We left EOL Mare in Lipari (which we would recommend to visit if it’s calm weather) at 11.40hrs on 25th May heading towards Panarea, the island nearest Stromboli. Our intention was to anchor there overnight and then progress onwards to Stromboli. It was a short 13 mile trip and we anchored in Cala Zimmari around 14.00hrs.

This is a nice bay about a mile or so to the south of the main settlement and anchorage, we thought it would be more sheltered than off the town. We had the bay to ourselves so picked the centre and dropped the hook there. With light NE winds we were quite comfortable. Over the course of the next few hours another yacht and a larger tourist ‘Gulet’ type boat anchored outside us but there was plenty of space.



Cala Zimmari, Splice at anchor to the left of picture

About 17.00hrs we took Fid ashore and walked up the cliff to the headland to a Neolithic Village that had been found there. This was established on a small peninsula with high cliffs all around it and only one route in leading to the conclusion that this was deliberately done due to defensive concerns. They say it was occupied for hundreds of years but in the end fire was the cause of its destruction – violent or accidental is unknown. It was interesting wandering around the low stone walls that made up the room of each house and then it’s small outside courtyard. It was a fabulous spot in the sunshine with views all around.



The buildings of the Neolithic village on the headland at Cala Zimmari


There is a restaurant overlooking the bay but when we enquired they weren’t open that evening. We cooked pasta with sardines, pine-nuts and raisins similar to the meal we had in San Vito lo Capo, it was tasty and as all the ingredients can be kept long term is a good back up meal for the future. We had a good night there, joined by another yacht after darkness fell.

The next day we had intended to walk into the town but the wind was stronger than forecast and was moving us around towards the shore so plans were changed (weather always wins in this game) and we raised the hook and motored along the coast past the town. The wind was still increasing so we carried on past what was by now a bouncy anchorage and headed out towards Stromboli.

The normal plan here is to arrive and anchor or pick up a buoy by the settlement on the south east coast. You then wait until 20.00hrs or so and set off to the other north-west side to watch the volcano when the lava and superheated rocks are visible in the dark.

We took our time across the 10 miles or so of deep water between the islands but when we came close to the south coast of Stromboli the wind was whipping around both sides of the island and we were heading into 20 knots. We knew the anchorage here was quite exposed and this did not bode well.

When we arrived there was only one yacht in the anchorage – a charter boat that was doing an energetic dance as 1.5m waves threw it about. No way were we anchoring in that so our only choice was to carry on around the island. We decided to complete our circumnavigation of Stromboli and see what we could see before heading back to Sicily itself. There was plenty of steam and gas coming from the crater and the screed of ejected rock was clearly visible but we didn’t get to see any lava.



Stromboli from the NW showing the rocks ejected from the volcano



Steam from the crater on Stromboli

After our circumnavigation we turned for Milazzo. We already knew that we wouldn’t make port in daylight but the peninsula on which Milazzo stands is quite clear of dangers and the options to anchor or moor in a marina were available so we set off planning to sail all the way and see when we arrived. With 12 knots from astern it was comfortable and we were making 4-4.5 knots but as the hours continued the winds kept dropping though the waves were still 1.5m plus. By 16.20hrs we were down to 5 knots from astern and were making 2 knots, for a 35 mile trip that’s sort of slow, so frustration got the better of the captain and the engines went on. We had a couple of dolphins visit and play in the bow-wave for 10 minutes as we progressed and we arrived in the bay shortly after sunset, around 21.00hrs, and crept carefully towards the area marked as an anchorage. It was very dark in that corner and there were lights from fishing pots about.....so there could be other unlit ones....there were no other boats and we could see rocks around the edge of the area as well. We decided to return to the Poseidon Marina we had just passed. We moored ‘side-to’ on the outside of the pontoon as there was no-one to help us despite VHF calls and the internal pontoons looked full. A large ‘Gulet’ style boat was also on the outside. The swell through the area was quite bad so we used the lazy-lines to pull us away from the pontoon and had a reasonable night there.

Main photo: The peninsula at Cala Milazzo used by Neolithic villages for defensive purposes