The Sailingtheweb guide for the V O Y A G E R 2015

Transcription

1 The Sailingtheweb guide for the V O Y A G E R 2015

2 The SailingTheWeb Guide for the Voyager Welcome to the SailingTheWeb guide for the Oceans. Our interactive project aims to provide the curious travellers with the basic facts necessary to explore the blue planet. The Sea s most powerful spell is romance, that romance which, in the course of time, has gathered round the ships and the men who sailed upon it the strange coasts andtheir discoveries, the storms and the hardships, the fighting and the trading, and all the strange things that happened and still do happen to those who venture upon it. No matter if you just leave the harbour for a day or you cross an ocean, at sea we are different, wiser and generally better men. Our 2015 collection - Southern Lights: Amalfi, Capri and Ponza - Art and sailing; - Venetian lights: Sailing Croatia - STW Yacht Squadron: the Lagoon Adventure: Pacific Ocean Cruise - the Aeolian Islands: Stromboli, the Island of God - STW yacht squadron - Oyster Over the Tuscan Sea - Burma: Nature on Steroids - Pelican, Alaska We can literally sail you in every corner of the Planet, just contact us at: charter@sailingtheweb.com Alaska Tuscany Amalfi Sicily Croatia Japan Hawaii Burma Marshal Is

3 SOUTHERN LIGHTS AMALFI, CAPRI, NAPLES AND PONZA Discover amazing Italy as you tour the ancient villas of Pompei, the romance and fashionable splendor of Capri and Amalfi, the ancient wonder of the Veiled Christ and the busy streets of Procida. Accompanied by our skippers and staying in delightful sailboats and some iconic hotels this itinerary delves into Italy s grand past while exploring the intricacies of its modern life. Our journey combines a cruise along the coast, which is the only way to fully experience the immense variety of the area that include the famous Amalfi Coast but also the Islands of Capri, Ischia, Procida and Ponza, and a relaxing period in a spectacular inn in Puglia. Never forget that our private cruises mean: a personal skipper and chef, tailored wine list, complete control of your itinerary, private en suite cabins with no other guests aboard. Highlights Southern Lights super 6: the beaches in Ponza, the art in Naples, the colors of the Amalfi Coast, the spectacular food, the luxury of Puglia s magical masserie and the charm of Procida Best on the water: Chiaia di Luna in Ponza, Scoglio Suvace in Palmarola, Corricella s bay in Procida Best ashore: dine at Don Alfonso s or at Caracale in Procida, see Veiled Christ in Naples, the Roman harbor of Ventotene and the ruins of Pompei, sleep at Il Melograno Relais in Puglia. Rates for a 12 nights journey: prices vary widely depending on the vessel of the cruise. A week on our entry vessel with skipper and cook, 4 days in Puglia at Il Melograno Relais et Chateaux, and 1 night in Naples at Palazzo Alabardieri, plus food and transfers, are about 3600 euro per person, on a minimum of double occupancy. Contact us for details. Departures: Custom

