A picturesque holiday town that is a great favourite with the Italians and fortunately not too crowded as we are still early in the season. We wandered around and climbed up and down stairs and watched the world go by in a sultry Italian day with the temperature reaching in the 40°. It has a very chequered history and was used, in the Roman days, as an exile for undesirables like the Caligula brothers and Agrippina. There is also a very extensive grotto system that was linked to the Summer residence of Augusto by overhanging arches complete with swimming pools and fish ponds.
In the late afternoon we were accosted by a local harbour employee who “persuaded” us to go to quay as there were strong easterly winds expected. We negociated a price of 50.00 euros which is expensive but a great deal less that is being quoted by the other pontoons. We had earlier questioned one of the pontoon boys (where we had left our dinghy to explore the town) who informed us that we could come to the quay for 80.00 euros instead of 130.00 (and this is the off season). The cheapest price quoted was 10.00 euros a linear metre. This was the first night to be spent at quay since we started and we hope that there will not be too many more at these rates.
We used the day that we spent at the quay to get to know our way around town and in the evening we decided to anchor again in order to avoid the noise of the town and the tugging of the quay. Although the wind was still blowing from the East we anchored and then to give us practice and to ensure that all was well we did an anchor watch through the night. Our method of anchoring worked fine and the boat was safe. We used the next day for Svein to install the remote control for the windlass and to fill up with fuel. Here we had a great fright. Although the wind was turning there was still a swell and it was strong enough for one of our mooring ropes to break during the fuelling. Fortunately no harm was done and we were able to complete the procedure and return to the anchorage. In the afternoon we had a call from “Anelo”, who had reached Ponza the previous day but had anchored on the other side of the island, to say that the wind was changing to West and they were coming round. They arrived in the late afternoon and we celebrated with a bottle of champagne and dinner on board. They had had a very tough time getting this far.
On Sunday Svein checked over the engine and we discovered that the alternator was not charging! He went round all the mechanic workshops but not many people were working. It is something that will have to be dealt with on Monday as all his alternatives to bypass the system did not work. Hopefully we will not have to buy a new alternator. We spent a lazy day on the boat taking up the sun and feeling frustrated as the wind has now turned and it is perfect for the next stage of the journey. Hopefully we will be able to solve the problem on Monday and leave on Tuesday.
Svein has been to the workshop and it would appear that the wheel on the alternator was loose. Something he had missed but the mechanic is repairing it and we collected it late this evening and installed it. We have used the day to our advantage to get some heavy washing done and to stock up on perishables before we move on.
We have put out pictures from the first stage of the journey as well this time. We will leave here on Tuesday and make for Capri and the Bay of Naples before heading down to the toe of Italy and Sicily. We have not yet decided if we will go round Sicily or through the Messina Strait. Time and weather conditions will decide.

We lifted anchor early in order to catch the wind that, for once, was in the right direction. We managed to get around the Argentario peninsula and sail for about 2 hours before the wind turned to South again. We followed the coast, where it was a little less strong and engine all day and through the night until we reached our next destination of Ponza in the Pontine islands just North of Naples at 10h00 on 13/05/09. We anchored in the bay and after we had caught up on our sleep wandered into the town to explore.

We spent an extra day in Elba finishing off the chores and kitting out the boat with new ropes and on Tuesday 12/05/09 we set out with Southerlies again. We sailed on a tight tack to the Italian coast and then turned south with the wind on the nose and under engine once again. It was a long uneventful day and we anchored In a little bay on the Italian coast called Cala di Forno just before the Argentario peninsula and Giglio island.

The market is still in town today so we again wandered through it and finally found a Modano ham to have on board. We also found the local supermarket and various other shops that we will need to use before we leave on Monday for the Italian coast as again the winds are not in our favour so we have decided to sail down the coast towards Sicily and see where the wind takes us.

We have decided to continue on our way and so we lifted anchor at 08h00 and started on the course for Elba. It was a very bumpy ride with the wind again on the nose but we made the uneventful journey in 8 hours and were anchored in the bay of Portferrario at 16h00. A lovely place to visit and explore and once ashore we discovered that we had arrived in the middle of a travelling European market with goods and food from all over Europe including Finland, France, Austria, Germany and of course the different regions of Italy. A lovely place stepped in history in which to meander amongst the stalls and see the old houses alongside the harbour. As it was approaching dinner time we climbed the steps to the higher part of the town away from the crowds and had a quiet meal overlooking the bay. A fitful ending to a long day.