Italy

[sailaboutvic]

Some have email me asking for info on the west coast of Italy and once we cruise some more I will send you info , but some are now on our tail , if there anywhere you must stop and visit it's Pompei, it's the best ever place we ever visit , it's just amazing.

And the best place to visit from is Salerno , you can anchor right in the town between the main harbour and the marina , sand and very good holding , the train station is 14 min walk through the town , you can leave your dinghy safely by the taxi boats who happy to look after it for you ,
The train cost €2.80 each way .
Cost of entrance is €15 and it's great valve , out of all the places we visit in greece ,Turkey and Croatia this as to be the best .
Salerno it self is a lovely old town mix with new , just itself is well worth a visit , couple of photo just to get the feeling of the place .
Sorry for some reason photo are up side down and I can't turn them .

 

[Mistroma]

Some have email me asking for info on the west coast of Italy and once we cruise some more I will send you info , but some are now on our tail , if there anywhere you must stop and visit it's Pompei, it's the best ever place we ever visit , it's just amazing.

And the best place to visit from is Salerno , you can anchor right in the town between the main harbour and the marina , sand and very good holding , the train station is 14 min walk through the town , you can leave your dinghy safely by the taxi boats who happy to look after it for you ,
The train cost €2.80 each way .
Cost of entrance is €15 and it's great valve , out of all the places we visit in greece ,Turkey and Croatia this as to be the best .
Salerno it self is a lovely old town mix with new , just itself is well worth a visit , couple of photo just to get the feeling of the place .
Sorry for some reason photo are up side down and I can't turn them .

Thanks Vic, we were going to skip Salerno on the way North. In 2017 we arrived there late and 2 French boats ahead of us went into the 2 "marinas" in the corner outside the main harbour. Each one came back out after a couple of tries to squeeze in, so obviously no space. We did have a look but they were full and seemed to be private.

They also tried the main harbour and then headed South. We'd heard that we must call on VHF so did that. Someone eventually replied and told us that yachts must go to the new marina a few miles South. It was late and we gave up on Salerno. The Marina D'Arechi a little to the South was pretty poor. Very slippy new pontoons (I cracked a shin), few facilities, not close to anything and about 100 euro per night. We left after about 12 hours.

Did you go into the main harbour? Perhaps calling on VHF was a mistake but someone mentioned fines for not calling on VHF for permission to enter some harbours. He'd been in Italy for many years and said Sardinia was OK but some places on West coast had been known to cause problems.

Looks as if Salerno is back on our list, info. much appreciated Vic.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Thanks Vic, we were going to skip Salerno on the way North. In 2017 we arrived there late and 2 French boats ahead of us went into the 2 "marinas" in the corner outside the main harbour. Each one came back out after a couple of tries to squeeze in, so obviously no space. We did have a look but they were full and seemed to be private.

They also tried the main harbour and then headed South. We'd heard that we must call on VHF so did that. Someone eventually replied and told us that yachts must go to the new marina a few miles South. It was late and we gave up on Salerno. The Marina D'Arechi a little to the South was pretty poor. Very slippy new pontoons (I cracked a shin), few facilities, not close to anything and about 100 euro per night. We left after about 12 hours.

Did you go into the main harbour? Perhaps calling on VHF was a mistake but someone mentioned fines for not calling on VHF for permission to enter some harbours. He'd been in Italy for many years and said Sardinia was OK but some places on West coast had been known to cause problems.

Looks as if Salerno is back on our list, info. much appreciated Vic.

Hi Mike
We had some strong Southey winds a few days back and as I sure you know this coast is very open to the south ,
So we entered the main harbour and no we didn't call up , a rib did Come out the marina to met us and offer us a berth €50 a night , we declined.
That's probably a fair price for a 13mt boat , we not really interested in paying for marinas .

we ended up first trying to moor to where there was a boat on the land near a crane by the end of the the container port , no sooner we got to the wall a guy came out and told us they was waiting for a boat to come in to be hauled out ,
As we was scouting around ,we then sew a guy on a pontoon which house fishing boats , it happen to be the owner of the pontoon, Christine asked him in her best Italian if we could moor there , the next thing we knew he was throwing us a line .
We stayed there for two nights free he made a point of coming out the next day to check we was ok ,
Once the swell dropped we anchored back out ,
Another boat who did sit out the swell did have a bit of a rough night but the swell wasn't as bad as expected .
We did visit the Coast guarda to ask where the free transit berth was in the harbour , we was informed there wasn't one in Salerno but just down 2miles in the harbour Cetara and even give us the phone number of the CG their so there can direct us to it when we arrive ,
Enclose a chart let where we anchored and where we found the fishermen pontoon

So far we found good anchorage and harbour where we stop free one harbour had a 48 hour free transit berth we was there for five days , on the four day the CG ask as to report to them , all they was interested in was my SSR and believe it or not my skipper license, they then give me a paper that said I could say another 48 hours and if after that I wanted to stay long I had to go back to get another 48 hour slip , no hard ship .
Mike what I would say is if you want a marina berth go into the main harbour , has I said I just about entered the harbour before the Rib was flying out to met me , the guy was very friendly and even when we said no he still smile and said there room if we change our minds .