4 Day 1 Naples, the charming Palazzo Alabardieri Sacred and profane, Naples either fascinates or disgusts. Probably both in the same time. The colors, the light, the life and the food are bewitching. The disorganization and confusion much less so but in no other place on the Planet is disarray so fascinating. If you start your visit from Piazza del Plebiscito you might be fooled into searching the Tour Eiffel behind the corner. But a short walk down to the centre and reality will hit you unawares with its complex humanity, a fair of misery and glory that cannot be kept indoors, sweating out of both, hideous dwellings or magnificent palaces. The mishmash of glory and ignorance achieves such heights to hide jewels of incredible beauty even to the eyes of the natives. And statues like the Veiled Christ, probably the most beautiful ever created, are so well hidden to give you also the joy of discovery added to the shock of love at first sight with a marble miracle. amalfi7 Day 2 Procida A bright morning and a walk around Piazza del Plebiscito after a gorgeous breakfast, then down to the port where a quick hydrofoil takes our guest aboard our sailboat, their home for the next days, moored in the fascinating Procida. Meet the skipper, have a drink and stroll around the tiny alleys of the island, the less touristic but most fascinating of the archipelago. Don t be surprised to wonder in which continent you ended up in: you have European style, African sounds and Levantine colors. Italy will appear every time the bell tolls calling the natives to church, which happens to be full around here. Aperitivo aboard and dinner right by the water of the fishing haven of Corricella. Day 3 Ventotene Join the cook after breakfast while he gets the fresh fish in the old harbor, then away with the land and sail towards Ventotene, but not before a lunch and a swim under the Aragorn Castle of Ischia. All of these islands were the private retreats of Roman emperors and senators, and Ventotene boasts the original Roman port, carved out of the local red stone. It s a place for the few, for friends, intimate and romantic, with a splendid beach, barely a small hotel and a handful of restaurants. There are no roads, no buses, no tourists just peace. All the waters around the island are pristine Wildlife refuge and you might indulge in a dive with the locals. The perfume of the island is wild fennel, present in some of the fish dishes and local sausages. Day 4 Ponza Apart from the mandatory village with romantic alleys and a long series of impressive white cliffs, and the standard long lineage of british celebrities who fell in love with the island in days gone by, Ponza is the island of Chiaia di Luna, possibly the most beautiful beach in the Mediterranean, certainly in the best five. And you can only visit this beach from a boat. Al fresco sunset dinner with a view, seasoned by fresh swordfish and clams. If you never slept in a boat anchored in the middle of a huge swimming pool, this is your best chance. It means silence during the night, waking up at the smell of fresh coffee, and a distance to the water that cannot be shorter in any normal hotel. Day 5 Palmarola Only five miles west of Ponza lies the incredible island of Palmarola, a marine park of rare beauty, basically a blade of white rock surrounded by green and blue swimming pools. Choose your private one and indulge in long swims. Get lost among the numberless caves, pinnacles, secluded beaches, rock walls, tiny coves and just rest to enjoy a glass of white wine. This is indeed a perfect place to enjoy the wide variety of the local whites like Greco di Tufo, Coda di Volpe and Falanghina, all designed to balance the aroma of fresh buffalo milk mozzarella. Evening sail towards Ventotene. Day 6 Capri From the empire days of emperor Augustus to the stylish age of Jack Lemmon, this blue island of light has never ceased to charm even the most demanding taste. Nature in perfect combination with high life, Capri has it all, the wonderful Faraglioni and the Quisisana bar, and villas of any age and style, from Augustus private palace to the most classic downtown mansion. We can either join the party staying in the harbor or escape the rush after the aperitivo and dine on the boat just in front of the Faraglioni. Day 7 Amalfi The Amalfi Coast certainly deserves its fame, but charme goes away quickly if you want to move around the area. Ghastly roads and pure italian disorganization are hard to stomach, so you will certainly love to move between Amalfi, Positano and the various beaches with your own private boat. Forget

5 restaurants. All your luggage is in your cabin and the chef is cooking your dinner while you walk among the local trendy shops and bars with the only load of your camera. Certainly this area is full of excellent restaurants but we suggest to enjoy those of the smaller islands (Procida and Ventotene) and then splurge in Massa Lubrense, rather than being skinned alive in Capri and Positano where our chef can easily match the best joint ashore. Day 8 Pompei and the northern coast Massa Lubrense and Vico Equense The cruise follows the Amalfi coast and reaches Sorrento or Castellammare di Stabia in time for a visit to the ruins of Pompei that needs no introduction. Lesser known are the culinary marvels of the area, far enough from the classic tourist routes. If you are seriously into Michelin stars, choose between Don Alfonso and Torre del Saracino. The visit of Castellammare and Don Alfonso in the same day can be really intriguing: a true fishing harbor where fishmongers still shout and their voice ricochets between tiny alleys and kids play bare feet under drying laundry, and the distilled luxury of the best restaurant in the south of Italy where the same ingredients and traditions of those streets are brought to perfection. Day 9 onwards Puglia or Rome It s time to relax and stop going around. You have visited the best of Campania and our suggestion is to move to other areas to fully enjoy the Southern Lights. You can choose Rome with its endless charms or discover Puglia and its pastoral beauty. A sample of vessels Depending on your budget and the number of people in the party, the choice of vessel is wide and varied. Our entry vessel is Antonio s Alchimia, a superb Sun Odyssey 42, starting at 3900 euros with skipper and cook, for a maximum of 4 guests. Antonio is half Dutch and speaks 4 languages, and simply loves this coast. Another excellent choice is Luca s Cochiel, a splendid Beneteau 50. Three en-suite cabins, tailored comforts and towels, teak deck, starting at 5400 euros with skipper and cook. Luca is from Milan, but fell in love with these waters and now spends most of his time there. Can you blame him? You can sail in this area all year round! Further up the road is Sottovento, a gorgeous Oyster 655. Perfect for 6 guests and amazingly good value at euros a week, considering that we are talking about a 3M euros boat ;). There are not many 5-starts hotels in the area with such a nice owner s cabin! Our top of the line is historic Fecamp Schooner Weatherbird, built in Comfortable for 8 guests, a crew of 5, perfection and class starting at euros a week.

