25 Aug - 26 Aug 2002 Pollara

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Salina Island

Pollara Crater

SY "Kamu II" at anchor.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 34.72' E 014° 48.19'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Anchoring in the most spectacular anchorage of this sailing season, so far, almost right in the middle of the semi-submerged volcanic crater of Pollara (the last eruption occurred about 13,000 years ago and formed the semi-circular crater; its activity was mainly explosive and produced large pumice deposits) with a dramatic lava cliff backdrop and the view out to the sea just as dramatic, with a craggy faraglione (rock tower) poking up out of the dark sea, and swimming peacefully in a place that was once spewing forth with fire and brimstone.

Hiking along goat paths through orchards, olive groves, vineyards and lonely hamlets in this NW corner of Salina Island and provisioning with local specialties from the villagers in undisclosed quantities: (i) the extra-large salted Salina capers and (ii) the sweet Malvasia island wine.

23 Aug - 25 Aug 2002 Porticello

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Lipari Island

Porticello

SY "Kamu II" at anchor, opposite the old pumice plant.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 30.58' E 014° 57.96'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Anchoring opposite the rhyolite quarry at Cave di Pomice and floating eerily in the crystal-clear and glassy water (like a balloon in the air) over the cocaine-white sea bottom, consisting of pale pumice, off Spiaggia Bianca in the NE of Lipari Island.

22 Aug - 23 Aug 2002 Lipari

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Lipari Island

Marina Lunga

SY "Kamu II" with her stern to the jetty and with bow anchor.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our harbour berth:

N 38° 28.28' E 014° 57.32'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Matt: Getting involved in a brawl with one of those self-appointed, useless and yottie-hassling ormeggiatori in the harbour of Lipari, resulting eventually in a secure berth for SY “Kamu II” (free of charge instead of the € 20.- which he had been demanding after our arrival without offering any service) and learning from other yotties that berthing in Italy’s public town harbours is always free of charge by law.

Learning about the strategic importance of Lipari's harbour in Neolithic times when Lipari was one of the few centres of commerce for obsidian, a hard black volcanic glass prized by Neolithic peoples for the sharp cutting edge that it could produce.

Konni: Visiting the archaeological museum in Lipari, boasting one of the most complete collections of Greek theatrical terracotta masks in the world (exquisite tiny objects which were made by craftsmen according to the instructions of playwrights such as Sophocles and Euripides and were carried by theatre troupes throughout ancient Greece and used as the template for the life-sized masks worn by actors in performances).

15 Aug - 22 Aug 2002 Vulcano

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Vulcano Island

Porto di Levante

SY "Kamu II" anchoring off.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 25.10' E 014° 57.69'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Matt: Rambling through the northern part of the island (with the 123-m high Vulcanello) which is connected to the rest of Vulcano Island by an isthmus which is flooded in bad weather and which emerged from the sea during an eruption in 183 BCE as a separate islet.

Matt: Climbing first up to the 391-m high rim and then down into the crater of the volcano Gran Cratere which was active in 1890 CE (the Romans believed that Gran Cratere on Vulcano Island was the chimney to god Vulcanus' workshop), hence smelling the sulphurous gases at the fumaroles field on the W side of the bottom of the crater and spotting droplets of molten sulphur, and one day later paying € 50.- for the pleasure and the privilege of being the pillion rider (right in front of a big and noisy three-blade wood propeller) behind a dare-devil pilot from Palermo in a test flight (cruising speed: 80 km/h, altitude: over 500 m) over Gran Cratere in a never-before seen cross between a tandem micro light and a rubber duck - a Polaris Flying Inflatable Boat (FIB) +390759227001.

Relaxing and rolling around repeatedly in the Laghetto di Fanghi, the famed stinking mud pit of thick, hot, smelly, sulphurous gloop (reputed to have therapeutic powers).

