A friend of mine chartered a sailboat in order to sail around some of the small islands off Italy’s southern coast for 7 days. I was invited and accepted the invitation in about 4 seconds. It was truly an experience I will repeat someday. From the tiny ports where we found a slip for the night, to the very amazing people and food at every stop, this was a very unique experience. It is important to note although this is the summer season, these little islands we are visiting do not have many tourists, and any tourists here are almost exclusively from mainland Italy. For seven days I did not hear any language being spoken other than Italian. Typically we would sail 3-4 hours a day while stopping for a plunge off the boat from time to time, or lunch. Beside the captain and the first mate, the sailboat had a fantastic chef from Palermo, Sicily as well as our onboard personal culinary expert. As you might deduce, the culinary experience here was as much a focus as was the beautiful scenery and water.
Map of the area. If you look you can see the Isola di Ischia, Ventotene, and Ponza to the left of the red dot. These are our destinations.Our sailboat pictured above was about the same size as the SS Minnow from Gilligan’s Island. Here is my cabin in the stern of the boat. Not the Ritz, but perfectly comfortable, even without any room service.Captain Antonio and his First Mate Carla. These two were awesome to sail with. So much so that they quickly became like family, or better yet good friends, as sometimes as some of us know family may not be as good to travel with.The harbor departing Procida. I spent the prior six days on this beautiful island. Once the sailboat was fully provisioned with everything we needed (and some things we did not need) we set sail.As we embark on our seven day odyssey this is an image of Procida from the water.The old walled city in Procida.Burning fossil fuels in a little mid-morning frolic. If you disregard the environmental impact and carbon footprint created by this sort of activity, it appears to be great fun. Since our vessel was almost entirely propelled by the wind I had almost no pangs of guilt for the minimal damage being inflicted on the environment as a result of our voyage.Checkout some of these blowout homes on Ischia. Judging by some of the local water-craft and these palace-like homes there is most definitely some serious cash on this island. This large craft dwarfs all the yachts around it. Much larger than Al Czervik’s (Rodney Dangerfield) in Caddyshack.Little towns and villages dot the Ischia coastline.My buddy Kenny taking the wheel from the captain for a brief stint. Kenny is rarely this serious about anything. But as you can see here, he is completely focused.Coming into Forio, Ischia for the evening. Leisurely stroll on just another evening on the streets of Fornio. That is not a growth on the face of the woman on the left, she has a bite of her sandwich in her month. Reminds me of an old joke with gestures that I shouldn’t describe here.Local procession honoring Patron Saint Vito with the Chiesa del Soccorso in the background. Not only is the Patron Saint Vito the patron saint of actors, comedians, dancers, epileptics, and said to protect against lightening strikes, animal attacks, and oversleeping, he is the protector of this town of Fornio. He has quite a lot of responsibility when you think about it for a moment. It was hard for me to look these guys in the eye knowing we were going to eat them for dinner.The members of local law enforcement are always willing to pose for a picture even if you don’t offer them cash. Pictured here with officer Giuseppe is our boat’s always smiling culinary expert Peggy Peggy.Another coastline perspective of Forio at sunset.