6 SAILING IN ART

7 Alas, they do indeed exist: tell tales, dials, digital arrows, analogic indicators and even mechanical wind finders. Any sailor wondering where the wind comes from on a boat built after the cold war ended would look like a cook unable to mix butter and flour. And see? After three simple lines the beauty, the passion and the poetry of sailing vanished from the painting. Would you listen to a symphony just looking at the digital graph from the synth? If this was sailing I d rather stay on the couch and watch the AC on TV. Digital sailing, no salt and no love. Even eyes I would consider overestimated. Yes, because you really sail only at night. Because a sailboat is passion, vice and scandal. It s not a lovely woman with silky skin to caress in the sunset light. It s a dense intercourse, dirty and violent. It s sweat, saliva, sperm. Eyes are useless. Shut them and dive into the dark. Other senses will magically explode! Sea and smell? You surely knew the smell of the sea. What about sex and shellfish? Taste even The gorgeous power of a scallop in your mouth But now we are talking about something even subtler. The sound of the sea? Well, that s easy. Water along the keel is peace. Wind in the shrouds is terror. Strength in the sheets is power. Its a baroque symphony of romantic insistence, every movement similar to the other, but with infinite variations. But no. Here we are talking about touch. Not your hands on the tiller. The stars are your hair, your locks, your sensitive and invisible body hair covering every corner, every fold of your body, face, hands and earlobes. Don t picture the wind in your face. Sailboats do better alone when close-hauled and wind-bound. But imagine your delicate runs down the wind, when a small error will loose your bow towards the wind or worse will shatter your main. Do you really believe a dial will help you now? Feel the air flowing from your neck towards your face, choosing an ear instead of the other. Play with it, let it guide your arms on the helm when a turbulence hit the wrong ear, or when too much flow hit your cheek. Now the wave comes along and the airflow moves first towards your nose, then back when the wave is gone. You slowly realize that your hands must do less and less, that touch is playing with your body and your boat.you are making love to the sea. Now you have it. A night at the helm in the middle of the ocean is a symphony of sensations running between invincibility and terror, an orgasm with the woman we love in the constant fear it would be the last. ART IN SAILING

8 SAILING CROATIA Follow the merchant routes of the old Venice maritime republic along the Dalmatian citadels of Kotor, Hvar, Korcula and Dubrovnik while sailing the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea. Croatia, Montenegro and Venice in the same trip. Accompanied by our skippers and staying in delightful sailboats and some iconic hotels this itinerary combines the World s favorite sailing destination and the World s most incredible city. Our journey combines a cruise along the coast, which is the only way to fully experience the immense variety of the area that include and relaxing sojourns in the iconic Venice and some of its spectacular colonies like Kotor and Dubrovnik

