Telltales 73: More Italy.....and more trouble
Lipari saw the departure of Adrian and Glenn heading back home, but not after Glenn managed to get wet (involuntary swim!) by missing the dinghy when he tried to get into it. Sorry, Glenn, was not supposed to report this. Maynard and Roland enjoyed another day in Lipari and arranged for a diver to free our anchor, as we managed to get it stuck at 25 meters depth. Not within snorkling range.
We sailed on to the next Aeolian Island, Salina, where we put Sylphe in the one and only safe harbor of this island group. And that was a good decision, as the weather turned against us and we had some days with fierce winds, rain and more water than we wanted. Three mooring lines were just enough to keep us away from the concrete quay. Salina is a green lush island with the widest variety of green colors I have ever seen outside Rwanda. We toured the island in a rather uncommon vehicle and enjoyed some great italian food, mainly fish in "Porto Bello".
We had to make our way further up north, and onward to Naples and the islands of Capri, Ischia, Ventotene etc, to be there on time for Barbie and Cindy to join us. So, off we went and sailed out of the Aeolian Islands on a Monday morning. No traffic jams for us. The 180 mile trip would take us some 24 hours. We had a great sail throughout the day and switched on the engine in the late afternoon when the breeze died down. At two in the morning the engine simply stopped working. And no matter what Roland tried, it refused to start again. Clean filters, purging the air out of the system, no filters....it all did not make any difference for the engine and she remained silent. A five knot breeze allowed us to sail on slowly and we settled in our predicament of not having an engine. Capri was still 60 miles out and we were on wide open sea, so no immediate problems or dangers. At dawn the wind picked up and we were doing a good 6 knots AND in the right direction. By 10 in the morning the bay of Naples came in view and on a reach. But the wind had picked up to a solid 25 knots and was pushing us onto a lee-shore without engine. Not a pretty thought, but we had no choice. We sailed into Naples with a solid 10 knots of boat speed with a reefed main and only the staysail............... The large commercial harbor of Naples is busy and with only limited yacht harbor space around. The logical marina was the most unattractive from the point of view of limited maneuverability, so we opted for another one, just behind the breakwater of the commercial harbor. Arriving on a lee-shore, turning the boat upwind, dropping the sails and the anchor was executed flawlessly and done right before the serious rain began and we sought shelter below decks. Two hours later the sky had turned black, thunder was all around and hail ended up on our decks.......THIS IS JUNE.....IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE SUMMER.
The engine gave us a little bit more trouble than foreseen and it took 4 mechanics and three days of work, before everything was fixed again. All trouble was due to bad fuel, taken somewhere in the last two years, that ruined the fuel injection pump and the injectors, despite 4 filters and two waterseperators.
Since we were stuck in Naples, Maynard enjoyed a visit with friends, who lived 1 hour away, and he spent a glorious day in a luxury castle setting.
And of course we enjoyed Naples and its old town. There is nothing in the world to compare the narrow Napoli streets with, that seem to go on for ever. And the balconies, with their laundry hanging out, the occasional old lady sitting on it, surrounded by the constant cacophony of claxons from the Napoli drivers makes it a scene that stays with one. One hates it, or one likes it.........., we liked it allright. And since it was repair week, Brooks and Gatehouse came once again onboard to fix the instruments, and they surely did this time. It took the mechanic 9 hours, but than finally EVERYTHING worked, for the first time in 5 years. Thanks guys.
On Sunday morning we sailed out of the shipyard and brought Sylphe back to the more civilized area of Napoli, in order to welcome Barbie and Cindy onboard. We tried all three marinas but were not given a berth anywhere. Full....... I dare not think of how crowded and impossibly full this area is going to be in July and August. We anchored off the main castle in the center of town. Lit up the diesel heater, as it was still rainy and cold !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I remind you all that this is JUNE..................
Maynard drove to the airport to pick up the new arrivals in the evening and we happily were reunited in the "infamous" Cafe del Mar cafe. And with a full moon over the bay of Naples, we could not stop singing Dean martins song: "When the moon hits the sky, like a big pizza pie..........", once back onboard.
The swell, that rocked the boat gently was bearable at night, but at 5 in the morning a loud sirene woke up Roland AND the rest of the crew. A navy boat was 5 meters next to us, telling there was going to be a militairy exercise and that we were not allowed to move and had to stay in our position. Half an hour later we seriously regretted this, as some 15 navy boats, 10 helicopters and more toys-for-the-boys-boats were blasting by at full speed, and only 50 meters distance. The wake of the waves, and the noise of the helicopters made it impossible to sleep, so we all sat in the cockpit and watched this absolutely ridiculous show at 6 in the morning. Thanks to the Italian Navy this was a "good" start of our ten days sailing here.
NOTE: the helicopter just above the patrol boat.....and there were 10 of them.
We sailed out of the bay of Naples on to better destinations....................
Roland