Sleepless nights

I would love to tell you a story about the great time and wild partying long into the night. But that's not how what's happened. There was a different reason for sleepless nights. But let me start at the beginning.

From Capri we sailed to Sorrento on the South side of Gulf of Napoli. There was strong South wind blowing and our ride was wild and fast. Sorrento lies on a plane above the cliff and only few buildings and piers are accessible from water.

We anchored NE from the harbour and there were several boats already there, including some big ones. We didn't have a lot of space and the bottom was getting deeper very fast, but we hoped we would be ok with 30m chain in 9m water. As on other popular places we visited, here the boat traffic was also very strong and there was a lot of wash and Heron was jumping and rolling at her anchor. We were hoping that by the night this will calm down and we'll have a peaceful night. In the afternoon Captain checked the dinghy engine and somehow made it work again.

In the evening we dinghied into the harbour and faced the similar problem as on Capri - where to tie the dinghy. We asked at several piers but everyone said no and then we saw a big Guardia Financia RIB tied to a pier where there would still be pleny of space for our small boat. So we motored there and asked the guys in uniforms. To our surprise they said yes, sure, but warned us to not let dinghy out of sight if we want to keep it. So we chose one of two restaurants in the harbour for dinner (we were surprised that food was good and it wasn't too expensive), and as I was having a second glass of wine while keeping a sharp eye on the dinghy, Captain went into town up on the cliff to buy some grocery.

Back on the boat we made an early night, since the weather was suppose to change in the morning and we were hoping to sail off early and still catch some of the South wind to sail over to the North side of Gulf of Napoli, before the wind turns to NW.

Night was not very calm, there was lots of strong wind gusts and I woke up several times, but nothing dramatic seemed to be happening so I didn't get up to check. Shortly before 4 I heard Captain getting up, so I got up as well and we both got out into the cockpit. And for a short wile were unable to speak. Because we were about half a mile from the shore, sailing slowly with the wind towards N. We were awake in seconds, but still needed a bit to take in the situation and to figure out what to do. We were immensely happy we sneaked out of the anchorage without bumping into any other boat, some of them were multi million yachts, and also that nothing happened to Heron. We decided if we were up already, we might sail to the North side of the bay now, since the wind was already starting to turn to SW.

The strong wind made some really big and steep waves and although Captain took the first shift and sent me back to cabin, it was absolutely impossible to sleep. When I got out some time later, there was already some daylight, the wind got stronger and the waves bigger, mostly they were about 2m high, every now and again there was a 3m one among them. And they were hitting the boat almost from the side and the movement was very uncomfortable. This was one of the least pleasant rides ever.

In the morning we reached the Gulf of Baia and waves were gone. We anchored in front of some factory among many big sailboats. We were by far the smallest one. And we went to sleep.

While we were sleeping a hefty shower washed Heron that was salty up to first cross.

We stayed in the anchorage the whole day, there was a lot of wind, now from NW. We were hoping that wind will get much gentler in the night and that the waves will be more manageable the next day.

There was a fort watching over the anchorage....

... and on the other side of bay a nice looking town.

Next day we decided to sail out of the bay to see how the wind and waves were, and then decide if we sail further NW or return to the bay.

This is the lighthouse at the entrance to the bay.

What we noticed when we got further out was the change in water colour, it turned opaque turquoise. We sailed towards Procida. There is a great fortress complex at the SE corner...

... where the water turned back to blue again.

Behind it is the town of Corricella and it is for sure one of the prettiest towns I saw in Italy. But if we wanted to stay we would have to stay in an expensive marina and we really needed to move on. But I'll surely come back one day.

We turned towards NW, still in funny coloured sea, the ride was very bumpy since the waves were still up to 2m high, but we were making good progress.

Already in the evening we reached town of Gaeta and were pleasantly surprised by how pretty the town was and how calm the anchorage was. Unfortunately it was getting too late to dinghy to the town. So another town to visit on my to-do list.

The photo of cathedral was made the next morning, there wasn't enough light in the evening.

Next morning we sailed around the lighthouse and discovered a big fortress again...

... and a peculiar house or lighthouse built into the cliffs.

The waves were much smaller that day, but there was some wind and the sailing was pleasant. We made it all the way to Anzio. Unfortunately wind got stronger in the afternoon, Heron got salty again and since the bay under Anzio is not very deep, the night was not so peaceful as previous one.

Next morning we sailed off, we saw remains of Nero's harbour...

... and Nero's caves.

We were again able to sail almost all the time, all the way to Santa Marinella, where we hoped to find some shelter for the night. When we got there it looked very calm, so we tucked as far behind the breaker as we dared - the water was less than 2,5m deep. After dinner we decided to make an early night and dinghy into the town to get fresh bread the next morning.

But as soon as it got really dark the waves started rolling into the anchorage and it got very rolly. At about 2 I heard Captain switching on the instruments and got up myself. We decided to sail off to our next stop, Monte Argentario. Captain took the first shift. Some of the time he tried to sail, the rest he motored, but the sea was quite wavy and sailing uncomfortable. At 6 I took over and at about 9 we anchored on the S side near Marina di Pertuso.

It was a calm day, we tried to get some rest ad sleep to make up for the shortest night. In the evening we dinghied into marina and the staff was very friendly, it was no problem to tie our dinghy. We walked around marina a bit and found a nice small shop that had everything we needed, and we ate a nice meal in nearby restaurant. And there was a swallow nest nearby.

We thought we might come back next morning and do some walking and sightseeing, since the scenery was beautiful, if the wind will not turn back to South too soon. But already as we were eating dinner the wind was getting stronger and once we were outside of marina we saw that it was blowing from the South. Half a day too soon. So none of four weather forecasts I'm checking was right! Again!

We realised we need to move because the waves were already rolling into the anchorage and by the morning it would be too wild to stay. So we sailed around Monte Argentario, and I was regretting it was dark and we couldn't see the scenery. Half hour after midnight we anchored on the N side in a wide and calm bay. And we slept good and long.

Next morning was grey, we even got some rain. I tried to make some photos, but they turned out gray as well - the bay looking South...

...and the "main town" Porto Sante Stefano.