9 Day 1 Kotor The walled citadel was certainly noticed by Unesco and you won t complain about traveling so deep into the Balkan s restless core. As you ll see in Dubrovnik, you weren t that much younger when people here were shelling each other with gusto. But somehow Kotor and the nearby Perast were left unscathed. Better, they keep an aura of genuinity. The pope out of the church is not there for the tourists, the ladies dry their sheets out of the window along the nicest alleys and the kids do indeed play soccer in the main square. And every stone is where it has been for the last five centuries. True, most restaurants fall short for the sophisticated palate, but not the Stari Milni, north of the city, where octopus is marvelous Day 2 - Dubrovnik A last stroll around Kotor or Perast and it s time to board your vessel, your home for the next week. Meet the skipper, have a drink and set sail to explore the beautiful bay of Kotor bound for Croatia. Dubrovnik is the most fascinating town among the old Venetian colonies. The damages of the 1994 shelling have been admiringly restored and the walk around the walls offers a unique sights. Churches, museums, squares all made of stone and charme. Have your aperitivo al fresco in the central square, but trust your private cook aboard better than the restaurants ashore Day 3 Mljet The long National Park of Mljet covers the most beautiful island in Croatia. And there are many, many islands in Croatia. We love the northern end. Choose between to explore a picture perfect lake which comes with another island and a monastery included in the price, to poke around a series of silent bays among frosted shores or just relax in an horseshoe cove in the northern end. After days spent diving in the Venetian ancient basis of the strange Balkan culture, it s time to relax and experience the silence and atmospheres of nature by the sea. Day 4 Korcula or Lastovo If you never slept in a boat anchored in the middle of a huge swimming pool, this is your best chance. It means silence during the night, waking up at the smell of fresh coffee, and a distance to the water that cannot be shorter in any normal hotel. After breakfast, decisions decisions. From Mljet you can have the choice to keep pastoral and explore the wilderness of Lastovo or go back urban and get lost in the great collection of bars, shop and restaurants in the geometrically concentric and captivating walled city of Korcula. Day 5 Hvar From the pleasant pools of Lastovo - or from the intriguing coffee bars of Korcula - a pleasant day of sail will take you to the captivating beaches of Scedro Island for lunch and to amazing Hvar for aperitivo time. The Italians - not really popular to say the truth around here - still like to call this Island Lesina and really do enjoy its notso-newly conquered status of nightlife capital of the Mediterranean. True its mostly the youngsters who came to appreciate the invasion of fresh blood from Eastern Europe that flooded Croatia after the fall of the Wall. But a wiser crowd won t complain in the least of the spectacular Venetian harbor set in pink stone and the very good selection of restaurants of the nearby island of Palmezana where you can indulge in the local Gregada di Lesina Day 6-7 Kornati National Park If you imagined the Mediterranean like an Arcadia of palm islands, long sandy beaches and delicate colors of lavender and bougainvillea, you ll wander where you ended up when sailing around the Kornati archipelago. Turn around the point of Primosten and everything changes: the winds, the shape of the islands, the perfume of the air, the temperature of the water. Kornat, like its smaller sisters, is long and thin, a scraggy, stony, arid and wind-beaten land that defies habitability. Every island provides hills and stones aplenty, well populated by sheep and goats that frequently appear on the tables of the few seasonal restaurants of the archipelago. coves are numberless so you can easily find your favorite and even name it. Needless to say that nightlife here is vague, to say the least, and evenings are either spent aboard in the perfect calm of the anchorage, or in one of the pastoral taverns placed where you less expect them. Day 8 - Krka and Sibenik Wake up and swim as long as you like in the crystal Kornati waters, then time to go back to civilization, in case you missed it. Fjords are almost unknown of in the Mediterranean. There are long bays in Turkey, but none gets even close to Brittany inlet, let alone a Norwegian one. Except the Krka river. The old Venetians placed a fort at the entrance which is still impressive, and there you are, the city of Sibenik in front of you and to your left a perfect navigable river that meanders for 10 miles inland, to reach the Krka waterfalls and the pleasant village of Skradin. Yes it can be windy in here, but there are no waves and you ll have the pleasure to swim in fresh water (fresh in both senses). Perfect anchorages along the way, and you can either spend your last night aboard in the river of go back to civilization mooring in the marina of Sibenik and hit the town at night. Day 9 - onwards - Venice

10 stw yacht squadron The vessel: a superb achievement by the Lagoon shipyard, this brand new Lagoon 500 provides full comfort for 8 guests in double en suite cabins, plus another cabin with single berths, and crew cabin. Perfect for a group of friends willing to enjoy a great holiday in good privacy. Lagoon guests in 4 cabins with private bathroom plus crew cabin Rate: euros per week, price including skipper and cook Amenities: generator, full optional, watersports, watermaker, fully independent. Cruise type: crewed and gourmet cruises.

11 POLYNESIA /MICRONESIA / JAPAN Nuku HIva (Marquesas) Oahu (Hawaii) 2 19 January Offshore crossing Oahu (Hawaii) Marshall islands 1st 18 February Offshore crossing Marshall Islands Kosrae Pohnpei 24 February 1st March Surf, Sup and dive Pohnpei Lamotrek 7 12 March Surf, Sup and dive Lamotrek Yap island March Surf, Sup and dive Yap Island Palau March dive Palau Ishigaki (Japan) 1er 9 April Offshore crossing Ishigaki Okinawa Yokohama April Navigation exploration Expedition Japan-Bonin island 28 March 22 May Expedition CONTACT US FOR RATES AND DETAILS DISCOVER THE PACIFIC

