Aeolian Islands Italy Charter

[chall03]

Hi, we are off to Europe in September this year and have booked a charter with Sunsail in Italy ex Tropea to sail around the Aeolian Islands.

Would be very interested to hear info or advice people might have on sailing in this specific area of the Med. It will also be our first time sailing in the Med and we are looking forward to it but also know it will be alot different to the kind of sailing we currently do in Oz.

[onotoa]

hi,
we had a great time there in 2008 - give me some details about boat and how long you will stay so i can make some recommendations.

thks helmut

[chall03]

Cheers Helmut, we are looking to be there for 1 1/2 weeks. We are chartering a 36ft Beneteau out of Tropea. Would love any recommendations you may have.

[onotoa]

hi,
check some pics on our blog at onotoa dot blogspot dot com......
we had been on all the isles and we also had been to tropea.

tropea: is a very nice city, there is a small supermaket in the marina and within walking distance you will find some more shops

stromboli: use the anchorage (only at good weather) on the NE side at 38.48.07N - 015.14.37E, sand/4-5m
its a MUST to climb the mountain in the night, use one of the local tour guides, they charge about 20 euros p.p. - take some warm cloth (windbreaker) with you. summit is at 920m and eruptions are every 10-15 minutes, i never saw that before. you start at about 1800 and return at midnite.

panarea: the are some rocks about 1 mile E where we anchored, nice small island

lipari: we anchored in the north near porticello but hadnt been on the island

filicudi:depending on the wind you can anchor at 38.33.34N - 014.35.07E sand/5-7m or at 38.33.19N - 014.34.56E sand/5m
very nice small town

alicudi: we came from the west so in the aeolian archipelago was our first island but there is no secure anchorage even in light winds but the island is very beautiful

vulcano: there are two anchorages - one in porto di ponente and the other one in porto di levante. it depends on the wind but n general porto di ponente is much better...in porto di levante you have all the swell from the ferries and also the smell from the mudbath.....
we climbed the vulcano at sunrise, start at 0530 and enjoy the FANTASTIC view! its a bit more than one hour to the top

we had not been to salina island

in the main season you will NOT get any water on the islands, supermarkets are everywhere, good restaurants and its not that expensive.

let me know if you need any other information, or email me on my private email address, see the details on the blog!

have a great day,
helmut (we just have a snowstorm here in vienna....)

[chall03]

Thankyou very much for that info, I do really appreciate it. I will definitely be checking out your blog, and then indeed might have some more questions!! Stay warm

[chall03]

Is there a preferred cruising guide/Pilot for the area that I should get my hands on?

[onotoa]

hi,
we used the italian waters pilots by rod heikell but that covers italy completely so there are just a few pages about the aeolian islands....seach in the www and print out some pages for each island, that should be the best.
helmut