June 15, 2004

We left Ostia a month ago to sail south. From now on, we will jot down cruising notes for the passage from Italy to wherever we end up next winter.

Ostia, Italy (Oct 2003 - 14 May 2004)

The Porto Turistico di Roma marina is only a couple of years old and has good facilities. We felt very secure from theft, but the surge is sometimes uncomfortable. About 60 cruising boats stayed the winter, and the liveaboards arranged many activities (yoga, art, music, writing, craft, bridge, swimming, quiz night, destination seminars, Monday night socials, circular dining, Italian lessons...) The trip to Rome takes less than an hour with bus and train @ 1 euro. Ostia itself is a dirty suburb, not a cosy atmosphere but with some good shops for provisioning. We paid 1486 euro for 6 months in the marina and were able to extend the same fee for an extra month.

Ponza (May 14-16, 2004)

We anchored in the Ponza town bay and dinghied in with friends. Good holding. Pretty town with pastel colored houses hanging on a cliff. Nice to visit off season. They seemed to be preparing for the tourist invasion.

Procida (May 16, 2004)

Anchored outside of marina, close to fishing nets. Rolly.

Capri (May 17, 2004)

Decided not to go to the very expensive marina (50 euro/night low season). Anchored in southern bay, below Hotel Weber. Deep waters close to shore. Very rolly.

Acciaroli (May 18-20, 2004)

A favorite. Free harbor, moored alongside. No water but did find electricity. Pretty town, friendly people, excellent seafood restaurant (not expensive either) in the hotel facing the harbor.

Cetraro (May 20, 2004)

We had been warned to go to this place ("unfriendly, terrible") but found it quite nice! Free harbor, moored alongside. No water or electricity in huge uncompleted marina. Very friendly people. We did not need to stock up. Seemed like stores were far away.

Tropea (May 21-23, 2004)

Several friends had told us not to miss Tropea. It's a pretty, old town on top of a cliff. Lot's of charter tourists, already in May. Tropea is famous for the regional onions - they are superb! New, good marina. Not completely finished. We paid 15 euro/night including electricity. Water not potable.

Riposto (May 23-26, 2004)

This Sicilian town has a genuine feel to it. No tourists, no sidewalk cafes. Although our slightly outdated pilot book said "Chargeband 1", they have swiftly built a new marina inside the huge harbor and we had to pay 31 euro/night + extra for water and electricity. Mid season prices. Good service and facilities but extremely rolly. We took a train to Siracusa, nice town, but found the harbor there to be very rolly too.

Le Castella (May 27, 2004)

Idyllic small, family run marina on the sole of Italy. Charged 20 euro/night, water and electricity included. A mostly Italian tourist resort with few stores but lots of bars and restaurants.

Otranto (May 29 - June 12 2004)

Our Italian favorite! We ended up staying 2 weeks in the small Lega Navale marina. The ormeggiatore Andrea Baldi is Italy's finest, a hard working and incredibly service minded young man. The price of 15 euros/night, water and electricity included, was negotiable for an extended stay. It's also possible to anchor in the town bay, or at times to go alongside the commercial quay with permission from Guardia Costiera, for free. Local sailors gave us tips of where to eat and what to see in the neighborhood. Very friendly atmosphere in a pretty place.  The old town is sadly overtaken by tourist shops. Restaurant Il Ghiotonno on the beach serves excellent, creative seafood dishes. We rented a car and visited most of Salento (the "heal" of Italy). We liked Gallipoli, maybe as a future winter stopover, if the marina is OK?

Dubrovnik, Croatia (June 13-14, 2004)

About 150 NM from Otranto, we left at 5 am and did an overnighter. Caught a 4 kg yellowfin tuna. And when we dropped the lure about four meters after the boat to clean it we caught a second tuna, which we handed over to Swedish friends on yacht CIE while at sea!

We checked into Croatia at Gruz, the commercial harbor of Dubrovnik. A few walks between the police and harbor master offices completed the clearance. We paid 1431 kuna (1 euro = 7 kuna) for the cruising permit. They only accept kuna, but there is a bank machine nearby. Papers needed are: crew list, passports, ships papers and insurance. No need for the extensive lists of dutiable goods that the pilot books are describing.

There is a small marina in Gruz. Bad holding. Very noisy road passes 3 meters from the boats. We decided to go to Dubrovnik marina although they charge 40 euros/night including water and electricity. Good supermarket. Watch out for the cats that visit boats at night in search of food!

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