12 THE ISLAND OF GOD

13 I had been away from Stromboli for slightly over a month and this idea of writing something funny about it seemed the best way to handle such an extraordinary subject. This volcano is a desperate hand straight out of the guts of the planet, the cry of rage and fear of an imprisoned monster around which humans had built whitewashed houses, bursting churches and jam-packed bars. A critic might cavil whether Stromboli is the point of the Earth where Heaven and Hell are closest, but there is no doubt that it is the only place where the explosions from the Fiery Furnace are closer to the sky than the tolling of the church bells. The only place where the black sand and the white walls live in harmony, a kingdom of contrasts in perfect balance on a tight rope, enraged nature on one side and imbecile human dreams on the other. Anyway, when I let go last night just off the few lights and under the reddish glow in the clouds, anything funny or ironic faded away, and this tale will be a contrast of tragedy and comedy, only less perfect than this island. Then after other two days, when the subtle worm of comedy nearly found its way back to the world of temptation and possibility, a thunderstorm came and the worm died forever. My vessel was at anchor several miles away when God decided it was time to end summer in glory, rage and wrath, and thunder and lighting came to split the world between darkness and light. After an hour the rage was over Stromboli, and there it was, a cascade of lighting and anger in a fluorescent atmosphere of ghosts and strobo-madness, a techno-show of terrific power over the sea and the horizon. Only, there, flashing black and triangular, oblivious of storms and rain, unaware of pains and disaster, careless of destinies and choices, the volcano again was bouncing between heaven and hell, a cone of perfect darkness, lost in time. It s a place where black and white do exist, like in the worst movies when a spotless good defeats a shameful bad. But still, the red of fire and negronis add a new weight to the balance, the burden of life and existence, of human beings sensing cocktails, kneeling in churches and hiking up the sandy slopes to the crater. Black, white and red. Be sure to approach the Lighthouse of the Mediterranean from the North West and in the last hours of the night. The thousand-metre high firework platform will show you the way and slowly a black perfect cone (Strombos means cone in Greek) will remain in the night while the rest lights up. Until 1934 the island was bursting activity, with thousands of farmers building terraces up the cone to transform the rich ashes into wine and capers. That year a stronger eruption killed a dozen souls, shrapnelled the others, but failed to destroy the recently imported vine parasites. Most inhabitants left, mainly to the States. Until a couple of decades ago, you could buy a house in Stromboli for the cost of its bricks. Microsoft stocks cannot compete with the values of the same houses in more recent days. But Italians are smart chaps and never advertised it too much around. Now, like I or not, you ll have to drink your Negroni with left-wing politicians, stylish gays, glamorous fashion stars, summer charter sailors and large Sicilian notables, none of whom will ever think about climbing the cone, a deplorable activity left to French and German backpackers, kindly deprived of 25 euros each for a trekking permit. But winter selects, and only locals and backpackers remain. Autumn clouds hang like a bracelet around the cone and pour down rain. The alleys are a desert, the bars less so but certainly active is the church. After ten hours of sailing, three anchoring manoeuvres and a rolly night I was looking for reasons to understand why this place climbed my list of favourite islands to reach first and second place. Then I reached the square and I had on one side the church where Tuesday mass, a renowned favourite activity of all Catholics, was celebrated, and on the other a double rainbow falling right over Strombolicchio, a 50-metre high pillar with compulsory beacon and sunset reflections floating over a sea of a whole bunch of shades of steel. Ok, I ll stand the rolling another night also because Andrea s bar is closed. The Barbablu is the closest thing to an old English pub you can find on the territory of the Italian Republic. Only, it does not look to a pub at all, with its red and yellow pastel walls (only one around) and stylish modern interior with 4 (four) highly valued stools. But it s the atmosphere it s a place where you arrive alone and after an hour or so you know everyone. Maybe the merit goes to Andrea s concoctions. One night a couple came in, and they ordered a Negroni and a tonic water. Andrea s reaction to the latter order was mild, mainly due to the fact that my girlfriend had just ordered a tea - what? A tea? Who the fuck are you, snow-white? thus reaching the tolerance limit. I naturally complimented the bloke for its choice. Only I was grossly mistaken and the red velvet was bound for the lady s throat instead. When the two came out to join the majority of the company, who sat down as usual smoking on the sort wall outside, where a gigantic tray full of black sand swallowed the filters, the lady s eyes were sparkling. God I feel good. Stromboli had harvested another victim. Expect to meet any possible variation of human being at Andrea s: Australian gardeners, bad politicians (there are no good ones in Italy), lose sailors, Sicilian writers, serious engineers, pigtailed musicians, serious managers, dreamy tour-guides and Neapolitan lawyers. Ginostra lies on the other corner of San Vincenzo, just half a mile South of the Sciara, the slide where the fiery rocks rolls down to the sea. Yes, because Stromboli main difference when compared to fireworks and other volcanoes is that what goes up do fall down again here, mostly down the Sciara, seldom somewhere else, occasionally on unfortunate heads. Japanese tourists cannot believe someone is even paying Ginza values to buy property here The tiny village proudly boasts the smallest harbour of the planet, a tiny haven hidden among rocks where the locals can easily haul out their gozzi. Old wisdom suggested not to build anything bigger, because Ginostra is only sheltered by dead calm weather. Needless to say authorities recently built a wharf for the use of evac-units and hydrofoils, but I am sure Nature will soon claim it back.

