The South Calabrian Coast to Straits of Messina

CALABRIA to SICILY

From St Maria di Leuca, on the tip of Italy’s heel, our aim was to reach Sicily as quickly as possible.

Crotone marina with Moody B'Lou in the distance

Our first stop in Calabria was at Crotone after sailing across the Golfo di Taranto (the instep), the town provided a good harbour  and a welcome sunny weekend .   It’s obviously a popular transit stop for boats heading to Greece, we seemed to be the only boat going west.  Crotone was once a thriving ancient Greek town and Pythagoras lived here for 30 years – nothing remains of the ancient splendour and today Crotone appears to be a pleasant working town.

Small harbour at Le Castella

Fortified Castle of Castello Aragonese

The next stop was at Le Castella, we managed to squeeze into  a berth alongside the harbour quay, luckily a friendly old chap helped out with our lines.  This harbour was mainly for small fishing boats and pleasure craft so we were lucky with our mooring.  The town is named after the Castello Aragonese, a fortified castle which lies on a small headland beside the town.  Each day it attracts coachloads of tourists who are catered for by lots of rather down-market souvenir shops.

View from the boat with Pizza restaurant on right

Long stretch of white beach at Rocella Ionica

From Le Castella we sailed to Rocella Ionica which was a very pleasant and relaxed place.   The marina was situated 3 km outside of the town, so our bikes had an airing.  The bicycle path stayed parallel with a long white beach eventually leading us into the centre of R.I.  It was quite busy and obviously the last day of the school year as students honked their horns and cried out in excitement.  There was ample opportunity for provisioning in the quiet little alimentaris, also a good cafe over looking the square.

Old fortifications being restored at R.Ionica

The marina had an excellent restaurant and was famous for its pizzas which were sold by the meter!  We were able to share a half meter of a really delicious thin crispy based pizza, Alan's choice with chilli at one end and my end with Rocket.  I also must mention friendly Francisco who ran the marina, he was so helpful and even drove me to the laundry.

Early morning light off Capo Spartivento

Our last stop off mainland Italy was at Capo Spartivento.  We anchored overnight anticipating a lengthy and challenging voyage up the Straits of Messina to Messina Town.

SICILY

 

Messina Marina looking deceptively calm, Italy in distance

Marina in foreground and Messina town

View from Marina

Our initial introduction was via the Straits of Messina, a narrow turbulent passage of water separating Italy  from Sicily.  Having rounded the toe of Italy’s ‘boot’ we fought our way north crossing over to hug the Sicilian Coastline.  Messina is the main port dealing with a non-stop traffic of ferries, cruise ships, freighters, fishing boats and yachts.   Alan kept in touch with the Radio Controllers – not difficult for an ex airline captain.   We moored the boat at Messina Marina which is north of the main harbour.  The strong currents, winds and wakes from the passing boats made it an uncomfortable berth, we have never  used so many ropes to tie ourselves to a quay.  

Messina itself was pleasant enough with many tree lined boulevards and impressive public buildings including a grand theatre and the Cathedral.  The roads were like race tracks – Sicilian traffic will take a bit of getting used to.    We enjoyed a very good lunch at the Osteria del Duomo where not surprisingly we were in the company of several priests.

North of Messina town, coastline was all developed, mostly with apartment blocks

North of Messina - Sword Fishing boat with tall mast on left

Travelling north of Messina the coastline was densely populated with apartment blocks – it reminded me of a 1960/1970s Hong Kong – the buildings all jammed together albeit in a colourful way.  

Porta Rosa Marina

Church on rocky peak

Beautiful coastline between P. Rosa and Cefalu (N. Coast)

Once we rounded the NE corner of Sicily and cruised west the vista changed giving way to ranges of dark green hills (surprisingly tree covered).  Our first stop on the North Coast was at Porta Rosa, a marina incorporating holiday homes and a hotel.  We managed to avoid the crowds having secured a mooring near the Marina Entrance.  The seas were calm, the sun was warm and there was a dramatic coastline to cruise along.