The Final instalment of Charter 2

This is Filicudi. Thought a map might be appreciated now and again. The arrow is where the cave is and we anchored just behind the heel of that Southern Boot. The other squiggle on the South side of the map is where we went out for dinner. We left the starters in the hands of the owner/waitress who said she would ask the chef to put a little of everything onto a few plates...um miscommunication and all that later... we got one of each starter. Wow it was worth it: The typical Sicilian raw sardines in lemon and olive oil (my favourite); raw prawns, raw tuna, cooked tuna (what a waste), raw calimari, raw some other fish, and many more uncooked delights.

And here we are back in Mondello to drop the guests off at their taxi after a rushed sail from Cefalu and a well disguised lunch of leftovers. (Cant believe there are any fish left with the sheer number of fishermen about)

Second Charter, Filicudi...Continued...

Inside the cave it is...well, black. But ever the fearless explorers we set off to navigate the darkest edges of the cave by the intermittent light of our....camera flashes...

Not advisable. On more than one occasion, while dangling off the bow, peering into the pitch black I had to call back to the Captain 'reverse reverse reverse' (no brakes on a boat) so that we didnt collide with a larger than normal underwater rock or ultimately...the cave wall (only saw that one when my flash lit it less than 30cm from my face...

This is going into the cave, where the is still light. And if you stare long enough you might be able to spot the jelly fish that was the focus of this photo (and the deciding factor in the guests not swimming)
And here we have the thriving metropolitan of Filicudi. A village constrained in growth by the terrain. The island is still considered to be remote, even though it is only a few hours from the rest. This is apparently because it has retained its rusticness (inventing words, i know i know). Every inch of the island has been tiered for agriculture which is no surprise since once again there are stone huts and paraphernalia left by the islands Bronze Age inhabitants. The majority of coastal tiers do not appear to be in use. But I am not exaggerating when I say Every Inch is tiered...!

Apparently there are ancient pathways tracing throughout the interior of the island, wide enough for 2 donkeys to pass. A division in the guests left 2 'itching to go exploring the interior' but in the end sleeping in and water-skiing won the day.

I hope by now you have noticed the unbelievable colour of the water. My photography is slowly coming along but I think it lets the waters of Filicudi down. It is a stunning deep Sapphire blue, and crystal clear too. We could actually check the anchor's holding from the surface to its 10m deep bed, and all the fish that came visiting too (along with the jellies of course)
Of course you would not get away without there being a picture of food. Ok so the galley is slightly messy at this point but this is lunch under preparation. Skewers/Kebabs/Meat on a stick whatever it is you call it. Yes it is simply pork, pineapple, onion and peppers on a stick. And yes family, I do put the peppers on only to pull them off my own lunch (cook doesnt always get to choose) Strange though, they seem to think that pineapple on a pork kebab is a new idea. Is it South African??? I didnt think so.
Back on mainland (Cefalu again) one of the guests couldnt resist the fruit from the bakery... Completely made from marzipan, they really are lifelike (once again my photography does it no favours)

The beginning of our second Charter. Filicudi

For those of you who have been wondering... This is the yacht that takes us places. All decked out for charter, anchored in Aranella and waiting for the guests.

With the guests onboard the moon put on a show. She was in full splendour for most of the charter. That's one of the tiny, wee ferries that stop in here...
Off we set, leaving the mainland behind, on a windy but flat sea day. 8 hours of sailing with Alicudi beckoning us from hours away, we finally dropped anchor in a Filicudi bay to a deep pink sunset, blood moon and sapphire blue, crytal clear water...enjoyed by the mass of jelly fish.
With decent holding for our anchor the Captain and I actually got to do stuff! We went ashore and 'explored' with the guests, the proof being my feet on this typical pebble beach. Amazingly not a black sand beach like all the other Eolian Islands so far.