14 The forty or so lucky hermits use modern solar panels and ancient stone-dug water tanks for their basic needs, and candles are a must. The village of Ginostra is the closest thing to poetry that white paint can achieve. Seeing as a whole, apart from its location that can be considered either perfectly foolish or perfectly chosen, it does not hit the eye. Houses are not snuggle but rather sparse around agaves bushes. But again it s the people who make the difference. Have dinner at the terrace, with candles your only light and swordfish your only choice, then stroll around the alleys in the dark. Music will attract you at the village square, just a bigger terrace in front of the church. There you will find a lady with an harmonium singing for the dancers around a lantern in the middle. But you will have to go back in time, to the days when girls and boys pirouetted from one to another, sweet and happy, touching hands. It s not the sunny squares of Sicily, nor the villages in Scotland, it s a music without time and place mingling north and south, east and west, and centuries gone by. Because Stromboli is a place where you want to fall in love, and not simply to find a partner for the night. There is no time here.

15 Oyster metres - 6 passengers in 3 cabins (1 owner s, one guests and one double) euros a week Our Oysters 655 are the best vessels in their category and are fitted with all the latest technology. This magnificent yacht will ensure your holiday is comfortable and stylish and what ever you re looking for from Island hopping to coastal cruising. With its stylish teak and cream leather interior the saloon is bright and comfortable. With the leather seating curving around the large dining table, it s perfect for enjoying a luxurious dinner. The intriguing charme of discreet luxury Our concept of luxury is very private and discreet. When in port our vessels will be admired, not envied. When under sail, they will offer emotions, not consumption. In secluded coves, our crews will match the best restaurant, with no crowds. STW YACHT SQUADRON

16 SAILING TUSCANY Tuscany, means the art of Florence and Pisa, the vineyards of Chianti and Bolgheri but also the spectacular Islands of Elba, Capraia, Giglio and Giannutri. With a touch of France thrown in with a visit to the wild Cape Corse. The only way to visit tuscany far from the crowd. Our journey combines a cruise along the coast, which is the only way to fully experience the immense variety of the area, with a stay in Florence in the only hotel where you can actually eat under a dome designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Never forget that our private cruises mean: a personal skipper and chef, tailored wine list, complete control of your itinerary, private en suite cabins with no other guests aboard. Highlights 1. Florence and it s art, the Cappelle Medicee with Michelangelo s masterpieces on top of everything 2. A night at anchor in the spectacular Fetovaia Cove on Elba Island 3. A walk around the Roman temples of Giannutri 4. Dinner under the Leonardo designed dome in Santa Croce Relais Florence 5. Wine tasting at Bolgheri s vineyards 6. The Island of Capraia with its red cliffs, unique beach and typical restaurants 7. The wild and Atlantic beauty of Cape Corse in Corsica 8. Giglio Island, its castle and its waters 9. The ports in Portoferraio and Marciana Marina on Elba Island Day 1-3 Florence, the amazing Relais Santa Croce The richest city in the World for ages, Florence still preserves nicely its wealth. You have museums, cathedrals, palaces and paintings equalled by very few other cities in the World. And none which is not a capital city. Culture here is so abundant that one actually needs a private way to enjoy the place without feeling overwhelmed. Our trick is to choose one per day: one church, one museum, one palace, one shopping street, one wineshop and one restaurant And enjoy the rest of the time moving slowly between these places. Our personal favorites are Cappelle Medicee as a work of art (with a stunning collection of Michelangelo statues), Il Troia as a typical restaurant, the ascent to the Brunelleschi dome at the Cathedral, a walk along the river Arno along the south side, and a very small wine shop on the S bank of the river. Day 4 Florence to Elba A bright morning and a walk around the Florence lungarno, a last view

