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| Amazed at how well preserved the frescoes are in Pompeii! |
After watching the volcano erupt for one last time, we set sail for an overnight passage to Pompeii, near the Bay of Naples. We would have loved to been able to stop and explore Capri, but the conditions were not right. We pulled into the marina, with Mt. Vesuvius in the background, hooked up to a/c for Sunny (we hate leaving her behind, but dogs are not allowed in Pompeii), and caught a cab to the dig site.
Pompeii was not the only city to be demolished by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD. While Pompeii is the most famous, there are several other exhibits of town also wiped out by the clouds of ash and gas.
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| Math in the sand: calculating how many years have passed since the eruption. |
The site of Pompeii is quite large and one really needs an entire day to devote to exploring it all. An estimated 20,000 people resided here in this prosperous city.
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| Wandering the streets of Pompeii. The water from the baths on the hill would flow down into the city streets, washing away all of the refuse. The large stepping stones allowed residents to cross without getting wet. |
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| View over part of the city, beautiful artwork, artifacts awaiting categorization. |
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| Food found around the site. |
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| One of the games they played. |
The archeologists are still uncovering many parts of the city still buried under centuries of soil. As we walked around, we happened upon a live dig where they had just uncovered a tomb. They took photos and then turned to show us through the fence. They told the kids 'you are the first people to see this newly discovered artifact'!
We spent the entire day exploring and did not get to see everything. We had to leave to pick up a guest in Rome, so after a quick stop for provisions, we left for an overnight passage to Porto Romano, just up the Tiber river.
That passage was awful. No matter which way we turned the boat, we got hit with swell. It was severely confused seas and not much wind, but we motored through and were very thankful when we entered the Tiber river and escaped the swell. We topped up on fuel and settled in to our dock, which happened to be right next to the swimming pool.
The next day, we picked up Michelle, who was very much a part of our family when the kids were little. She was their nanny and we sure did miss her when she went off to college! We loved getting to spend some time with her and show her the sailing life.
We had only a single day to spend in Rome and made the most of it. We got an early start and explored a lot of the area, including the massive colosseum! The guided tour was enlightening and our guide was kind enough to point out some of his own local favorite spots, such as an ice cream shop with over 150 flavors!
With another good night's rest, we set off early the next morning for Corsica. We met up with our friends on Abaco in a calm anchorage, where Jared ended up installing our new folding props. Thanks Abaco, for letting us borrow your dive gear!
With the clock ticking and more friends to meet, we left Corsica and sailed on to Menorca. We are pretty even matched with Abaco and sailed together the entire way, dropping the hook in Mahon bay around 1am.
We woke up to our friends on No Plans Just Options waving hello. The kids were happy to play in the water and run around on the beach. Later on that afternoon, we explored the old fort and nice museum.
The following day we dinghied up the bay into the town of Mahon. This town is beautiful with lush gardens, cobblestone walkways, and shops galore. We were most charmed by the handmade shoes on display in just about every window.
Our next anchorage was around the corner at Cala en Porter, between two steep cliffs in bright blue water. There was a festival de los caballos (festival of horses) in full swing, so after a quick swim, cave explorations, and dinner, we dinghied over to the town. This was quite the experience. Horses with their riders were decked out in full gear and they danced to special music.
The tradition is to surround the horse and rider and then inside that circle, a group of adults and children run at and chase the horse around, patting its rump. The horses seemed used to this, although our kids did not think it was right. I asked one of the audience members to tell us the story behind this ritual. They explained that back in times of war, they wanted to desensitize the horses and so this was how it was done. This contradicts my internet search which mentions Saint Joan and how it was about the brotherhood between humans and horses. Only the children of the farming community were allowed to be inside the circle with the horses. The true version? Maybe it's both, more to research...
We led the kids back to playing on the beach and ate from the food stalls set up along the pathway. There was a special local drink (for adults) which tasted sort of like limoncello. Lots of energy surrounded us as we shouted over the music and chatter from all of those around us. After the kids came to us one by one with tired faces, we finally retired to our boats for some sleep. It didn't last too long though, as the swell had clocked around and was coming into the tiny narrow bay. We heard NPJO haul anchor around 1am and head out for Mallorca. After 30 minutes of being rolled around and not sleeping anyway, we also left the anchorage for Mallorca. Abaco followed suit an hour later.
