STROMBOLI- LIPARI
STROMBOLI – LIPARI
25 July 2022
Another day’s sail/motor put us closer to the 75 NM crossing from the mainland of Italy to Stromboli. We were up at 3.30am to head off again in the dark, with me manning a very ineffectual torch to keep watch for the fishing traps that are scattered all along the coast. Once the water depth got to 100-200m it was left to the gods to decide whether we came in contact with any fish traps or not.
Again, the conditions were glassy smooth and at times it was hard to distinguish the ocean from the sky. We passed the time taking it in turns snoozing, reading and we even got the Karcher out and cleaned the boat it was that calm.
The island of Stromboli is part of a string of islands north of Sicily and contains one of three active volcanoes in Italy. We have now seen all three volcanoes with Mt Vesuvius in the bay of Naples and this morning we spotted Mt Etna on Sicily going through the Messina Straight.
Watching Stromboli emerge on the horizon in the typical volcano shape was an experience. The active face of the volcano shows the path the lava flowed into the sea as you approach the island. We anchored in front of the town along with a lot of yachts, catamarans, and bigger power boats. We got the dinghy down and headed around to the beach with its rocks and black sand and went exploring. The island is essentially a tourist island, so we followed the crowds and the first place we came to was a carpark. The interesting thing about this car park was a little wagon all done up as a cocktail bar so, being rude as it was to walk on by, we stopped and had a drink.
We walked onto the port area where the boats that take tourists to view the volcano at night leave from. It was quite the hub with stalls promoting the tours, market stalls and restaurants and bars. We carried on walking up through the streets with the buildings all whitewashed like Greece. We found somewhere for dinner before finding our way back down a narrow path and made it back to the tender.
We spent the next day there relaxing and heading back to town to try and find a supermarket. We stopped at a Tabbac (shop that’s a combo of deli/lotto/all rounder shop) to ask about a SIM card and the answer from the women was a shock, not the information she gave but her accent, it was true and pure Australian. She was from Melbourne and spent time in both Australia and Stromboli with her Italian husband.
After we got back, we took the dinghy out and found a snorkeling spot to enjoy the 30-degree water, yes Tony’s in heaven! Not huge amounts of life but still fun.
The next morning, we got up again at 3.30am to head around to the face of the volcano to watch some action. There were several explosions during the hour or so before the sun rose. Pretty impressive to see and you could also hear the volcano rumbling like a grumpy old man.
We then continued along the chain of islands passing Panarea and onto Lipari where we stopped and swam in the clearest blue water before heading around to the main town to anchor for the night.
We took the dinghy into a small dock near a swimming beach and got some help from a local kid to put out our back anchor. He looked pretty pleased when Tony slipped him a few coins for his help.
We wandered to the main part of town and had a look around before sitting at a bar on one of the small marina's watching the small boats and tenders maneuver around and the boat boys who jump from one to another with so much ease. Tony and I realise we need a bit more practice to look that causal on the dinghy or maybe it's just an age thing and we'll never get it!
When we got back to the boat, we had been joined by another cat and as the evening wore on, the boats just kept on coming and squeezing into places that we wouldn't have dared. Goes to show you how good we have it in Australia, we are just used to our space, on the streets and on the water.
25 July 2022
Another day’s sail/motor put us closer to the 75 NM crossing from the mainland of Italy to Stromboli. We were up at 3.30am to head off again in the dark, with me manning a very ineffectual torch to keep watch for the fishing traps that are scattered all along the coast. Once the water depth got to 100-200m it was left to the gods to decide whether we came in contact with any fish traps or not.
Again, the conditions were glassy smooth and at times it was hard to distinguish the ocean from the sky. We passed the time taking it in turns snoozing, reading and we even got the Karcher out and cleaned the boat it was that calm.
The island of Stromboli is part of a string of islands north of Sicily and contains one of three active volcanoes in Italy. We have now seen all three volcanoes with Mt Vesuvius in the bay of Naples and this morning we spotted Mt Etna on Sicily going through the Messina Straight.
Watching Stromboli emerge on the horizon in the typical volcano shape was an experience. The active face of the volcano shows the path the lava flowed into the sea as you approach the island. We anchored in front of the town along with a lot of yachts, catamarans, and bigger power boats. We got the dinghy down and headed around to the beach with its rocks and black sand and went exploring. The island is essentially a tourist island, so we followed the crowds and the first place we came to was a carpark. The interesting thing about this car park was a little wagon all done up as a cocktail bar so, being rude as it was to walk on by, we stopped and had a drink.
We walked onto the port area where the boats that take tourists to view the volcano at night leave from. It was quite the hub with stalls promoting the tours, market stalls and restaurants and bars. We carried on walking up through the streets with the buildings all whitewashed like Greece. We found somewhere for dinner before finding our way back down a narrow path and made it back to the tender.
We spent the next day there relaxing and heading back to town to try and find a supermarket. We stopped at a Tabbac (shop that’s a combo of deli/lotto/all rounder shop) to ask about a SIM card and the answer from the women was a shock, not the information she gave but her accent, it was true and pure Australian. She was from Melbourne and spent time in both Australia and Stromboli with her Italian husband.
After we got back, we took the dinghy out and found a snorkeling spot to enjoy the 30-degree water, yes Tony’s in heaven! Not huge amounts of life but still fun.
The next morning, we got up again at 3.30am to head around to the face of the volcano to watch some action. There were several explosions during the hour or so before the sun rose. Pretty impressive to see and you could also hear the volcano rumbling like a grumpy old man.
We then continued along the chain of islands passing Panarea and onto Lipari where we stopped and swam in the clearest blue water before heading around to the main town to anchor for the night.
We took the dinghy into a small dock near a swimming beach and got some help from a local kid to put out our back anchor. He looked pretty pleased when Tony slipped him a few coins for his help.
We wandered to the main part of town and had a look around before sitting at a bar on one of the small marina's watching the small boats and tenders maneuver around and the boat boys who jump from one to another with so much ease. Tony and I realise we need a bit more practice to look that causal on the dinghy or maybe it's just an age thing and we'll never get it!
When we got back to the boat, we had been joined by another cat and as the evening wore on, the boats just kept on coming and squeezing into places that we wouldn't have dared. Goes to show you how good we have it in Australia, we are just used to our space, on the streets and on the water.