17 of the Ponte Vecchio and it s time to go, discover your yacht and meet your crew. From now on you travel with all your luggage (and we have no limits to it, we also accept cellos!), all the wine you want to try and all the food you want to taste! The first stop is Portoferraio or Marciana on Elba Island. This is the this biggest in Italy and little known abroad, but deserves a lot of attention. All the villages and cities are in perfect Tuscan style, but with a sea view! The north coast is a continuous succession of secluded coves, majestic capes and white beaches. Just take your pick Aperitivo aboard and dinner right by the water, served by your personal cook, with sunset view of Capraia. Day 5 Capraia Wake up in a green cove with the aroma or coffee and the leftovers of the night land breeze, bringing you the perfume of the Mediterranean brushes, lavender and mirto. Time to sail along the coast of Elba as far as the western capes at Zanca for lunch. Then a nice afternoon crossing to Capraia. If this Island was in any other nation, it would be heralded as a not-to-be-missed paradise. Conveniently small, perfectly wild apart from the picture-perfect fishing village, well gifted with restaurants capable to deliver the local fish honestly, with a couple of breathtaking coves, and with a couple of rewarding walks, one could stay on Capraia for days! But you ll have the pleasure to feel alone, and actually being alone in more than one occasion! Day 6-7 Cape Corse Corse is a strange Island and modern Corsicans do not have the marketing verve of their illustrious fellow citizen, Napoleon Bonaparte. For some reason it looks like they can do well without tourists. And this is good luck for those who actually visit the place. Even a quick glance to the wild Cape Corse, the tiny fishing village of Centuri, and the incredible beaches around the Agriates desert will make you happy at the absence of these places on the World s most visited places list. Cape Corse is ten miles wide and is basically a slice of Scotland standing over pristine Mediterranean water, with four splendid beaches, two forgotten villages and a spectacular trail once used by the Custom officers to detect smugglers. Centuri is an active fishing village that still indulges in this activity with a touch of lawlessness and pride, just to keep up with the deserved ancient fame of smuggler s paradise. The beaches of Loto and Saleccia finally provide a unique sensation of what would happen if you transport a yacht on a crystal swimming pool because water here is virtually invisible. Day 8 Fetovaia and Elba South Coast Back on Elba to discover the South Coast. More intimate and less exposed to the north winds, it s rich both in nice villages and in beautiful coves. Fetovaia is certainly the best of the Island and thankfully well protected not only from the winds but also from architectural brutalities ashore. If you prefer something more urban after the days spent in Capraia and Cape Corse, Porto Azzurro is the perfect choice, with a very nice harbor, small town with all facilities and a sparkling nightlife. From here it s also a short taxi run to Capoliveri, the nicest town in Elba. It s built on top of the hill as a cultural heritage of most towns of the area, all victims of invaders who used to arrive by sea. This is the main reason why a great number of towns in Sardinia, Elba and Corsica are inland, and also the mai reason for a culinary tradition more built on quadrupeds than fish! Day 9-10 Giglio and Giannutri Time to sail south on the way to mighty Rome. But not before discovering the islands of Giglio and Giannutri. The first was made World famous by the recent wreckage of the Costa Concordia, but is now finally back in the somnolent limbo of tranquil tourism made of curious travelers looking for genuine places. But our favorite remans Giannutri, a tiny islet that adds something special to the usual cocktail of water, beaches and gastronomy: the roman villa. I don t know, maybe atmosphere is the most important thing I look for when I travel, but this place is really magical, and will be most likely all for yourselves. Depending on your budget and the number of people in the party, the choice of vessel is wide and varied. Our entry vessel is Antonio s Alchimia, a superb Sun Odyssey 42, starting at 3900 euros with skipper and cook, for a maximum of 4 guests. Antonio is half Dutch and speaks 4 languages, and simply loves this coast. Another excellent choice is Luca s Cochiel, a splendid Beneteau 50. Three en-suite cabins, tailored comforts and towels, teak deck, starting at 5400 euros with skipper and cook. Luca is from Milan, but fell in love with these waters and now spends most of his time there. Can you blame him? You can sail in this area all year round! Further up the road is Sottovento, a gorgeous Oyster 655. Perfect for 6 guests and amazingly good value at euros a week, considering that we are talking about a 3M euros boat ;). There are not many 5-starts hotels in the area with such a nice owner s cabin!

