Lipari is an Island that forms part of a string of volcanic islands of which Stromboli is laying the furthermost East. It is located about 15 miles to the North of Sicily and is a famous hideaway place for the Italian Jet set or those who think that they are part of it. As a result Real Estate is on the pricey side. The island itself does not have an active volcano anymore but just to the south it is the island Volcano and that one was smoking all day long. From the top but also from exhausts in the side. Also Stromboli had a plume on it when we passed by. So enough volcanic action even if your own island is dormant. By the morning it became apparent that I could not make up the lost time from yesterday and the fact that we ran into early morning fog did not help either. It was to be expected that fog would form as it has been wind still for the last two days here in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. With the sea water temperature not that far off from the air temperature and both chilly at times, the temperature difference was just enough to create sea-smoke during dawn. It did not last long; by 9 am it was all gone but in the fog were fishermen and then you have to be really careful as their behavior is not dictated by the rules of the road or common sense, but by where their nets and the fish are. Still I had already extended the time in Lipari by one hour, so even when arriving late, it still means the same amount of time spend in port.
The anchorage in Lipari is deep, very deep, over 250 feet straight down before the anchor touches ground. Here I had to anchor with about 500 feet of chain outside the pipe to have at least some grip on the sea bottom, especially as the anchorage is quite close to the shore. It also means that you cannot go here with strong winds from the East as it would blow the ship directly onto the rocks.
Lipari. The entrance to the little harbor is right at the bottom of the rock on the left hand side.
Luckily the wind was very gentle but if it had been blowing then my alternative plan would have been to go Volcano sightseeing around the islands, easy job of course as there as plenty of them around. But we had nice weather and thus I raced as fast as possible to the anchorage location. The pilot was onboard by 13.00 hrs. and by 13.15 we had the first guests going ashore. I was then still in the process of anchoring but as long as the ship only moves gently, it does not affect the tender service at all. You anchor here on the location as indicated by the pilot boat. This time it was sitting on an under water hump of about 225 feet and after I had brought the portside anchor exactly above the pilot boat, we lowered 630 feet of chain with anchor out of the chain locker. And there we sat happily under the church/monastery that looms over the port. The tender ride was a bare five minutes and the guests were landed right in the centre of the town.
The island Volcano with its Volcano just to the south of Lipari, as seen on departure.
Feedback from all ashore, was very positive, so worthwhile to go back to, as long as we keep in mind that it is really (easterly) wind dependent. The second excitement of the day was going through the Straits of Messina. I had arranged for the transit pilot to come board at 21.00 hrs, making it possible for the guests to see the middle of the passage between the shows. It was dark already but it is still scenic with the whole area lit up and the ferries crossing all the time from one side to the other.
It was not to be. Pilots do not care very much about any scenic cruising plan that a cruise ship captain might have and we were advised that the pilot would not board until 21.45 . That resulted in us not entering the Straits until 10 pm. Still there were a fair amount of guests out and about, although we had stiff competition from an Opera Show (La Traviata in 45 minutes) going on in the show lounge.
Tomorrow morning we will approach the port of Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian spelling), which is located just to the South of Mount Etna. I think the ship has been there before but not as Prinsendam. On the schedule it was mentioned as an anchoring port but the pilot says there might be a chance of docking if our draft is not too deep and an even keel. That means making less potable water than normal and re arranging some ballast to come to 7 meters even keel. Also I want wind still weather in the port, otherwise I am not going to creep into a tight corner and that is what it looks like when looking in the chart.
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