Around midnight on the following night, we dropped the hook in the large bay of Palma and finally had a good night's sleep. 9am the next morning found us moving to a different spot over by Cala Major, as the spot we were in had sea grass, which you are not allowed to anchor in (let alone have any part of your anchor or chain touching it). We settled into a lovely anchorage with a nice sandy beach near Calla Major. We spent most of the day swimming in the lovely blue water, enjoying more aquatic life than we'd seen in a long time. There were also quite a few of those funky fried-egg jellies floating about.
We enjoyed some time exploring the town, dinner, and sangrias (oh, the sangrias were soooo good), and tried three times to check the boat in with customs. Finally, on the third day, we found the correct official who knew what he was doing. Basically, since our boat is our residence, we don't need to stamp in. If we decided to stay on land, that would be different.
We moved over closer to Puerto de Palma for the big boat kid combination birthday bash. Met some new sailing families and had a blast! The kids slept hard that night after such a long day partying. We had a bit of trouble with our anchor windlass motor (we've had issues with it, ---as you can read about by clicking that link---even after Jared serviced it and installed new brushes), which finally gave up the ghost.
In 20 knot winds, Jared pulled up anchor by hand and we moved back over to Cala Major (the coast guard would not allow us to remain at anchor near the big port).
On the way, our rudder sensor also died. Fortunately, while walking around the town, I was able to purchase a new rudder sensor off the shelf and ordered the new windlass motor for delivery the following day. With both of these installed, we were back in business!
After a 'see you in the Caribbean' send off dinner, Michelle was back on an airplane returning to land life. We also said 'see you later' to Abaco. They were hanging around there for family to visit and we needed to move on. We left Cala Major for the island of Formentera (near Ibiza). It was another motor-sail. We rode out the big wind storm on Mallorca and there just wasn't much wind left to send us west. Definitely looking forward to the better sailing in the Caribbean!
Formentera is gorgeous! Stunning turquoise water and white soft sandy beaches! Our kids dived right in and enjoyed lots of beach time. We stayed the day and ended up leaving around 8pm for Cartagena. We needed to continue on, as we had our new sail and lazy-bag to pick up in Gibraltar.
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| Observing the archeologists at work. We were the first to view the photos of the newly discovered tomb! |
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| Viewing the photos just after they were taken! |
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| The artwork is amazing. I look at these tiny tiles and think about how much work it must have been! |
That passage was awful. No matter which way we turned the boat, we got hit with swell. It was severely confused seas and not much wind, but we motored through and were very thankful when we entered the Tiber river and escaped the swell. We topped up on fuel and settled in to our dock, which happened to be right next to the swimming pool.
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| Michelle getting introduced to boat life. |
The next day, we picked up Michelle, who was very much a part of our family when the kids were little. She was their nanny and we sure did miss her when she went off to college! We loved getting to spend some time with her and show her the sailing life.
We had only a single day to spend in Rome and made the most of it. We got an early start and explored a lot of the area, including the massive colosseum! The guided tour was enlightening and our guide was kind enough to point out some of his own local favorite spots, such as an ice cream shop with over 150 flavors!
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| Boca de Veritas (mouth of truth). Put your hand in and answer someone's question or make a statement. Tell a lie and you might just lose your hand! |
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| Gladiator training area. |
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| Taking in the size of the colosseum. |
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| Another view of the colosseum and Trevi fountain on the right. |
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| There are fountains with fresh water all over the place! |
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| Corsica sea caves |
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| The folding props were pretty easy to install, thanks to using dive gear! |
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| Parts ready to be installed. We kept them in separate bags and when Jared asked for a part, I could easily find it. |
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| Cadence shows Michelle how its done! #boatlife #boatkids #Corsica |
With the clock ticking and more friends to meet, we left Corsica and sailed on to Menorca. We are pretty even matched with Abaco and sailed together the entire way, dropping the hook in Mahon bay around 1am.
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| Roundabout at anchor in Mahon bay. |
We woke up to our friends on No Plans Just Options waving hello. The kids were happy to play in the water and run around on the beach. Later on that afternoon, we explored the old fort and nice museum.
