Adventures of Thésée: Yay.... Thesee's on the road again

Tuesday 9th June...

Put the flags out.... we're on the move at last. Back to daily blogs for the Adventures of Thesee. So we should have left last Thursday but guess what? It poured down, thunder, the lot. We all decided to delay and as the weekend was looking dodgy we paid up for another four days. Saturday we had a celebratory farewell BBQ on the quayside, and it was a lovely summer's evening.

Monday came....and guess what? It poured down again. We couldn't decide what to do so Dean and I being all ready to leave decided to motor out into the bay to see what the weather and sea outside the bay was like..... OMG it was awful. No sooner had we left when we had a massive squall come through, even a mini tornado. The swell was terrible and we did an about turn and went back to the anchorage in Gaeta for the night.

Today we were up at 6am and Dean dived under the boat to scrape the barnacles from the propellor. He said it was horrible, he could hardly see the blades. At 8am we left along with the other three boats, Impavidus, Eternite, Bora La and all sailed south to Baia in the bay of Naples. We even saw a sun fish along the way... WOW...

Here's a few photos for starters...

Sunny Gaeta on a day we weren't leaving

Rainy Gaeta on the day we were supposed to leave

BBQ night

Back in Gaeta anchorage

after the attempted Monday departure

Scraping barnacles before departure on Tuesday

Our proposed route into the bay of Napoli

Impavidus chasing us down

Thesee heading for the gap between Procida and the mainland

Bora La following

The sun fish

Impavidus about to overtake with both sails up

We were under genoa only

First glimpse of Mount Vesuvius in the background

Bora La rounding the headland

Wednesday 10th June... We stumbled across some ancient ruins in Baia this morning, including the Temple of Diana and some Thermal Baths. After our little walkabout we headed back to the dinghy and the Guardia Costeria spoke to us telling us we must move Thesee and anchor further out. They had already spoken to the other three boats and Ant was on the phone to us to advise too. We knew the depth was far too deep for anchoring where they wanted so we had to leave and go somewhere else. They left us no options for anchoring at all at Baia.

Off we all went to an open anchorage at Posillipo. It was very rolly but the forecast showed it should calm down. It didn't and we've all been rolling around all day. At 7pm we had to get Saffy ashore for a walk and found a small nearby harbour with a tiny beach. All of us were glad to get off the boats for a while and had a quick beer together (except me, i don't drink beer).

Not sure what tomorrow will bring.

Ant, Cid, & Oscar on Wednesday morning in Baia

Parrocchia Santa Maria del Riposo

Tempio di Venere (Temple of Venus)

Tempio di Diana (Temple of Diana)

Roman Goddess of wild animals and the hunt

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complesso_archeologico_di_Baia

Up the hill a bit, looking back at Thesee

Panoramic views now

Back at the quayside

Boats being craned into the water for the summer season

Our new anchorage at Posillipo

...and across the bay to our east we have Mount Vesuvius

Thursday 11th June... Rolling around last night at anchor, hardly any sleep but we did rest and only got up once during the night. None of the other guys got any sleep either. So this morning spent quite a while going through the options with each other on the VHF radio. Eventually three of us decided to stay and Bora La went off to a marina across the bay as they want to go to Vesuvius and Pompei. The marinas are real expensive...way above £100 per night for us. Tomorrow it should be calmer and we at anchor are all hoping to be able to get under the boats to clean props/bow thrusters etc.

This morning Ant & Cid found a small beach nearby and it was ideal for taking the dogs. Only access from the sea, and next to a derelict mansion that seemed would have taken pride of place in days gone by. Quite extraordinary.

This afternoon Dean went over to help David on Eternite. Yesterday David's sail got tangled when he was trying to furl it, so Dean offered to go and help him put things right again.

Good Morning Napoli

The new beach

Perfect for landing

A once very grand home

Beach again

Rocks and trees

Back from tonight's walkies

Couldn't resist getting this photo with Saffy

Another from yesterday at the Temple of Diana

Friday 12th June... A better night's sleep but still not calm enough to do the under hull work, besides there's not much here so we decided to cross to the Sorrento peninsular. You'll see the sea in the photos before we left looked very calm. There must have been some back wash from the shore or under currents because the boats would just not settle for long, before they were rolling again.

Last photos of Posillipo before we left

Very grand houses with spectacular views

It was a super 3 hour sail across the 12.5 miles bay with all three sails up. Vesuvius off to our port side and the Isle of Capri starboard. This was the first time we had put the mainsail up since we left Gaeta. Dean had some modifications done to the sail over the winter, including new cars fitted to run up the mast. It worked great except Dean noticed the bottom car had escaped from the mast slot, so we had to lower the sail about a foot to put it right.

The Isle of Capri....or is it a slipper?

Sorting out the mainsail cars

Three sails Saffy

Getting closer

Our Plan A anchorage was a gem. Just north of the little fisherman's harbour at Marina di Equa, Seiano. A couple of boats already at anchor so we knew we were OK to drop the hook. No sooner had we arrived, Dean was in the water changing the anode on the prop. A great job well done. Later we all went ashore to walk Saffy and Oscar. There was a tiny bar and David bought the beers. Cheers David!

Dean's flippers as he snorkels to change the prop anode

.... and here is the old anode itself.... seen better days

New anode in place...

what a great underwater shot with our Go-Pro camera

Lovely coastline

Spectacular mansions

A good choice for tonight's sleep

Saturday 13th June... Tranquil start to the day in this lovely little place. It's so easy to get ashore and the locals give us a wave as we leave the dinghy on the beach. Dean was back in the water for most of the day. First he had the job of scraping the bow thruster. It's a bit tricky as the blades are in a small 8 inch diameter tunnel near the bow (obviously) of the boat. We've been trying to think of the best tool to use for scraping in such a small space, and we came up with 'the little cheese knife'. It actually is quite suitable. Before Dean started the job he said you couldn't even see through to the other side it was so clogged up with barnacles and grotty things.

