Finally with fair winds and seas we have visited the Amalfi Coast!

August 18^th – We were sad to see Steven leave us after 6 weeks on board, suffice to say, Steven probably landed in Gatwick before David found his way back to the boat from Naples, I may add that there is nothing pleasant to write about Naples, lots of traffic, taxis taking longer routes to get more money, just like London and probably any other major city in the world. But a distinct lack of taxis at Salerno, so if anybody wants a career change, we now have taxi drivers wanted in Salerno, as opposed to scaffolders in Rome !

On the 19^th , we departed Marina DÁrechi, the boat now felt like it was missing something, or someone, as we sailed along the coast of Amalfi, towards, you guessed it, Amalfi !

Almalfi

 Moored outside as again no room at the inn, and not a stable in sight, just a normal August in Italy, we ventured in by dinghy to explore.

The Duomo.. you find one in every town!

On the 20^th  we departed for Capri  in the hope that either there was room at the inn, or at least the swell and winds would be kind to us. You guessed, we dropped anchor outside just as the heavens opened…..

We spent 2 nights there, moored outside, and maybe, just maybe, we picked the wrong side of the harbour, as you wouldn’t believe how many ferries and stink pots come in and leave Capri, and trust me, we felt every wash until 8pm when all seemed to be calm, until 8am the next morning and the Zanussi started its rinse cycle all over again. After the first night of rain, the morning brought sunshine and happy faces, so we ventured into Capri to join the hoards of people that had made their way, from Naples, Sorrento etc.  We ventured in by dinghy to the town, managing to avoid hydrofoils, ferries and pleasure craft of all sizes  and then joined a queue, another one, to take the finichular railway up to the top of town which is evidently frequented by film and rock stars, none of which we saw, I am sure they steer clear of August, and did the sites, both retail and culture wise.

Downtown Capri

The Posh Part (Uptown)!

22^nd August – A short hop, well 6 miles, took us over to Sorrento for the 2nd time, Sorrento was obviously a significant place in the 80’s, but I got the impression that it hadn’t really moved on, lots of restaurants still had old pictures, mainly in black and white, of past celebrities that had visited the many eating and watering holes.

Sorrento

Downtown Sorrento!

Then about 12 miles around to the southern amalfi coast to spend the night in the bay of Positano, no marina, but a very attractive and smiling boat boy who charged us 60 euros for a mooring buoy, with no hope of power or water, claiming that you cannot anchor in the bay without being on  a buoy, which just to confirm to those of you who now have raised eyebrows, you are correct, you could anchor in the bay, just not the bit we went to…  You live and learn. !!

The next day, deciding to spoil ourselves, and  rather than worry about the dinghy and getting the outboard on again, we did get a water taxi into the town quay, which at least guaranteed that we could wear normal clothes as opposed to swimming trunks, with no worries about getting wet on this journey in.day in Positano, reputed to be the town of many steps.. cant disagree! I think we lost count at 1,260 and wasn’t about to start again!

Positano

In the evening we left Positano, which I have to say was probably the nicest of the towns on the Amalfi coast, and motored around to Cetera, now on anchor, ready to leave the Amalfi Coast southwards.