We were fortunate enough that the Emilio, the harbour master remembered Leo and we got a very good mooring right in the towns very small marina.  Jan and Peter were anxious to see Positano so they caught the bus to spend the day there.  Ida and Leo couldnt resist the pull of Positano again but Stan and I really love Amalfi we just wandered around enjoying the ambience of this very beautiful of Italian towns.  We sat on the steps of the Cathederal and watched a wedding. The bride looked magnificent, descending down the steep steps in a long dress of cream pure silk with her long train cascading behind her.  All the guests were gathered around and all the tourists began to clap and they threw confetti while the cameras snapped away.

A nice breeze was beckoning us so we bid farewell to beautiful Amalfi with a parting gift of a bottle of local wine from Emilio.  We set up our watches for an overnight sail along one of Italy's most picturesque coast lines.

The water was like glass when Leo and I came up for our midnight to 3 am shift with visibility very clear.  The new radar with the repeater on deck is fabulous for night sailing as these waters have a lot of commercial shipping. 

We were having breakfast the next morning on deck and we were boarded by a most unexpected visitor we named Peter Finch.  He must have flown a long way as we were about 35 miles from the coast.  He clung onto the main sheet for about an hour and then just flew away again. Where to we could not imagine.

Another interesting sight was a big whale about 400 to 500 meters away from the boat, travelling north.  We went over to get closer and decided it was over 45 foot long ie about as big as the yacht. The whale really turned it on for us sweeping its tail right up behind it as it dived forward.  It was the closest I have ever been to a whale that big putting on such a show.

The wind was building up as we approached Tropea racing along at 8 and sometimes 9 knots.  It was a very welcome site to see the high rocks of Tropea and the old Cathederal standing out alone on its own rock with the big cross guiding sailors into port.  The marina wasn't crowded like it was when we were there last year for Simon's birthday in July.  All the crew were pretty tired and only Jan was up to climbing the 189 steps up to the town. Everyone else went to bed after dinner.

13th June, 2005

It was washing day for the Affinity crew as this marina has all the facilities and as the weather had turned bad on us the dryer came in handy.  Late afternoon the rain cleared up and we all went up to watch the sunset over the perfectly flat Mediteranean Sea sipping local wine and dining on the local cuisine (this really was in the Brochure)!!!!

The internet point is closing for lunchtime (3 hours) hope to be back to finish our travel tales later.  Thanks again for the Guestbook emails and welcome to Max,  the new dog in the Killigrew clan.

We did a big stock up of food and other necessities, mainly the delicious local wine. Ida, Stan and I trudged back in the heat with 3 trolley loads followed by a very cool swim at the local beach.

15th June, 2005

We were first to the fuel jetty at 8.30am for our big trip to Brindisi through the Straits of Messina which was nowhere near as bumpy as our last trip through there last year.  The night sail up the coast was uneventful but a Securite! Securite! call on the radio early in the morning alerted us to a Gale warning for the Bari area within our range so Stan changed our destination course to guide us into the safe harbour of LeCastelle.

We got the last available berth for a boat our size in the small safe harbour ready for the big blow.  About noon the rain, thunder and strong winds started so we all tucked in to wait for it to pass.  Everyone is reading interesting books so the wet afternoon snuggled up in the bunk every now and then is very welcome.

Stan and I ventured into town for lunch avoiding the rain and the other 4 had dinner overlooking the castle.  This is a sleepy little town but very pleasant.

17th June 2005

"And so we said farewell" to the safe little port of Le Castella nestled in the corner of the Gulf di Sqillance protected by the Castle on the headland.  We took the next safe port, Crotone,as the wind was still on the nose and the seas quite uncomfortable for cruising. 

These unscheduled stops along the way have been a blessing in disguise as it has enabled us to see parts of the east coast of Italy quite off the tourist tracks.

We wandered up through the old town which is dominated by a castle and then down for dinner on the water front which was alive with locals promenading along the sea front on the hot summer night. The atmosphere was just like Fremantle on the Capuccino strip any Friday night. The route back to the boat after dinner took us through the fish markets still open for trade.  The prices seemed pretty expensive compared to ours E26 kg for prawns which is about double our prices.