10 Aug - 15 Aug 2002 Panarea

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Panarea Island

Panarea Town

SY "Kamu II" anchoring off.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 38.24' E 015° 04.74'

Mediterranean Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
Italian Republic
Aeolian Archipelago
Panarea Island
Cala Zimmari
SY "Kamu II" anchoring off.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 37.63' E 015° 03.93'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Exploring the picturesque holiday villas (mainly owned by Italians from the north), the manicured gardens, the stylish boutiques and fancy restaurants in the bustling tourist villages of Ditella, San Pietro and Drauto on Panarea Island, the “jet set” island of the Aeolian Archipelago.

Anchoring amongst many lively Italian yachts and swimming and snorkelling in the warm, azure water off Lisca Bianca island and observing the only recently increased activity of submarine fumaroles (where tiny openings in the Earth's crust, in volcanic regions, emit steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide) - as if the sea was boiling rotten eggs.

Counting over 50 sailing yachts at anchor in the crowded bay of Cala Zimmari (with mostly heavily partying Italian holiday sailors during the peak season in August), finding comfort in our stocks of full-bodied Italian Nero d’Avola and hitting the sack at sun rise with vivid hallucinations of being the only ship in a secluded anchorage with palm-fringed beaches somewhere else in this world where we could live our cruising dreams to the fullest.

04 Aug - 10 Aug 2002 Stromboli

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Aeolian Archipelago

Stromboli Island

San Vincenzo

SY "Kamu II" anchoring off.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our anchorage:

N 38° 47.91' E 015° 14.51'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Logging the sailed distance ("between Scylla and Charybdis") of about 40 nm from Marina di Scilla to Stromboli Island in about ten hours over a mirror-like sea that despite its calm appearance revealed several "plumes" of gas bubbles which reached the sea surface from the bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea and indicated that we were approaching the volcanic Strombolian Archipelago.

Witnessing at dusk the spectacular, virtually continuous volcanic eruptions of Stromboli's 925-m high rumbling crater (named by volcanologists as “Strombolian activities” thus describing any mildly explosive, regular volcanic eruptions without lava flow) from opposite the Sciara del Fuoco (N 38° 48.62' E 015° 12.42'), a big horseshoe-shaped depression generated in the last 13,000 years by several collapses.

Anchoring off on the E side of the northernmost of the eight Aeolian Islands (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and watching other yachts' anchors being dragged during the small hours of a stormy night and making way for some irate Italian yotties who could not handle their yachts properly; and, a few hours later, fighting some big tsunami-like swell (the aftermath of the gale) which threateningly washed over the island, flooded the beaches and suddenly reduced the depth below our keel by 2 m for a few seconds.

Climbing Stromboli with two guides at night, arriving at the crater at midnight and looking straight into hell (waiting in vain for the appearance of Axel and Otto Lidenbrock), smelling the devil's bad breath, and being impressed by the fireworks displays of few second-lasting bursts emitting ash, incandescent lava fragments and stone blocks up to a few hundred meters high, caused every 15 - 20 minutes by regular eruptions.

Circumnavigating the 56-m high, rocky and tiny island of Strombolicchio, slightly more than 1 nm NE off Stromboli Island, and remembering when Matt had navigated around the Aeolian Archipelago during the 22nd Middle Sea Race in 2001 and had identified the white-flashing light on Strombolicchio on his port at night as a given turning waypoint.

30 Jul - 03 Aug 2002 Scilla

Mediterranean Sea

Tyrrhenian Sea

Italian Republic

Marina di Scilla (opposite Charybdis)

Fishing Harbour

SY "Kamu II" alongside.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our harbour berth:

N 38° 15.41' E 015° 42.98'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2002 Map

Watching the local sword fishermen on their peculiar boats which have 15-m lattice steel masts with a lookout/skipper atop (who operates the steering and the engine controls from aloft) and a harpooner on the front end of a bowsprit, much longer than the actual boat, and buying fresh sword fish for a very pricey € 28.- per kg and nevertheless enjoying its distinctive flavour.

Applauding the amateur performances at the traditional sword fishermen festival (“Sagra del Pescespada”) on an impromptu stage right next to our ship, below the Ruffo Castle, in this very beautiful fishing harbour at Marina di Scilla, the traditional site of the six-headed sea monster Scylla.