Sailing around the islands in the Gulf of Naples
Saturday 24 June – we’re up early and on our way! Geoff, me, Clarissa, Stella and Chloe – all (minimally) packed and off to Rome Termini to catch our train to Naples. The journey was a breeze and we were in Napoli by 1130 hrs and ready to board the hydrthe island of Procida where we are picking up our yacht.
Procida is one of the three Flegree Islands – the other two are Vivara which is joined to Procida by a bridge, and Ischia. We found the Sailitalia HQ just along the from the ferry dock and after getting through the paperwork we were soon united with our home for the next 7 days – a Beneteau 41 named “Theresa”. Lunch at a little restaurant on the port followed and then we left Skipper Geoff to do the boat checks with the Sailitalia guys whilst we tackled the supermarket which was rather chaotic…a very small one, more like a suprette, with hardly room for two people to pass in the 3 aisles and crowded with other yachties trying to stock up for their week’s sail. We got what we could, not a lot of choice on a late Saturday afternoon, but enough for us so we won’t starve or die of thirst.
As soon as we were loaded up we decided to get out of the marina as it was so busy and we knew it would be very noisy for the night. We cast off and headed for Coricella Bay just around the corner and to say it is picturesque would not do it justice, apparently it is one of the most colourful and photographed bays in the world. It is spectacular! We had a quiet evening on the boat as we watched the lights come up in the bay and then it was off to bed. I have had my best sleeps on boats, l just love being gently rocked about so it was a great start to the week.
Sunday 25 June – Good morning Procida, we woke up to all the pretty colours in the bay before we set off on our adventure. There are a number of little islands that we are keen to visit over the coming days so after a couple of refreshing swims we set sail for Ischia. The scenery en route was so picturesque, rocks, little houses perched on the end of cliffs and as we neared the east coast of Ischia, the Castello d’Ischia came into view, an islet with an Aragonese castle perched on the top!
The waters are so much more crowded around here than the ones in the Hauraki Gulf, all the locals from Naples out for the weekend in their boats and plenty of groups of young people with their boats tethered together and having a great party!
We carried on to the small harbour of Sant’Angelo where we anchored for the night. It’s such a beautiful place we couldn’t wait to don our glad rags and get in the dinghy to have a look around the little town and find somewhere for dinner.
Geoff sorted the dinghy out – it’s tiny and keeps losing air, so he pumped it up again and off we went with the pump accompanying us in a carrier bag so we could have another go before we returned to the boat! What a charming little port, the shops so colourful – even the entrance to the pharmacy, check out the photo below! It was fabulous walking around looking at the delightful windows and creative ceramics in the little shops, and all the pretty colourful ceramic restaurant signs . We settled on La Conchiglia for dinner and had the most beautiful table overlooking the water – it was so pretty and idyllic watching the sunset over the cliffs as we enjoyed our delicious Italian fare and Clarissa introduced Geoff to the delights of sgroppino – a lemon sorbet with prosecco and vodka!
Monday 26 June – a lot quieter this morning now that the weekenders have gone back to Naples, so after pumping yet more air into our little dinghy, we set off into the marina and headed off for brunch. We walked through, and up out of the village along to the beach of Formia where we sat in the delightful shade of Fumarole da Nicola and enjoyed some bruschetta and Parma ham and melon, whilst sipping on white wine with peach slices – another delight recommended by Clarissa! Too hot to walk back to the marina, we hopped into a water taxi and sailed back to the marina, making a quick stop at a little almentari for some extra provisions before returning to “Theresa”. Another swim and we’re off again – Ventotene is our next stop.
Ventotene is the largest of the Pontine Islands and is sparsely covered in maquis and prickly pear and derives its name from the winds that sweep over the island. In Roman times it was called Pandataria and several notable undesirables were exiled here – Julia the daughter of Caesar Augustus and famous for her adulterous ways, had a sumptuous villa built here far from the gossip of Rome so she could entertain her lovers in private. Octavio, the wife of Nero was exiled on the island at the request of his mistress Poppea Sabina. Later, Nero had her killed on the island and her head was allegedly presented to Poppea! We
sailed past nearby San Stefano island on our way in, along with Ventotene, this houses a penal settlement and under Mussolini, those of a persuasion other than Fascist were incarcerated here.
Five Islands make up the Pontine Islands, Ponza, Zannone, Palmarola, Ventotene and San Santo Stefano and they are crests of volcanic craters through different chains. Ponza, Zannone and Palmarola belong to the volcanic chain extending over to Anzio and Ventotene and Santo Stefano are linked to the volcanic area in the Bay of Naples. We anchored just outside the Porto Romano (The Old Roman Port) which is small and very pretty.
Tuesday 27 June - Chloe visited Ventotene on a school trip last month so she acted as our guide for this morning. Our first stop was past the pretty pink church and into the little town square for coffee and pastries, then it was a walk up to the outside area where Chloe and her school friends had done all their outdoor activities - it was easy to see the explosive activity of the Ventotene volcano in all of the rock formations from up here and not a bad little spot overlooking the very picturesque harbour either. Fnally to the little hotel where they all stayed – so gorgeous, I just wanted to bring all the colourful pots and tables home with me for my deck!
Then it was back to the boat where we enjoyed a lovely lunch whilst making our way to Ponza with a stop enroute in the Bay of Chiaia di Luna which has fantastic caves and grottos and excellent swimming in the deep blue water. We anchored just in front of the Arco Naturale (natural arch) which is quite something – Geoff swam through it and managed to avoid any falling rocks! Fortunately the ice-cream boat came around to find us so we could have a little treat before we sailed around and into Ponza harbour.