One last thing , if anyone did get caught out and didn't want to use the marina , the breakwater for the harbour give quite a lot of protection, if you anchor on the out side of the West breakwater wall close to the beach well away from the entrance you be out of the swell ,

 

[BobnLesley]

It's a lot of years since we sailed that coast, but we too would give a major plug for Pompei, also taking the train/bus ride/walk to the top of Vesuvius - now that's one big hole. At the time I calculated - but sadly can't recall - how long it would've taken to dig it out using a fleet of 360* excavators and then transport the arisings to Pompei in dump-trucks; I do remember that it was into the teens of years, working 24/7 and to think that the volcano got it there in a single morning. As I recall we stopped at a harbour just south of Naples called El Greco or similar, out of season (April) it was empty and very reasonable - whatever you'd pay - but I heard the prices skyrocketed in summer when it was full, so not much use now.

As noted, my info's years out of date, but if you're shallow drafted and the price isn't too extortionate nowadays, the old harbour (carved out of the rock by Roman slaves) at Ventotene was a special place to visit, as was the anchorage at Ponza (bedlam on a Sunday mind).

 

[sailaboutvic]

Ponza,Laradica and Ventoete are three islands we plain to explore as we missed them in 2013 , of-cause it all depends on the weather but even so looking at the charts I recon we can find good enough anchorages .
We leave Salerno to day after five days three at anchor two in harbour and while we still got some southerly but light to head down the Amalfa coast , maybe one or two stop on the way .
I know there a transit berth in port D Maiora but not sure if we can get in as the depth in the harbour is around 2.5 and we need 1.9 but if not there a good anchorage just out side . Capo Conca we know there a good anchorage protected N To the SE , quite a rocky bit of coast and nothing there but make a good over night stop , swim .
we looking forward to is Capri if the weather holds off but with a bit of luck by then we have some Northerly,
We joined now with our friends on their boat who's dream as been to visit the island but ever thing he read tells him unless you're loaded it's not possible,
we hope we can prove everything he read wrong and deliver on his dream .

 

[One A.]

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Well done Vic keep up the good work.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Thanks One A I shall in the future send you my photo to turn them around good ,an

 

[sailaboutvic]

We had a nice 14 miles sail to day to Amalfi and anchored just outside the west harbour wall in 7 mts with two local boats which won't be here much longer as it happen one hauling up as I write , looks like a very interesting town .
There another anchoring spot on the East side but as the plenty of ferries going back and fro this is a much better place .
14.16 a very civilize time to stop .

 

[sailaboutvic]

In 130 miles of coast we sailed here are
Harbour so far used free are
San Marco ,Agnone S Nicola , Camarota ,
Anchorages
Palinuri anchor inside harbour wall , Sapri nice horse shoe bay ,Cetraro anchor behind harbour breakwater .
Plus what I already mention .

 

[BobnLesley]

...Capri...ever thing he read tells him unless you're loaded it's not possible, we hope we can prove everything he read wrong...

Your friends right, you've gotta visit once. Again this is very old info, but we anchored just north of the tripper/day boat moorings off the main town to the west of the marina, it was nowhere near as rough/uncomfortable as the Pilot Books suggested, though passing boat traffic did keep you wobbling through the day. When the wind picked-up from NW we moved to a bay on the east end near Point Massullo (spectacular scenery) and also on the south coast to the NW of where the rock arch is; holding was patchy/noisy in both, but no problems and both proved surprisingly well sheltered.

 

[Mistroma]

In 130 miles of coast we sailed here are
Harbour so far used free are
San Marco ,Agnone S Nicola , Camarota ,
Anchorages
Palinuri anchor inside harbour wall , Sapri nice horse shoe bay ,Cetraro anchor behind harbour breakwater .
Plus what I already mention .

Thanks for all the updates Vic. We only stopped in 2 marinas on way down in 2017 and mostly anchored outside harbours. e.g. Cetraro anchor behind harbour breakwater.

Sapri was quite a good stop but we re-anchored each day to switch sides on the bay. Quite lumpy on the wrong side for a bit but calm on the other until the wind switched. Not much ashore but we did stock up in a largish Interrspar supermarket about 1.5km North on coast road. Eurospin at South of bay is closer but no way to walk there apart from busy road with no pavement.

Gaeta was OK, we stopped there for about 10 days to get a small sail repair. Shelter is mostly good and you can hide around the corner if the wind is on shore. Only decent anchoring spot seemed to be close to the marina. A bit rocky (or concrete lumps) further away and less shelter. Watch out when anchoring as some parts seem to be a brittle type of clay. The anchor holds well and then breaks out. We'd get a solid lump in the Bruce when recovering. OK when dug in near marina. We anchored somewhere around 41 13 N 013 34 E but I'd need to check. You can take the dinghy straight in behind the marina and leave on wall to right of moorings. Sometimes a few RIBs and other boats there if I remember.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Thanks for all the updates Vic. We only stopped in 2 marinas on way down in 2017 and mostly anchored outside harbours. e.g. Cetraro anchor behind harbour breakwater.

