Summer 2016 changed into Fall with a vengeance. We had hoped to have nice cruising weather well into October but that was not to be.

In early September we departed Porto Cervo after a wonderful stay in the Maddalena Islands on a blustery wind from the west. The Perini Navi's were having their annual regatta out of Porto Cervo and this race was obviously delayed and probably well on its way to being cancelled. As we motored out of the harbor and raised our mainsail some of the 100-150 foot boats were headed back in. The wind was a steady 25 knots probably closer to 30. Since we were going to the island of Ischia off of Naples it would be a downwind sleigh ride for the Escapade. The chart showed a nice protected anchorage on the east side of the island that would be easy to enter and looked to be well protected from the westerly.

In retrospect I should have reefed the main as we had too much sail area and the full mainsail and Solent jib were causing the autopilot to over-correct in the big seas. While the overall height of the waves in the Mediterranean may not be towering, they can be very rough and carry a lot of power. With less sail area we could have had a much more pleasant journey.

Nonetheless we arrived in the lee of Ischia the next afternoon, a distance of some 200 NM as the crow flies. The anchorage was of course drop dead beautiful with the Castello Aragonese towering over us and beautifully lit up in the evening.

The next day, Liz Danel from Squaw Valley, arrived and we all climbed the hundreds of steps up to the castle peering down on Escapade a couple of hundred feet below.

From here we traveled to Pompeii, Capri and down the Amalfi Coast past Positano and on as far as the village of Amalfi. Sometimes cruising is magical and other times it can be plain disappointing. This portion of the trip was both.

Briefly:

Debbie and Liz had a fascinating time in Pompeii while I watched the boat at anchor. There wasn't a suitable place to anchor safely and a nearby marina wanted 200 Euros for the night.

Sorrento, and especially Capri, Positano and Amalfi are completely off the charts for beauty. Right at the very top of the list for "cute", "charming" and "romantic" looking villages. Which brings about their downfall in the form of hordes of tourists and day trippers. Capri especially has a love-hate relationship with their tourists. Somehow the island still manages to attract a very high-end clientele to their fabulous boutique hotels, exclusive shops and exquisite restaurants and at the same time it is completely overrun with day tripper boats.

Also, did I mention that other than the open roadstead of Sorrento the anchorages are marginal even in settled weather. I thought "no problem", we'll come back in the shoulder season and avoid the worst of the crowds and catch the locals in a pre-season better mood. No chance. The tourist season apparently starts in March and doesn't end until November leaving no warm weather months to visit on a boat.

Nonetheless, if asked, I would say one should see this area. Liz departed ending her three month travels of Europe and Russia and headed home to California to await the arrival of her first grandchild. (A healthy little girl named Sarah!).

Debbie and I now had to make the difficult decision of where Escapade would spend the winter. Valencia, Spain and La Spezia (Cinque Terra) and Ragusa, Sicily were all financially acceptable and well suited to safely dock Escapade. La Spezia ended up getting the nod as we needed to travel to the Catana boatyard in France to pull the mast and repair the mast step before winter set in and La Spezia was the closest (200 NM) to the French yard. Also, it would be the closest by far to our winter home in Cortina. This turned out to be a good choice as the weather just got windier and much colder. By November we said good-by to Escapade and traveled to Rome for a week to see the sights AND to stay in a warm hotel!

For those that haven't been there or like me have been there briefly and not seen the typical tourist destinations: GO. Debbie dragged me around to all the tourist highlights and it was one of the most interesting trips of my life. These people (the Romans) can build buildings! Not to mention the buildings are filled with incredible art. With the dollar's strength against the Euro and some great tips from our friend Sylvana from Lake Garda we ate very very well in Roman Trattorias for half of what it would cost us in Lake Tahoe. It was tough to go back to the cold boat so we only stayed long enough to button it up and headed north on the first part of our wandering two month journey on our way to our little one bedroom apartment here in Cortina.