Aisling I
18 July 2016 | Genoa
11 July 2016 | Genoa Italy
04 July 2016 | Genoa
02 July 2016 | Genoa
25 June 2016 | Porto Azzurro Elba
11 April 2016 | Marina di Ragusa
21 March 2016 | Halifax
01 March 2016
14 January 2016
30 September 2015
25 September 2015 | Crotone Italy
18 September 2015 | Erikoussa
10 September 2015 | Preveza
10 September 2015 | Preveza
24 July 2015 | Preveza
20 July 2015 | Varko Bay
13 July 2015 | Vlicho Bay
09 July 2015
03 July 2015 | Preveza Greece
21 June 2015
Aeolian Islands Part 3: Salina and Sailing Past Stromboli
16 May 2014 | 38 55.6'N:14 87.2'E
Bonnie
Once again, we've fallen way behind on our blog postings. We've been seeing so much and moving so quickly that it's hard to keep up! Having said that, the past few days have been almost entirely given over to maintenance and cleaning, so they won't be taking up much space in the journal.
From Vulcano, we sailed to Salina, hoping to anchor off either Rinella or Santa Maria di Salina. Rinella is just too tight, and we can't get our anchor to dig in at Santa Marina. Nothing to do but head for Santa Marina's Porto Turistico. We've heard it's expensive, but since this is low season maybe it won't be too bad. Shortly after we get tied up, a French guy tells me that he's paying 75 euros a night for a 40 foot boat. Oh oh. "The businesses in the town are upset with the new marina owner" he says "because the boats don't stay and it's really bad for business." At the office, Dominique, an Italian-Australian who speaks perfect English, tells me that the nightly rate for us, at 12.4 meters, will be 65 euros. This seems to be less than the French boat had paid, so maybe he liked the cut of our jib. I ask what the price would be if we leave around midnight the following night and although he says that's really the same as two nights, he agrees to give us a reduced rate for a total of 100 euros. He speaks perfect English, since his mother is Australian. "I know we're really expensive, but that's a lot less than we used to charge" he tells me. "There's been a 40% reduction since last year." Having prepared myself for the worst, the 100 euro deal actually sounds pretty good to me.
Salina is the greenest and most fertile of the Aeolian islands, with many trees cloaking the slope of its two (extinct) volcanic cones. Malvasia grapes and capers are cultivated on the island. Santa Marina is quiet little town, at least at this time of the year. There isn't much to do other than walk down the boardwalk to admire the views of Lipari, Stomboli and Panarea, wander through the tiny shops along the main street, and take photos of the flowers and fruit trees.
The patio of the Punta Barone looks like a nice place to stop and have a drink.
Instead, we go to the Il Gambero, the only place in town where we can get a pizza. It's delicious of course. I have a glass of a local red wine called Virgona, and it's very good, with big bold flavours. At the next table, three local women are having a lively night out. One of them pleads with the waiter to open the window and allow them to smoke in the restaurant (which is against the law in Italy). "It's OK with me" he shrugs "but these other people might not like it". We say we don't mind, and she's all smiles.
The next morning, we decide to run to the salt lagoon at Lingua. It's a hilly three kilometres along the water, and to our astonishment we have a clear view of Mt. Etna's snowy summit ahead.
On the way back, we will face Stromboli and Panarea. Can't beat that!
Lingua has a lovely seafront promenade, and we see some beautiful properties with gardens and vineyards. The salt lagoon is a bit of a disappointment though; just a stagnant-looking pond and not a flamingo in sight. Oh well.
