way and to have sailed more than motored but nothing can change that now or the fantastic experiences we have had.
I realised that some of our best adventures so far are not the destinations that are on the international tourist routes but the smaller towns that have surprised us the most.
We have made it to the heel of Italy but there is nothing “down at Heel “about Sant Maria di Leuca. The town is very pretty and has a fantastic marina that we anchored outside of with a lot of other boats. We have not experienced the number of boats of all sizes that we have seen in and around Italy and Leuca was no exception. It seems the Italian people just love the water and the beaches. They come out in droves to spend their days and into the evenings on boats and beaches. We think we Aussies are beach bums; well, I believe the Italians would beat us hands down.
We took the dinghy into the marina and parked up. The promenade was lined with market stalls, (audible groan from Tony!) but most of the stalls were displaying more artisan wares than the norm. We did end up buying a picture of some sailboats which is painted on the local Lecca stone and then mounted on some timber. After a stroll along the beach front past the usual beach clubs and restaurants we chose one to have dinner.
The next morning we raised anchor and as we rounded the corner to head along the east coast of Italy the cliff formations were quite spectacular! There were many caves or grottos along the way and of course all the small boats taking advantage of the great location and fabulous weather. As we continued north, the cliffs gave way to flat land which is such a contrast to the hills we have seen thus far along the Italian coast.
We arrived in Santa Maria de Leuca after a fantastic crossing from Ciro Marina. We were able to sail for ¾ of the way with good speeds and were excited to have come just over 1000 nautical miles in the month since we set off from Port Saint Louis du Rhone. We would have liked to have slowed down and taken in more of the country along the way and to have sailed more than motored but nothing can change that now or the fantastic experiences we have had.
I realised that some of our best adventures so far are not the destinations that are on the international tourist routes but the smaller towns that have surprised us the most.
We have made it to the heel of Italy but there is nothing “down at Heel “about Sant Maria di Leuca. The town is very pretty and has a fantastic marina that we anchored outside of with a lot of other boats. We have not experienced the number of boats of all sizes that we have seen in and around Italy and Leuca was no exception. It seems the Italian people just love the water and the beaches. They come out in droves to spend their days and into the evenings on boats and beaches. We think we Aussies are beach bums; well, I believe the Italians would beat us hands down.
We took the dinghy into the marina and parked up. The promenade was lined with market stalls, (audible groan from Tony!) but most of the stalls were displaying more artisan wares than the norm. We did end up buying a picture of some sailboats which is painted on the local Lecca stone and then mounted on some timber. After a stroll along the beach front past the usual beach clubs and restaurants we chose one to have dinner.
The next morning we raised anchor and as we rounded the corner to head along the east coast of Italy the cliff formations were quite spectacular! There were many caves or grottos along the way and of course all the small boats taking advantage of the great location and fabulous weather. As we continued north, the cliffs gave way to flat land which is such a contrast to the hills we have seen thus far along the Italian coast.