Sundowner II log – 2006 update 24 – Maratea – Vulcano
We set off with a steady wind straight for the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily, knowing it would mean an arrival in the dark. Later motoring over the smooth seas there was not much to do except wash the harbour’s dirt off the decks and check the radar. There was some amusement as Dennis tried to cure the wires rattling inside the mast using inflated party balloons which would then pop now and again. It may have been this that attracted the six playful dolphins in the early evening. With no moon complete darkness descended and with only twenty miles to go we were in a bit of a quandary as what to do, either carry on and drift through the night restarting the engine at dawn and arrive at Stromboli as the sun rises, the other option being to round Stromboli in the dark with no moon and on to the next island of Panarea at daybreak which would mean catching a glimpse of the lava flows in the dark but would be unfair on Perkins having been working most of the day, so he was put to sleep, the genoa was double reefed and we drifted into the night. On the lookout for the lights of other vessels it was a shock as a red port light appeared ahead just off to starboard and just grew and grew rising up into the darkness an awesome sight – it was Stromboli and even from twenty miles off there was a hint of sound - now we knew what the hell we were doing out there.



For the next five hours we were kept enthralled as every quarter of an hour the earth literally moved skywards the adrenalin further provoked with the numerous lights of vessels on passage past us north and south east and west as we drifted covering just one mile until dawn, one huge liner swept past so close she resembled a scene from Titanic -Sundowner not making a very formidable obstruction. Perkins woke up as the sky started to lighten and show the shadow outline of Stromboli taking us close inshore as the sun rose. Due to the nature of the volcanic islands the seabed slopes down and away dramatically making anchorages few and unsafe this is particularly so on Stromboli after a quick check we found the anchorages too deep and we headed around and below the active crater. As the vents exploded with a large bang the discharged rocks tumbled down the steep ash slopes resembling a snow avalanche before bouncing out into the sea close by it was then we realised we were just a bit too close, well, possibly a minimum of one mile too close.



Onto Panarea and sleep the only place we could find to anchor with any confidence was right next to the ferry terminal where we could see the seabed in seven meters of water all the other anchorages either being too deep or too crowded it meant the best part of a day and night in the wash of the Tenders and ferries but rest was needed it was obviously not a normal spot to anchor as another yacht came and enquired as to the holding etc we assured them it was ok and they spent the night nearby a little too close at times but no problem . It was unfortunate the small window hatch was left open which allowed the bedding and mattress to get soaked so precious fresh water had to be used to rinse it all out. We were a little disappointed the following morning when passing the south of the island and noticed the forbidden anchorage in the bay at Punta Milazzese was full of yachts settled in perfect peace and quiet.
We then had a lovely trip to Vulcano passing close down along the coast of Lipari. It was quite daunting as we entered the enclosed bay of Porto Ponente especially with the smoking volcano looming above. Once again the depth was deep over twenty meters so after checking with the German on our portside if he was happy if we dropped our anchor nearby and laid out most of our chain it was a bit odd as we passed between a couple of boats behind in the crowded anchorage, the chain was tight but we had travelled a long way so Dennis donned trunks and snorkel and swam quite a distance to check the anchor which seemed alright so he checked with the German what depth he had which was seven metres oops! A check of the depth display all was revealed sometime in the dark night the instrument had been switched from metric to imperial feet and Inches making our previous nights anchorage depth only two meters so we hauled in our surplus chain which was half of it double oops!