Showing posts with label Capri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Capri. Show all posts

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Cruising Italian riviera

On the 30th we depart Castellammare di Stabia for Naples. It don't take us many hours before reaching there and we anchor off "Molo Luise" (Mergellina Sannazzaro), the local yachting mafia's marina. They claim we could come alongside but all publications we have suggests a maximum length of 70m and I'm also agreeing seeing the small rathole and how packed it is with yachts. 

"Molo Luise" (Google satellite)

San Martino National Museum in Naples

The Borgo Marinari Fort in Naples

Naples city view

Later in the evening we heave up anchor and sail down South to anchor off Capri Island. Due to the weather we do it on the South side of the Island at the Marina Piccola.

Cruising points (Google maps)

The 1st is spent at Capri Island, the swell could be quite rough at times and we roll as we don't have zero speed stabilizers. Capri is historically renowned for Caesar Tiberius who lived in Villa Jovis for 10 years in political exile from Rome. Tiberius was said to have had wild debaucheries going on Capri but nowadays these stories are regarded by many modern historians merely as slander. We are also joined by 3 other yachts, m/y Glaze, m/y Odessa and m/y Capri that are following us. Surprisingly they are all Captained by US nationals.

Li Galli Islands (Google satellite)

Li Galli Islands 

On the 2nd we sail to Li Galli Island (or Gallos, or Le Sirenuse) where according to legends several sirens were said to have inhabited the islands, the most famous of whom were Parthenope, Leucosia, and Ligeia. One of them played the lyre, another sang, and another played the flute. They are mentioned in the 1st century B.C by Strabo. 

Capri Island 

Local cruise ferry for the masses, they seemed to have a very good time with music and everything 

On the 3rd we sail back to Capri Island and anchor in front of the Marina Piccola. The historian and Greek geographer Strabo thought that Capri broke off from the mainland. His theory has been confirmed recently, both from geologic findings that link the island with the Sorrento Peninsula and from archaeological discoveries.

Positano 

On the 4th we sail from Capri Island to Positano, after that we shift to Nerano. In Nerano there is an excellent restaurant worth visiting called "Quattro Passi". For the evening we sail in front of Naples and by midnight we are back at Capri Island.

Nerano 

The 5th we stay anchored off Capri Island. To give a picture how people (or yachts) are charged I could mention that a Doctor's visit onboard to look at a sprained ankle cost 300€, without medication.

IE in front of Capri Island 

On the 6th we sail to anchor in front of Sorrento and by afternoon we anchor in front of Naples. I might add that the cliffs of Sorrento were holed by caves like an Edam cheese, quite quaint actually. Perhaps natural formed caves that had been additionally carved up by people. For the evening we go and anchor in front of Castellammare di Stabia. There is transport for the crew to go ashore but nobody has any interest to go.

Sorrento 

Sorrento 

Islet in front of Marina di Stabia

Next morning we heave up anchor and set sail for Valletta, Malta for some downtime.