By 0630, after a great night’s sleep, we’d weighed anchor and then enjoyed a slow crawl along the Amafi Coast, passing the little towns and villages of Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Ravello, Amalfi, Praiano, Positano and Nerano, each nestled at the foothills of the towering mountains. While enjoying the stunning scenery too, we could see the coastal road high up on the mountain’s edge comprising a series of bridges and numerous tunnels. Along the shoreline, we could see lots of little coves and beaches, only accessible by boat, which explained the myriad of motorboats that returned to the marinas around Solerno last night; there were literally hundreds of them. We also passed plenty of “gin palaces” along the way.
The wonderful surprise of the day, however, was being able to anchor off the town of Amalfi, in good depths and good holding, to enjoy breakfast ashore, as well as have a snoop around. Given that there was a cruise ship anchored off too, the town was very busy, but not as busy as Taormina, on the island of Sicily.
We were completely flabbergasted, though, to see the number of watercraft of all shapes and sizes, from huge motoryachts to smaller tour boats, anchored off the town when we returned to Paw Paw. Being one of only two yachts when we dropped the hook, it was packed and Paw Paw was bouncing around like crazy in the churned up water. That was our cue to weigh anchor for the second time today and continue on to “Napoli” (Naples), but we were so pleased to have seen Amalfi, including the magnificent “Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea / Duomo di Amalfi”, a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Apostle Saint Andrew, whose relics are kept here and which dominates the “Piazza del Duomo”.
Construction started in the 9th Century and has been added to over the centuries, overlaying Arab-Norman, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements, culminating in the 19th century Norman-Arab-Byzantine facade. The cathedral also includes the adjoining 9th-Century Basilica of the Crucifix.
In many ways we saw more from the water than we would have on land, making for a wonderful boat tour along the Amalfi Coast.
As we rounded the western end of the peninsula, with Capri Island to starboard, we were also delighted to actually sail across the Gulf of Napoli, albeit for only an hour, and we could see Sorrento on the northern shoreline, together with the infamous Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 79 AD, obliterating the surrounding landscape as well as the residents of the Roman metropolis that stood in the volcano's shadow, Pompeii.
By 1530, we were anchored off “Napoli”, in the company of two other yachts and a myriad of superyachts, but our challenge was, once again, finding somewhere secure to leave the dinghy in order to do some land touring.
After Elaine dropped Roy ashore behind the breakwater that runs the length of the bay, he walked from marina to marina and got the same response: “ No, we have no space”; for a dinghy! Really! Pathetic! Thankfully the Yacht Club was willing to accommodate us, given that Elaine had “paid the piper” in firstly getting out of the dinghy and back onto Paw Paw on her own, then back into the dinghy to collect Roy while she hung on for dear life to the painter, still attached to Paw Paw in the swell, bouncing the dinghy and Paw Paw in different ways and knocking her all around in the dinghy. It was bedlam and, if anyone was watching, they truly would have wondered what on earth that nutcase was doing. Anyway, alls’s well that ends well; she never fell in the water or lost the dinghy in the process, but managed to collect Roy.
Both safely back onboard we enjoyed a well deserved sundowner, followed by dinner and bed; it had been a long, but fabulous day!