We pick up the pace on the way back, because we want to catch a bus to Malfa. Our Rough Guide describes it as the island's biggest town, with "the grandest accommodation" but it's really pretty tiny too. Shortly after getting off the bus, Rick spies a sign advertising wine and caper tastings. We follow it, and find l'Azienda Virgona, the winery where the glass of wine I'd had the night before had been produced. The owner, Enrico, invites us in and offers us samples of red and white wine as well as malvasia. He speaks no English, so we have to stumble along in Italian, which actually makes the experience more fun in a way. But it's frustrating that we can't carry on a proper conversation with him. The malvasia is really special, so we buy two bottles (one for the boat and one to take back to Halifax) plus a bottle of white. Then Rick goes into a bit of a caper-buying frenzy and buys about a kilo, in three different sizes. The small ones are the most expensive; perhaps because they take longer to pick?
Malfa is a pretty place. And a pretty little place, so it doesn't take long to explore. Our lunch at La Lumeredda is delicious, with a seafood salad, wonderful caponata and an unusual Aoelian antipasta with lots of capers. Rick goes inside to pay the bill and comes back with MORE capers. We're discovering that capers go well with almost anything. Try them in pasta; you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Shortly before midnight that night, we untied our dock lines and sailed away from Salina and past Stromboli, "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" to the ancients. Stromboli 's volcano has three active craters at the peak, which erupt continuously. Eruptions occur on the north side of the island, and to get a better view we sailed a bit off our course toward Camerota on the mainland. It was well worth the effort, as we were lucky enough to sail past during a time of high activity and saw numerous bursts of flame and ash. We didn't try taking any photos since we assumed they wouldn't turn out well in the dark, so I'm afraid you'll have to go see it for yourself. But you can get a sense of what we saw by looking at the video on the Wikipedia page for Stromboli. If we hadn't been so sleepy it would have been a lot more fun!
Rick's Cruising Notes
First we went to Rinella on the south coast, thinking we could anchor out. However the wharves are used by the 2 different ferries and the cove beside the ferry dock was too small for us, we thought. One could have put a line ashore but then there is still the wash from the ferries. Bottom was black sand.
We moved on to Santa Marina on the east coast. We tried to anchor south of the Porto Turistico but it was rocky and no good hold. We entered the port (VHF channel 11) and stayed at the Porto Turistico; 100 euros in total to stay from 2 pm one day until midnight the next night. Cost for one night would have been 65 euros in May. Water and electric included. Showers and toilets. Groceries and bread in town. Engine service available. Well protected except from the south.
From Vulcano, we sailed to Salina, hoping to anchor off either Rinella or Santa Maria di Salina. Rinella is just too tight, and we can't get our anchor to dig in at Santa Marina. Nothing to do but head for Santa Marina's Porto Turistico. We've heard it's expensive, but since this is low season maybe it won't be too bad. Shortly after we get tied up, a French guy tells me that he's paying 75 euros a night for a 40 foot boat. Oh oh. "The businesses in the town are upset with the new marina owner" he says "because the boats don't stay and it's really bad for business." At the office, Dominique, an Italian-Australian who speaks perfect English, tells me that the nightly rate for us, at 12.4 meters, will be 65 euros. This seems to be less than the French boat had paid, so maybe he liked the cut of our jib. I ask what the price would be if we leave around midnight the following night and although he says that's really the same as two nights, he agrees to give us a reduced rate for a total of 100 euros. He speaks perfect English, since his mother is Australian. "I know we're really expensive, but that's a lot less than we used to charge" he tells me. "There's been a 40% reduction since last year." Having prepared myself for the worst, the 100 euro deal actually sounds pretty good to me.
Salina is the greenest and most fertile of the Aeolian islands, with many trees cloaking the slope of its two (extinct) volcanic cones. Malvasia grapes and capers are cultivated on the island. Santa Marina is quiet little town, at least at this time of the year. There isn't much to do other than walk down the boardwalk to admire the views of Lipari, Stomboli and Panarea, wander through the tiny shops along the main street, and take photos of the flowers and fruit trees.
The patio of the Punta Barone looks like a nice place to stop and have a drink.