And then there was the grotto exploration. We took the dingy into The Cave, almost missing it as the entrance is substantially smaller than the interior. This photo shows the entrance with the cave pebble beach in the background

Some added extras from the First Charter

This photo is best looked at blown up. (um try clicking on it - not sure) It is an attempt at a panoramic view of the Eolian Isalnds: Salina, Lipari and Volcano (left to right). A whole bunch of pictures taken from the boat and pieced together...

First Charter of the season ...... continued....

And the adventure continues:

We left Panarea to sail to the active volcano island of Stromboli.

We left at five pm hoping to arrive in time for dinner with a fireworks display. Despite Eoli (the god of wind who apparently gave Ulysses the naughty winds that were blowing him off course) not playing ball and us having a calm motor all the way (the guests loved it that their G&T's didnt spill) we still arrived early.

So drinks it was, with all eyes turned to the lava flow hoping (half heartedly) for some action from the top. We were treated to some spectacular puffs - both the white clouds of steam and the dark clouds of ash - and the guest sipped their cocktails, oohing and aahing as i prepared dinner below. With me in the galley and food all about...Eoli woke up so we sailed to anchor around the corner.

The following day Eoli favoured us with sailing winds so off we sailed from the fireworks of Stromboli to the sulphur um fragrance of Volcano. Yip, just behind the little village you see in the picture are the sulphurous mudpools of Volcano. Apparently they heal all manner of ailments and people have been bathing in them since Roman times (or longer) Hmmm i seriously do believe that nothing survives those pools...you can see how far away we were anchored and the smell was well um overwhelming at times.
Leaving the aroma behind us (we'll heal another day) we sailed for 6 hours back to the mainland. Eoli didnt seem to know how to bid us farewell so we went from a hazy morning through a bit of rain to sunshine and a slight breeze to arrive back in Cefalu.
Ok ok so i'm STILL getting the hang of this photo thing. Here we have our escort from Panerea to Stromboli. Yip a pod of dolphins. They played around the bow for a good long while.

Our First Charter Begins...

And so after 6 months it is time for the return of guests, sailing and new views. YAY!

Bunny curry for dinner started off with a Sicilian traditional: Capunata, and finished off with Lemon tart. And it begins: this one doesnt eat hot curry, that one only eats hot curry etc etc What have i gotten myself in for???

Next day we took the "Drinks with a view" crew to Cefalu.

You might remember it from a few posts ago (i did put it in right?) This time though, the Captain and i did not get to go ashore as the anchoring was not great and the wind was set to change and, well you know the drill. At this stage, little did we know but both the anchoring and food situations were a set theme...

Here you have the galley while we are underway. If you would like to see the real angle of it all, tilt your screen until the stove top is perfectly horizontal and the water coming out of the tap is perfectly vertical. Yip, water and gimbled stoves never lie...and this was a mild heeling over day...some days the water pours out of the tap and onto the floor...

This is one time when i praise the idea of a small galley: things dont fall as far and the other side of the galley is right there for you to brace yourself on

From Cefalu we headed away from Sicily to the Eolian Islands, our first stop being Salina. No shore photos once again due to being boat bound. But Salina is known for her scrumptious caper crops, malmsey (a drink), prehistoric settlements and her breathtaking views. Unfortunately you have to wander to see all this and with the crew boat bound and the guests more interested in the trattorias...um well, lets say, no photos

Ok ok those who know me well will have expected this... From our anchorage you can see where erosion has exposed the effects of time through the layered strata. Each volcanic eruption and each sedimentary layer is clearly visible. Unfortunately a photo doesnt quite capture it and i had nothing on hand to represent scale. You might need to zoom in
The following day we upped anchor and sailed a wonderful 2 hours to Panerea, with me at the helm most of the way. See Dad, I am learning to sail. Below is where we anchored in Panerea. Once again it is the views that are the attraction and the Bronze Age village (ruins) but alas they would be up upon a 'hill' thus out of reach for our lot. They did discover the shopping though and unfortunately having been pre-informed of their existence The Madame was not impressed by the findings. Ah well, I suppose you cant find Dolci and Gabbana in EVERY corner of Italy