The impending weather and high season marina occupancy limited our options so we had just a few nights on Elba with Mary and Katie before we bid them farewell and started drying out. The weather did turn nasty over there with boats on rocks near in 50-60kts with much worse over in Corsica where six people died and dozens of boats were wrecked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19oaCBuEWn0). We were safely ensconced in PUNTA Ala marina instead of braving the elements. Off then to Civavitecchia tomorrow weather permitting which turns out to be fairly uninspiring. From there we motor sailed down to Anzio which was pretty well levelled during the war. The place is as a consequence fairly " new" but still had a great night time vibe and some good restaurants and bars. We looked for a great restaurant I had been to 30 or so years back with Cam Livingstone, sadly without success, but ate well nevertheless.

We sailed another longish day down to surprising and beautiful Gaeta. It is the home of tiella, a pizza pie, one of Italy's best beaches ( Sperada) and plenty of history. Its proximity to Rome made it popular through the ages with consuls, saints, pirates and tourists. It hosts sailing regattas which given the very good marina ( best so far for us) would be excellent for events. It is said the clefts near Monte d'Orlando were caused at the moment of Christ's death and are thus celebrated at one of the hundred or so churches here. Like Oz all the best real estate is run by the church or Navy, thus it is here. Well worth a visit, half way to Naples from Rome for the mediaeval streets to natural beauty of Bay of Gaeta. The cleft in the mountain where there is a chapel, a tomb for St Philip Neri and the Grotto di Turco.

A lot of miles under the belt and feeling more like a Kon Tiki tour at the moment. We have set a cracking pace unfortunately so we can make Dubrovnik when Jella and Brendan arrive. Next year should be much slower!! Despite the fast pace there have been plenty of great sights and a couple of experiences we'd prefer not to repeat too. From Gaeta we headed down to the island of Ischia off Naples. We had great memories of the film festival in the castle and dinner there with the Taorminians 3 years ago. The night turned sour around midnight when a big thunderstorm rolled through with multiple boats dragging anchors in the 45 kts winds and being damaged crashing into each other. Sandy was great calling out these boats in the noise and driving rain as I steered around the chaos. Next day it was off to Procida and anchoring there with far fewer boats and a great dinner at Tonina di Conchiglia.

From there we sailed across the Gulf of Naples via Sorrento and island of Capri before overnighting at Positano in the bay. The depth there and restrictions (racket?) makes anchoring a challenge especially in the conditions when we arrived. We took a mooring ball from an extremely rude and incompetent marinero there, paying a ransom to do so. Ashore at dinner we ran into our first Aussies and enjoyed dinner with them.

From there it was on to Paestum at anchor for that night. There is no port as such, just a creek outlet where from a couple of beach bars small speed boats are cared for. We lobbed off there and left our dink hopefully in the hands of a non English speaking local with a big smile. We headed then by taxi through the fairly run down seaside town to the very well preserved and interesting ( at least for me anyway) Greek and Roman ruins once known as Poseidonia to the Greeks. Started around 550BC the temples were built in honour of Greek goddesses Athena and Hera with Hera getting a second one built as well. The Romans eventually took over around 273BC and built a temple also to Jupiter although Zeus got a run in the other temples too. The ruins are some of the best preserved Greek ruins in Europe and the site well described for the visitor.

On again then to the quiet and nondescript Certraro where we met Julio and Maria a very entertaining Spanish couple, cruising like us. From there it was onto Stromboli island in the Aeolian Group. The passage started with glassy conditions and as it is in the Med a storm brewed up quickly and we saw and ran from our first waterspouts. Stromboli known as the lighthouse of the Med is a very active volcano and speccy place. Another couple of big thunderstorms overnight prevented us going to see the lava by night. After a most pleasant sail the next day around the Aeolians past Salina, Lipari and Vulcano we anchored at the very pretty and swank Panarea where Italians come just to see if they can spot a movie star. Another great and late bbq on Cooinda with Julio and Maria preceded an early start with lava views thwarted by cloud, thunderstorm and late night. On through the potentially challenging and place of legends, Messina Straits to the town of Villa San Giovanni. We had a brilliant meal ( best yet) in a restaurant out of place there called Vecchio Porto.

There have been some long days on passage at up to 12 hours and early starts but it's pretty easy on this boat and with more consistent breeze we could be using the engines less.