Instead, we go to the Il Gambero, the only place in town where we can get a pizza. It's delicious of course. I have a glass of a local red wine called Virgona, and it's very good, with big bold flavours. At the next table, three local women are having a lively night out. One of them pleads with the waiter to open the window and allow them to smoke in the restaurant (which is against the law in Italy). "It's OK with me" he shrugs "but these other people might not like it". We say we don't mind, and she's all smiles.
The next morning, we decide to run to the salt lagoon at Lingua. It's a hilly three kilometres along the water, and to our astonishment we have a clear view of Mt. Etna's snowy summit ahead.
On the way back, we will face Stromboli and Panarea. Can't beat that!
Lingua has a lovely seafront promenade, and we see some beautiful properties with gardens and vineyards. The salt lagoon is a bit of a disappointment though; just a stagnant-looking pond and not a flamingo in sight. Oh well.
We pick up the pace on the way back, because we want to catch a bus to Malfa. Our Rough Guide describes it as the island's biggest town, with "the grandest accommodation" but it's really pretty tiny too. Shortly after getting off the bus, Rick spies a sign advertising wine and caper tastings. We follow it, and find l'Azienda Virgona, the winery where the glass of wine I'd had the night before had been produced. The owner, Enrico, invites us in and offers us samples of red and white wine as well as malvasia. He speaks no English, so we have to stumble along in Italian, which actually makes the experience more fun in a way. But it's frustrating that we can't carry on a proper conversation with him. The malvasia is really special, so we buy two bottles (one for the boat and one to take back to Halifax) plus a bottle of white. Then Rick goes into a bit of a caper-buying frenzy and buys about a kilo, in three different sizes. The small ones are the most expensive; perhaps because they take longer to pick?
Malfa is a pretty place. And a pretty little place, so it doesn't take long to explore. Our lunch at La Lumeredda is delicious, with a seafood salad, wonderful caponata and an unusual Aoelian antipasta with lots of capers. Rick goes inside to pay the bill and comes back with MORE capers. We're discovering that capers go well with almost anything. Try them in pasta; you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Shortly before midnight that night, we untied our dock lines and sailed away from Salina and past Stromboli, "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" to the ancients. Stromboli 's volcano has three active craters at the peak, which erupt continuously. Eruptions occur on the north side of the island, and to get a better view we sailed a bit off our course toward Camerota on the mainland. It was well worth the effort, as we were lucky enough to sail past during a time of high activity and saw numerous bursts of flame and ash. We didn't try taking any photos since we assumed they wouldn't turn out well in the dark, so I'm afraid you'll have to go see it for yourself. But you can get a sense of what we saw by looking at the video on the Wikipedia page for Stromboli. If we hadn't been so sleepy it would have been a lot more fun!
Rick's Cruising Notes
First we went to Rinella on the south coast, thinking we could anchor out. However the wharves are used by the 2 different ferries and the cove beside the ferry dock was too small for us, we thought. One could have put a line ashore but then there is still the wash from the ferries. Bottom was black sand.
We moved on to Santa Marina on the east coast. We tried to anchor south of the Porto Turistico but it was rocky and no good hold. We entered the port (VHF channel 11) and stayed at the Porto Turistico; 100 euros in total to stay from 2 pm one day until midnight the next night. Cost for one night would have been 65 euros in May. Water and electric included. Showers and toilets. Groceries and bread in town. Engine service available. Well protected except from the south.
Comments
| Vessel Name: | Aisling I |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Slocum 43 |
| Hailing Port: | Halifax, NS, Canada |
| Crew: | Rick and Bonnie Salsman |
| About: | |
| Extra: | |
| Social: |
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Aisling I's Photos - Aisling I (Main)
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During the winter, we babysat Murphy Brown (a lovely poodle that belongs to our friends Wally and Martha) for 10 days. I had some fun capturing her in some of her favourite spots!
8 Photos
Created 16 May 2012
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Pics of Aisling at anchor, up top and down below.
23 Photos
Created 2 November 2008
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About Aisling 1
Who: Rick and Bonnie Salsman
Port: Halifax, NS, Canada
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