So this is the cleaned bow thruster

underwater of course

It was such a lovely morning i couldn't resist taking another photo of Impavidus sitting there so magestically.

Ashore we found a nice little walk way to a grassy area, where Saffy and Oscar had a good sniff about.

Later on Dean was back in the water scrubbing the hull (for ages). Across the way Cindy was also doing the same. By afternoon there were loads of small boats in the anchorage, the wind picked up and it became considerably rolly.

Here's Cindy at work

We were just chilling out later this afternoon when we saw David take off in his dingy, only to find that he was going to retrieve Impavidus' dinghy which had came loose in the swell and drifted off. What a hero.

Good work David

You saved the day

Sunday 14th June... Very sleepless night with the boat rolling a great deal between 1.30am and 4am. We had planned to leave at 7am anyway as we had a big day ahead. On our way out of the anchorage we noticed one of the rocks nearby was marked with a palm tree. Brilliant idea. Today's sail was past Sorrento and around the peninsular to the Amalfi coast. We stopped in an anchorage near Positano for lunch and to get Saffy ashore. The afternoon sail to Amalfi was quite brisk with the windy gusts making lots of white horses, but it was a good sail. Trouble was it was difficult anchoring as it's quite deep near the shore to have to pick our spots carefully. We had to anchor in 16 metres today, so needed to put out 60 metres of chain. It's not a perfect anchorage by far but the wind has calmed a lot now. Fingers crossed we have a peaceful night tonight. Anyway, lots of photos today so here they are...

Palm Island

Here's the start of Sorrento

and more Sorrento

...it's so unique

This is Capri as we make the passage round the Sorrento headland

Now in better water on the south side of the peninsular

Having a lovely morning

Near to Positano for lunch anchorage

It's lovely in this little bay

Dean dingy-ing Saffy to the beach

Passing Positano

Here comes Phil and Cris on Bora La

just putting his poled out genoa away

The coast is amazingly beautiful

Amalfi at a distance as the wind gets up and

we have to go a little further for shelter

Hopefully come back tomorrow for a better look

The view tonight

Monday 15th June... Well we were still here and fine this morning in this dodgy anchorage. We've been co-ordinating with Ant & Cid to go ashore with the doggies as Oscar is looking for a new playmate since their other little dog Lady sadly passed away just before we left Gaeta. So at 7.45am this morning we landed the dinghys on the beach at Minori. It looks a lovely town with lots of restaurants along the beach road. After Saffy and Oscar had had a good look around the place we stopped for coffee and croissants at one of the restaurants.

Coming in to land the dinghy on the beach at Minori

Statues along the seafront

Lizards in the rock fountains

An unexpected breakfast stop

Love my Italiano flagged coffee cup

Once back on board Thesee, we along with Bora La sailed back a mile or so to have another look at Amalfi and drop the anchor for an hour or so before re-joining the others who had gone to Salerno. We had only just dropped the anchor when a guy in a rib came out and enticed us into the marina. He said it was OK to stay in the marina for an hour or two so we could have a look around the town, and all he asked for was a small donation if we wished. Cool. We decided to go for it. Once in there we were having such a great time and thought we would actually like to stay for the night. He knocked off a 3rd of the cost so it was a great deal for this very expensive area. A good business deal by him, and a no-brainer for us. The restaurant prices in the town were surprisingly cheap. We ate out for lunch and then back into the main square on the evening for drinkies.

Here's our Amalfi photos...

Lovely views of Amalfi from the sea

Going ashore, Cris leading the way

The pontoon walkway was adorned with flowers

Into the main square

Cake shop and Tea Room ... apparantly

Another fountain, this time full of little people

Cute shops

The Limoncello shop !!

..... inside the limoncello shop

Fantastic position for this cafe

Shame it was closed

More statues here

Linda's dinner.... Lasagne of course

Yikes, on a fish painted plate

Dean & Phil in the gelateria (ice cream shop)

Thesee in the empty harbour

Tuesday 16th June... Rather stormy skies today with a little rain now and again. Before we left Amalfi Dean and I took another walk and bought a few bits and bobs, mainly fruit and veg. A few more photos here...

Tiled mural

Almost as many bikes as the Isle of Man??

Our back garden

We're almost on our own here

No international tourism has begun yet

After departure about 11am with Bora La we moved 9 miles along the coast to Salerno where Impavidus and Eternite were already anchored. The anchorage was pleasantly scenic to some degree and certainly better than anticipated, but sadly still not sheltered from swell. During the afternoon it started calming down, and we think we'll be OK here. Salerno is quite a major city, with a castle on top of the hill, so it should be pretty to look at tonight with all the lights on.

Works going on here in the anchorage

Hope they don't start too early tomorrow

Wednesday 17th June.... Very warm today here in Salerno. A nice walk along the flowery and green promenade this morning. It's very pretty with lots and lots of colourful trees. Not much happening and a day of rest really, planning our next move for tomorrow. We'll be going south across the Bay of Salerno to a town called Agropoli. Time to say goodbye to the Amalfi coast and get moving now to put some distance behind us. Tomorrow's journey will be about 25 miles. Dean did a couple of jobs, polishing the transom, and replacing the battery in our GPS antenna (as it keeps randomly faulting). The GPS is a small mushroom shaped device sitting on the aft quarter of the boat. You wouldn't even notice it was there.