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We found out the hard way that the Mediterranean is a tough place for sailing. The Levanter gales from the northeast can blow up almost without warning and, of course, that is what they did to us the very first day out of Gibraltar. Luckily we were close to shore and managed to get into Fuengirola without too much of a problem except two sick Norwegians. By now we have experienced for ourselves what cruisers coming out of the Med. warned us about. Sailing in the Mediterranean is "feast or famine": Either no wind or too much, mostly on the nose and with very short and steep waves. The Med. is fantastic for land trips and history buffs, not for sailing. Only a day after Anne's cousin and wife left us in Ibiza, friends from Norway, Ragnhild and Per Amlie, joined us for a week in Mallorca. Then, five days later, we had barely got the bedding changed when a friend from Canada, Mike Sauze joined us for a ten day visit. So as you can see, we have been inundated with visitors, and this has continued throughout the Mediterranean. This is, of course, both good and bad as most cruisers know. However, in our case, it is mostly good, as it gives us an excellent opportunity to renew and rekindle friendships from the "old country", which we haven't had much chance to cultivate living in Canada. We liked the Balearics very much, probably more so because we were fortunate to be there before the onslaught of the tourist season. The smallest island, Formentera, was particularly enjoyable and remembered for its nudist beaches! Friends, whom we had met in Sevilla, welcomed us to their home, introduced us to locals and took us sightseeing across the little island. They even did our laundry for us, a gesture, which can only truly be appreciated by other cruisers, who know only too well what a pain it is to do sheets and towels in buckets with a limited fresh water supply. Formentera is the island where Jules Verne was inspired to write 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The spoken language in the Balearics is a kind of Spanish, heavily influenced by French.
Calas & Caves, Bohemians & Nudists In Menorca we had many of its beautiful, small "calas" (bays) to ourselves. The water was crystal clear and the bottom sandy, so we could see if the anchor dug in properly. Menorca has a lot of prehistoric caves where people have been living from the Stone Age right up until today. Some of the caves, which are nicely positioned on steep hillsides with beautiful views, are privately owned. A few of them even have doors and windows and are locked up. Most of them are open and fill up with young, bohemian type travelers in the summer. The caves are whitewashed with raised stone floors for sleeping, cooking areas and even nails on the walls for hanging clothes. In one cala we ran into a nudist colony - all parading around stark naked. Costs in the Balearic Islands are generally higher than mainland Spain. The same applies to marinas and to government docks vs. yacht clubs (Club Nauticos). In Isla Formentera we paid CAN$18 per night at the government dock but almost twice as much at San Antonio, Ibiza, where we had to tie up at a Club Nautico. At Porto Petro Yacht Club in Mallorca it was even higher - CAN$40 a night! On some islands there was even a charge for water. We always tasted it before putting it in the tanks. Some places it could be very bad - brackish from the chlorination process.
CORSICA Hurricane Gusts & Dragging Anchor Our sail from Menorca to Corsica was one of "famine" with very, very light winds so it took us almost three days (67 hours) to do the 265-mile crossing. But boy oh boy, the "feast" was just around the corner. The day after we arrived in Calvi, we sailed down to a small, beautiful nature reserve on the west coast. We had hardly got the anchor down when we were hit by a strong westerly. So we scurried back to Calvi where we were stuck for ten days in "Mistrals" from the Gulf of Genoa, severe gales and storms with thunder, lightening and rainsqualls. The UK Maritime Mobile Net forecast lows throughout the western Med with hurricane gusts in the Balearics where we had just come from! Once during this period we dragged anchor. Tying up the dinghy ashore to go for a shower, we suddenly saw NOR SIGLAR on its way out of the bay with two people on the bow! Two Englishmen from another sailboat came to our rescue and let out more chain. We shudder to think what would have happened of we hadn't looked up at that moment, or if the Englishmen hadn't been there. The Corsican west coast looks very much like Howe Sound with its high, snowcapped mountains. We rented a car and toured the island. The famous Corsica Pine Forest Reserve is just like the higher elevation Okanagan/Midway area with pines, larch and alpine fir, spruce and hardwoods. Just like home! Corsica has spectacular scenery and views, winding roads, remote villages, stone houses - but alas, GREAT, BIG, French prices. After the gales subsided, we continued down the west cost of Corsica to Sardinia, visiting places along the way including Ajaccio, Napoleon's birthplace. We even happened to see an enactment of one of the highlights from his illustrious career. It was difficult to determine exactly what it was meant to portray, as there was no narration. We thought it could be a celebration of a victory from a battle somewhere. Anyway, it was very realistic with colourful