Sapri was quite a good stop but we re-anchored each day to switch sides on the bay. Quite lumpy on the wrong side for a bit but calm on the other until the wind switched. Not much ashore but we did stock up in a largish Interrspar supermarket about 1.5km North on coast road. Eurospin at South of bay is closer but no way to walk there apart from busy road with no pavement.

Gaeta was OK, we stopped there for about 10 days to get a small sail repair. Shelter is mostly good and you can hide around the corner if the wind is on shore. Only decent anchoring spot seemed to be close to the marina. A bit rocky (or concrete lumps) further away and less shelter. Watch out when anchoring as some parts seem to be a brittle type of clay. The anchor holds well and then breaks out. We'd get a solid lump in the Bruce when recovering. OK when dug in near marina. We anchored somewhere around 41 13 N 013 34 E but I'd need to check. You can take the dinghy straight in behind the marina and leave on wall to right of moorings. Sometimes a few RIBs and other boats there if I remember.

Hi Mike
I keep the update coming I know you and seven others are all heading this way at some point over the next few months .
We anchored out side the breakwater in Amifi it lumpy where the tourist boat where working but a very quiet night , town well worth a visit but dont do shopping here , I guess there be a mark up on everything , although we looked at the prices in restaurants and you could still pick up a pizza and a beer for around €12 , fish a lot more .
Plain was for Capri to day but there a south F4 or5 Sunday so the anchorages may not be so good , so may leave that till after the weekend .

@Bobinlesley I take a look at them anchorages on the north you suggested if need be , thanks

 

[One A.]

Vic, do you use a tablet to post on here? If so there are plenty of simple apps out there to crop cut and rotate pics, if not I'm more than happy to help.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Vic, do you use a tablet to post on here? If so there are plenty of simple apps out there to crop cut and rotate pics, if not I'm more than happy to help.

Thanks , it's fine , I just taken them on my phone I the problem is it all depend which way you have you phone how the photos come out ,
On my iPad they look ok and the right way up , only after I posted them they ended up like that ,
What I should had done is delete them , turn all mine upside down then re posted , to be honest I couldn't be bothered after a few beers .

 

[sailaboutvic]

Here another stop marina de Puolo nice anchorage sand good holding little seaside villages , a few restaurants , best of all NO load music , get yourself tuck in and your protected from any where other the N NW .
Just a note and no offense to any one , someone told me on captain Mate app there a transit berth in capo corbo and marina Piccola , capo corbo I can't comment on , the chart showing depth 3.5 , well at 0.5 under our 1.9 keel and clearly seeing rock ahead I give up and rev out no free berth is worth taken my keel off
Marina Piccola there no transit berth or if there was it's no longer there , as far as the CG knows , only a marina tucked into the Corner off the commercial port .
Maybe CA member might like to correct it and save someone trouble.

 

[vyv_cox]

You may have been misled Vic. Marina Piccola entry in Captains Mate makes no mention of a transit berth. It is very brief, giving location of the fuel berth.

Edit: the Marina Piccola entry is for Cagliari. There are no entries where you are.

Capo Corbo is not mentioned at all. I have it on Navionics and it shows least depth in the approaches 3.5 metres.

 

[sailaboutvic]

You may have been misled Vic. Marina Piccola entry in Captains Mate makes no mention of a transit berth. It is very brief, giving location of the fuel berth.

Edit: the Marina Piccola entry is for Cagliari. There are no entries where you are.

Capo Corbo is not mentioned at all. I have it on Navionics and it shows least depth in the approaches 3.5 metres.

I guess the guy got it wrong , I email him . Cant get the staff these days
Capo Corbo .. yea I also have it has 3.5 , but about 40 mts before the breakwater it dropped showing 0.5 under your keel , we draw 1.9 (2.4) and just a head you can clearly see rocks , didn't fancy it at all , plus we have another boat following us .
Maybe I not as brave (stupit) as I was in my younger days .
Plus this is a much nicer anchorages with just two of us here .

 

[sailaboutvic]

Apologize now If I am boring anyone with my notes but there are a some cruisers who read these posting which may not contribute to the forum , which are heading this way saves me email each one , plus hopefully others may find it useful .

Marina DI Meta good anchoring spot , on sand , well protected other then the N NW , no problem with westerly winds behind the harbour wall , you can get onto the wall but there rocks so you have to stay well out , long lines ashore ,
free mooring on the wall although at some point some one did put out water and power points but none where working , just a normally town nothing special , super market , bakery and so on , we even found a place to buy a new batteries for our friends boat .
It's also a good place for a bus to Sorrento.
Hotel to one side of the beach so I guess it could be busy in the summer months , it's now nearly the end May and it's empty .

 

[vyv_cox]

Vic, your last few posts describing anchorages are all good for winds S of W but not with north in them. What are the normal prevailing winds? When we sailed south along this coast years ago we had persistent northerlies at this time of year. Brilliant for the spinnaker, some of the best runs we have ever had, but finding anchorages was a problem.