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| Walking into the fort. |
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| Isn't this like a scene from Indiana Jones? |
The following day we dinghied up the bay into the town of Mahon. This town is beautiful with lush gardens, cobblestone walkways, and shops galore. We were most charmed by the handmade shoes on display in just about every window.
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| Seriously, there is one in every color, even glitter and animal prints! |
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| We love it when dolphins come to visit! |
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| Boats in the bay at Calla de Porter. Photo credit: Amber Utting. |
Our next anchorage was around the corner at Cala en Porter, between two steep cliffs in bright blue water. There was a festival de los caballos (festival of horses) in full swing, so after a quick swim, cave explorations, and dinner, we dinghied over to the town. This was quite the experience. Horses with their riders were decked out in full gear and they danced to special music.
The tradition is to surround the horse and rider and then inside that circle, a group of adults and children run at and chase the horse around, patting its rump. The horses seemed used to this, although our kids did not think it was right. I asked one of the audience members to tell us the story behind this ritual. They explained that back in times of war, they wanted to desensitize the horses and so this was how it was done. This contradicts my internet search which mentions Saint Joan and how it was about the brotherhood between humans and horses. Only the children of the farming community were allowed to be inside the circle with the horses. The true version? Maybe it's both, more to research...
We led the kids back to playing on the beach and ate from the food stalls set up along the pathway. There was a special local drink (for adults) which tasted sort of like limoncello. Lots of energy surrounded us as we shouted over the music and chatter from all of those around us. After the kids came to us one by one with tired faces, we finally retired to our boats for some sleep. It didn't last too long though, as the swell had clocked around and was coming into the tiny narrow bay. We heard NPJO haul anchor around 1am and head out for Mallorca. After 30 minutes of being rolled around and not sleeping anyway, we also left the anchorage for Mallorca. Abaco followed suit an hour later.
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| Not one is the same... |
Around midnight on the following night, we dropped the hook in the large bay of Palma and finally had a good night's sleep. 9am the next morning found us moving to a different spot over by Cala Major, as the spot we were in had sea grass, which you are not allowed to anchor in (let alone have any part of your anchor or chain touching it). We settled into a lovely anchorage with a nice sandy beach near Calla Major. We spent most of the day swimming in the lovely blue water, enjoying more aquatic life than we'd seen in a long time. There were also quite a few of those funky fried-egg jellies floating about.
We enjoyed some time exploring the town, dinner, and sangrias (oh, the sangrias were soooo good), and tried three times to check the boat in with customs. Finally, on the third day, we found the correct official who knew what he was doing. Basically, since our boat is our residence, we don't need to stamp in. If we decided to stay on land, that would be different.
We moved over closer to Puerto de Palma for the big boat kid combination birthday bash. Met some new sailing families and had a blast! The kids slept hard that night after such a long day partying. We had a bit of trouble with our anchor windlass motor (we've had issues with it, ---as you can read about by clicking that link---even after Jared serviced it and installed new brushes), which finally gave up the ghost.
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| Palma Cathedral in the background. |
In 20 knot winds, Jared pulled up anchor by hand and we moved back over to Cala Major (the coast guard would not allow us to remain at anchor near the big port).
 |
| Installing the new anchor windlass motor. |
On the way, our rudder sensor also died. Fortunately, while walking around the town, I was able to purchase a new rudder sensor off the shelf and ordered the new windlass motor for delivery the following day. With both of these installed, we were back in business!
After a 'see you in the Caribbean' send off dinner, Michelle was back on an airplane returning to land life. We also said 'see you later' to Abaco. They were hanging around there for family to visit and we needed to move on. We left Cala Major for the island of Formentera (near Ibiza). It was another motor-sail. We rode out the big wind storm on Mallorca and there just wasn't much wind left to send us west. Definitely looking forward to the better sailing in the Caribbean!
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| Formentera anchorage. Look at that water!! |
Formentera is gorgeous! Stunning turquoise water and white soft sandy beaches! Our kids dived right in and enjoyed lots of beach time. We stayed the day and ended up leaving around 8pm for Cartagena. We needed to continue on, as we had our new sail and lazy-bag to pick up in Gibraltar.
Thanks for the great post on your blog, it really gives me an insight on this topic.
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