period uniforms, drummers, parades and Napoleon himself with his hand characteristically tucked inside his waistcoat, looking very authentic indeed. The town had four statues of its native son and the house where he was born is now an interesting museum. Corsica was a lot more expensive than Spain and the Balearics. In Calvi, the low season rate was CAN$50 per day. Shower and electricity costs were extra. That's why we were at anchor nine out of ten days! In Ajaccio the off-season rate was much less, CAN$10 per night, but on June 1st, it went up to CAN$70 per day! A five-minute shower cost $3.50. Hot water was a bonus! We had some work done on our windlass there. The electrician charged CAN$65 an hour plus 18.5% value-added tax and CAN$62 traveling time for only 15 km. We enjoyed Sandinia's northeast coast tremendously. The Maddalena Islands have a multitude of small, isolated anchorages with beautiful clear water and secluded beaches. In one tiny cove, a small Sardinian fishing boat anchored very close by. Suddenly, they lifted anchor, rowed over to us and tied up alongside, asking if we would like to share their fish dinner with them. So, they came onboard with the works: Marinated fish, salads, wine - all prepared lovingly by Mamma Mia and all very delicious. Sardinians are very hardy people but extremely hospitable. One of the fishermen even gave me a woolen toque that his mother had knitted for him. Meeting people like this, spontaneously, and in out-of -the-way places, where tourists have not influenced the local lifestyle is one of the most rewarding aspects of our cruising life. The Oldest Lighthouse in the World From Sardinia we sailed 275 miles non-stop to the Aeolian Islands just north of Sicily. We visited Stromboli, Lipari and Vulcano, the three most famous ones. The islands are peaks of volcanoes. Stromboli is known to be the oldest lighthouse in the world because of its active volcano, which is supposed to have guided Odysseus towards the twin perils of Scylla over 3000 years ago. The volcano is 3036 feet high and releases its pressure bit-by-bit, day-by-day. There is a constant flow of lava on one side right down to the water. At night you can see small explosions every 20 minutes or so. It is spectacular. The islands took their name from Aeolus, the God of Winds. It was he who gave Odysseus the contrary winds tied up in a bag, but near Ithaca his sailors opened it believing there was a treasure inside, and yet again, he was blown away from his homeland. The islands have been inhabited from early times, Pre-Stone Age, Bronze Age, right through the Greek and Roman periods. The museum in Lipari is impressive, located on top of the ancient Acropolis where excavations have disclosed rich finds including flint and stone tools and weapons, painted clay vases from the middle Neolithic period (4000-3500 BC) and an enormous number of items from burial sites. The more recent excavations of vases, terra-cotta figures, masks, brooches and so on from the Greek Classic period (about 700 BC) and the later Roman occupation, are outstanding. While in the Aeolian Islands, we climbed to the edge of the crater on Vulcano Island where we could see sulphur and lava boiling and steaming down in the crater. Some cracks near the edge were gurgling out yellow sulphur, and we could hear the rumbling, boiling and hissing from far, far down. Pretty spooky. Of course, we had to have healing mud baths in the therapeutic hot water seabed springs. Very hot and relaxing indeed - but what a mess! In Sicily, our next stop, we climbed (or rather took the bus, cable car, four-wheel drive and walked) to within one km. of the top of Etna, which last erupted in 1992, spewing out a lava flow seven km. long and two km. wide, destroying a cable car and numerous houses. It was spectacular to see how lava had flowed down the mountainside. In Sicily, we saw Greek and Roman amphitheatres, some located right in the center of Catania. Altogether, we were very impressed with Sicily and hope to visit again on our way out of the Med next year. Before leaving Catania, we stocked up on excellent wine for $1.75/litre directly from a baron's private winery. This was prompted since we had been told that the local wines in Greece and Turkey were cheap, but not always very palatable. Both Sardinia and Sicily were considerably cheaper than Corsica. Typically, in Italy, things were much less organized. Some places, like Syracuse, there was no charge at the government dock. Other places, like in the Aeolian Islands, a small tip to an "un-official" wharfinger sufficed. In Catania, we stayed at the yacht club for CAN$35 a day with the first day free. In Cala Cavelta in Isla Maddalena in Sardinia, we paid CAN$33 a day at the government dock. However, this rate went up to CAN$60 during July and August. This brings us up to date for now. We arrived here in Greece on the island of Paxos in July 14. We will be cruising in the Ionian Sea until the end of August when we go through the Corinthian Canal into the Aegean Sea. Then we'll stay in the Aegean during September and October and continue to Turkey for winter lay-up. We'll be home for Christmas and a couple of months into the New Year. See you then! (*) Published in "Currents" BCA, Vancouver, B. C., March, 1996
Copyright © Anne Brevig & Martin Vennesland. www.norsiglar.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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