Logbook and Photos

After a great great visit to Rome, we head south to our next area of interest, Pompeii.  This entire coast of Italy to the south of us is very difficult to cruise as there are very few natural anchorages and the entire coast is a lee shore in the prevailing westerly and northwesterly summer winds.  The nooks and crannies that were once available for boats are now occupied by marinas and harbours charging exorbitant rates.  For this reason, we pass relatively quickly down the coast, choosing to see a few highlights and some of the islands instead.

We enter the very large Bay of Naples, passing it's namesake and most important city and seaport, Naples, built on the slopes and at the base of a range of hills bordering the bay.  The islands of Ischia and Capri, playgrounds for the rich and famous, flank the points marking the north and south sides of the bay respectively.   As we sail along the eastern shore of the bay, we can see the volcano Mount Vesuvius with the ruins of Pompeii at its foot as we approach Torre del Greco, our harbour base for the next few days .

This model depicts Pompeii, a city founded about 600 BC and which became a Roman colony in 80 BC and later a favorite resort for wealthy Romans, reaching a population of about 20,000 at the beginning of the Christian era. It was also a place of considerable trade and was the port town of Nola and other inland cities of the fertile valley of the Sarnus. The area had some bad luck.   Firstly, it was much damaged by an earthquake in 63 AD and was then completely demolished in 79 AD by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius that overwhelmed the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. The eruption also changed the course of the Sarnus Valley and raised the sea beach, placing the river and the sea at a considerable distance from the ruined city and obscuring the original site.

On a bright, sunny morning we hop a quick southbound train to the Pompeii archaeological site.  Once inside, our first stop is a covered storage area filled with recovered artifacts: pottery, toys and ... eerie casts of volcano victims. When Mount Vesuvius erupted, it emitted poisonous gases into the atmosphere and covered Pompeii with ash and mud. The ash mixed with rain and settled around the volcano’s victims, creating molds that remained intact long after the bodies had decayed. Archaeologists poured liquid plaster into the forms, preserving the exact shapes of the bodies at the moment of death.   About 2000 victims have been found, including several gladiators who had been placed in chains to prevent them from escaping or committing suicide.

Pompeii was an happening place.  It is estimated to have served 20,000 residents, with more than 40 bakeries, 30 brothels, and 130 bars, restaurants and hotels.  Fast food stands where as popular then as they are today.  Pots fit into holes on the counters, some with fire below. 

To give you an idea of how things were decorated, we have included this picture of a full-sized model fast food stall, a display in the Archaeological Museum in Naples, which Chris visits later.

And while we are on lesser topics, how about this.  How did the Romans get their clothing so bright? (No, they did not have Tide).   It was from urine collected from the toilets.  The uriatic acid was used extensively for washing and cleaning.  The clothes were then freshened using bay leaves.

The day after visiting Pompeii, Chris made a day trip into Naples to see the Archeological Museum, where the best artifacts and art from Pompeii ended up.  Here you can see a recreation of a frescoed bedroom and below an intact wall-painting of a newly-wed couple.  You've seen a few of the other museum pictures from that visit above.

From the buildings and objects found in Pompeii and other nearby sites archaeologists and other scientific professions have been able to develop a remarkably realistic and complete picture of life in an Italian provincial city of the 1st century AD.  And it is truely amazing.  The more we see on our trip, the more we are amazed at the complexity and development of this society, some 2000 years ago.

The museum has a lot more to offer, but unfortunately many of the salons where closed this day or too X-rated ( yes, it's true ) for this web page audience.

Well, that rounds out the visit to Pompeii.  After the museum, Chris makes a quick walkabout to get a feel for the city. It's apparently a much safer place than, say, 20 years ago, due to an active city council.  In this picture, the traffic in Naples is in full 'honk' and scooters are the only way to really get around quickly.  But let us not dawdle - it's back to move the boat before we get dung for another outlandish moorage charge.

Later in the day, having moved TIOGA a short distance to anchor outside of the small mountainous island of Capri, we relax to watch the comings and goings. With its great historical interest, resorts, beaches, and mild climate, this picturesque island receives most of its income from tourists.  Mega-yachts abound.   In this location, they are one after another as if in a parking lot, both to our right and left.   But who needs a lot of money to enjoy life??  I'd bet our supper and wine tastes just as good as theirs' and I know our crew is much more friendly and fun to be with! :)

A little further down the coast, we spend a few days in the nice (and free) harbour at Agropoli.  From here we make a day trip to the very impressive temple ruins at Paestum.  According to our book, these three temples are probably the finest examples of early Greek architecture in the whole of Italy and the largest of them is claimed to be the most perfect 'Doric' temple in existence.  These 6th and 5th century BC temples are amazingly intact, though not much is left of the surrounding town.   The location is peaceful and uncrowded and we have a great day. 

Ahh, alas, if only we could have got the picture we wanted of the awe-inspiring volcano of Stromboli, often glowing red and spewing out lava to cascade 3000' down its steep NW slopes into the sea.  The "light house of the ancient world" has guided sailors for milleniums to and from the Strait of Messina.  We timed our exit from Agropoli to pass to the NW of the island before the light of dawn.  As you can see our timing was good, but clouds kept her top under veil.   For one brief moment, Sheila caught a glimpse, but she was so awed (initially confused) and what she saw, that she had not the time to roust the sleeping crew before the veil settled back in place.

After a couple of days in Lipari, one of  the Aeolian Islands of which Stromboli belongs, we had the fair winds forecast that we wanted to tackle the Strait of Messina, the body of water separating mainland Italy from the island of Sicily and connecting the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian Sea.  At the narrowest point, it is only 2 miles wide.  Because the tide occurs at different times to the north and south, there can be significant current, which, combined with different water temperatures and salinity levels, an uneven bottom, and any kind of fresh wind, can create hell on earth for smaller vessels.  The same factors give rise to famous whirlpools; huge, smooth, revolving, oily patches where the denser (saltier) water sinks and the other water boils up from the bottom.

'Thus we sailed up the straits," Odysseus told King Alcinous, "groaning in terror, for on the one hand we had Sicily, while on the other the mysterious Charybdis [the worst whirlpool] sucked down the salt water in her dreadful way.  When she vomited it up, she was stirred to her depths and seethed over like a cauldron on a blazing fire; and the spray she flung on high rained down on the tops of the crags on either sides.  But when she swallowed the salt water down, the whole interior of her vortex was exposed, the rocks re-echoed to her fearful roar, and the dark sands of the sea bottom came into view."

Today, however, was an apparent rarity.  No whirlpools to threaten us and a great sail south.  Though the afternoon wind and seas built up steadily, we were already through the narrows and out of her worst clutches.

Well, this ends Italy for now.  We are in the unfinished harbor of Rochelle Ionica, on the sole of the boot of Italy, once again attempting to time some favourable winds, this time for the 200 mile passage across the Ionian Sea to Greece.  From our vantage point in this picture, you can see the south end of the Strait of Messina and the Island of Sicily in the very distance.  We'll explore Sicily in spring of 2006.