***The Taormina anchorage at the top of the bay ucked under the beautiful clifftop town***Mt Etna sitting proud to the south with Naxos in the foreground***The Queen of the Castle, right up the top at Castelmola looking down over our anchorage at Naxos*** One of the swordfish boats just above the entrance to the Straits of Messina***
We arrived mid afternoon in the anchorage of Taormina, set in a stunning location under the ancient town perched high above clinging to the cliff top. We had been forwarned on our morning radio net that it was rolly in there and it hadn't settled down so we motored to the southern end of the bay to the town of Naxos, tucking in behind the breakwater. What a magnigicent setting, the southern end of the bay is dominated by Mt Etna, and in the north Taormina sits high at 200m on a terrace of Monte Tauro. It doesn't come much more scenic than this.
Naxos is a Sicilian resort with a sheltered sandy beach, and has a real seaside holiday feeling. We caught the bus from there, winding our way slowly up to Taormina, an amazing vista of the coastline around each bend. Taormina is beautiful, a medieval walled town, well preserved and converted into a glitzy but charming tourist attraction. There is certainly a feeling of sophistication and style, wandering through the little lanes, window shopping then lunching in an outdoor pizzeria certainly matched the mood of the place.
It was back to Naxos for happy hour. It is a very long time since we have had a cruisers happy hour get together on a beach (maybe Eritrea in 2008!), we had several boats in the anchorage that knew each other so it was party time ashore for a big catchup, lots of fun for all.
Next day we headed up to Taormina again, then got another bus and went even higher up to the ruined castle of Castelmola . The views from here along the coastline, up the Straits of Messina, across to the Italian Mainland and down to Mt Etna were outstanding and its a nice spot to relax on a terrace, soak up the vista, sip on an espresso and eat a panini. We are enjoying Sicily!
Peter on White Rose had been carefully studying the tides for the passage through the Straits of Messina and it was looking good for a dawn departure north, it is hard to get a favourable current when going north so you try to just get a contra one for the least amount of time!! We left in company with them at 5am, it was already dawn so it didn't feel too bad, we motored north in very light winds and made our entrance into the Tyrrhenian Sea at midday. The current wasn't any problem, the biggest issue were the enormous freighters, storming their way through and almost turning us into a submarine in their wake. Never before have we had waves over the coach roof from a ships wake, and we have done our share of shipping lanes. Still, we didn't have any trouble from mythical Scilla, who was said to pluck sailors from passing ships, or suck unwary ships into whirlpools, not to mention the violent squalls around these parts! Phew glad we are through that!
We passed a few swordfishing boats, a lookout stands high above deck in a crows nest, presumably swordfish spotting, and there is a very long bowsprit where we imagine someone stands to maybe spear the fish. We saw plenty of boats but no swordfish. We sailed most of the afternoon, hard on the wind and below our course until the end when we had a lucky wind change after a squall . It was a cold cloudy afternoon, we learnt later that it had snowed on Etna that day so no wonder ! We were heading for the island of Vulcano, in the Aeolian Islands and anchored at 7pm, a long but successful day.
Cruising info for Naxos:
Anchorage:- 37 49.657N 15 16.415E 8.5m sand
Internet:- Dongle working, WIND signal
Money and Provisions:- ATM, Bank and Conad Supermarket on seafront in Naxos
Sightseeing:- The main road runs parallel to the seafront a couple of blocks back, next to the railway line. Morning buses to Taormina 0920 0950 1020 1050 1150. From Taormina to Castelmolo 1145 1245 1415. 5.60Euro return per trip (cheaper to buy return). There are also day trips available to Mt Etna from Naxos.
