Before weighing anchor, we dinghied ashore to finish our provisioning and enjoyed a coffee and baked delight; this time chocolate croissants, at a little caffè called Officina, where we also enjoyed a chat to a delightful couple visiting from Australia. We also saw a few more brides and bridal parties having their photographs taken around the “Castel del’Ova” (Ovo Castle) on the waterfront, but, nonetheless, not a very pretty area for wedding photographs.
By 1100 we’d weighed anchor and were heading west to Ischia Island en route to Sardinia in choppy seas, primarily due to the numerous ferries and speedboats flying passed us in every direction. Fortunately it was a short trip and by 1400 we were anchored in a very busy anchorage, full of local boats visiting for the day. It didn’t help matters, though, that a very rude charterer who entered the anchorage after us tried to cut in front of Paw Paw to take the anchoring spot we’d chosen. He soon backed off when he realised Elaine wasn’t having any of it and increased our speed to block him! Idiots everywhere these days, sadly!
We did, however, have a gorgeous view of “Castello Aragonese d'Ischia”, but we were all toured out and stayed onboard, although Roy ventured into the water to clean our depth sensor, yet again, and commented on how warm the water was. Elaine, on the other hand, having seen and smelt the number of sewerage pipes jutting out from the Italian coast, there was absolutely no way she was jumping into any water around Italy. It did make us wonder, though, whether or not the Italians knew where their sewerage was going, because it never stopped them from swimming. Because of this, we are only running the watermaker when we are well offshore.
By this evening the anchorage had cleared out with a few cruising yachts left for the night. Given the summer weather we decided on a nice big salad for dinner, accompanied by a chicken thigh each cooked in one of Roy’s delicious sauces. It was the perfect way to celebrate midsummer.
It seems the Italians wanted a bigger celebration, though, when fireworks, raining down over Paw Paw, woke us up at midnight. As Roy said: “What’s up with these Italians and their fireworks!”. This was the fourth display in less than a week! Needless to say, this, together with the loud music that went on till all hours, was definitely not conducive to a good night’s sleep.