18 NATURE ON STEROIDS: BURMA The sun has just gone down. There is a half-moon directly above the anchor light on the top of the mast. The great Dipper is turned upside down, compared to my normal horizon in the Mediterranean Sea. I am lying in the boom, on the sail of the catamaran Cataleya, high above the deck. Enjoying the peace, the scenery, the sound of the waves on the beach 100 meters away, a few white clouds in the sky and the talk and clinging of cocktail glasses of the guests below me on deck. You could not make me happier. And guess what, I am in the most unknown (and unexpected) cruising ground of the world: The Mergui Archipelago o f Myanmar (formerly BURMA). But it truly is the ultimate cruising ground. Islands like Cavern, McCarthy, Great Swinton, McLeod, Horseshoe and some that do not even have an English name (or any name at all for that matter), are all a paradise on their own. A 100 by 40 mile cruising area with more than 800 island and rocks to choose from, open to the Indian Ocean on one side, assuring crystal clean water being refreshed with each tide. Every island is covered with jungle till the high-water mark. And when I say jungle, I mean jungle. Each individual tree is again overgrown with another plant. Nature as pure as it can get. Untouched for centuries. With low tides (and there is 3,5 meter of it!!!) a white beach develops, just below the jungle. No footprints from humans on it. But the trails from monkeys, monster lizards, hermit crabs, wild boar and more are to be found as the only proof of life. The white sand is not the sand that we know. No this is grounded, died off coral, which explains the colour and the finesse of the structure. One of the kids remarked it was like walking on flour! But the biggest beauty of this undiscovered cruising ground is that it is undiscovered you have it all to yourself. I make a bet with my clients every week: I pay 10$ for every other tourist boat that they could spot. The most I ever had to pay was 10$ during a 14 day trip but mostly I would win and not have to pay anything... and that makes it very, very unique. Where else can you do this? How far has one got to travel nowadays to be on his own? And if you do find a spot: how many of those places are then in a nice climate? How many of those places offer extensive luxury on a yacht in a complete safe environment? How many of those places are even for kids- a world of pure imagination and wonder around every corner and rock, above and under water? The list can go on, but the Mergui Archipelago is one of those last, remar

19 kable, safe, accessible and amazing frontiers. We are sailing from Lampi to Great Swinton, little wind around, so the engines are helping the mainsail. On the foredeck we have all the sun awnings up, to provide some shade. We look around and count some 22 islands around us. And each island has several strips of white, pure white beach on them. It will take years to visit them all, but we don t have time. We sail onward and enjoy this amazing scenery, while the smells from the galley make us already want to have lunch. And indeed with a Thai cook onboard every meal becomes a feast. One drops the anchor in 15 meters of water, as the fringing reefs comes up very steep, but this makes the snorkeling so interesting. So the exploration of this natural paradise continues under water and everyone is in the water within seconds. Under water more alive coral, fish, crabs, moray eels and of course NEMO itself is encountered on a daily basis. But also whales and manta rays, and again here the big ones. Nature on steroids, as we call it, above and under water. We drive the dinghy to the beach and step on a virgin beach that is 3 kilometres long both to the left as to the right. The kids run ahead and find themselves some smaller hermit crabs. Now the adults have joined in and also find their own hermit crab. We draw a small circle in the sand and a wider one around at 3 meters distance. Every one puts their own hermit crab in the smaller inner circle and now the race is on. The first hermit crab to cross the outer circle is the official winner of the hermit crab race of he day. And do not get too excited, because as soon as you move or want to cheer your hermit crab, it stops moving and withdraws in it s stolen shell. Always fun. While we enjoy another fantastic Thai lunch on board, the boat sails on to our next destination: McCarthy Island. As the sun slowly goes down, we all gather again on the beach. Some swim over, some take the kayaks and others came with the dinghy. A cool box has all the necessities for the obligatory sun downer cocktail. The kids run off to gather wood, of which there is plenty on the high water mark of the beach and we quickly make a huge bon-fire. Of course we make this just below the tide-line on the beach, so that the next morning the beach is washed clean and looks pristine white again. The silence of the complete group as we enjoy our drinks, watch the sun go down, see the first stars blinking in the sky is deafening in itself. Even the kids realize this is a special moment. Another day in paradise comes unfortunately to its end. A shower in heaven In the morning we go back to the beach and enter the jungle. After a ten-minute walk we have crossed the complete island and are again-facing the Ocean. Standing on a beach, stretching as far as your eyes can reach. The famous Maya Beach in Thailand (where they filmed the Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio), just completely lost its charm. It just never stops, these surprises, these miracles and this eternal beauty. We return to the boat and sail over to Bo Ywe island. We have two trawling fishing lines behind the boat and within 1 hour we catch 4 medium size (30 cm) tuna fish. They will serve as the freshest Sashimi, you will ever have had. On Bo Ywe we drop anchor in front of the smallest beach in the area. 50 meters from left to right... at low tide, and at high tide there is nothing left of the beach at all. But a special beach nevertheless, as it is home to one of the few fresh water sources in the area. And this fresh water spring comes out of a rock at 4 meters height. And splashes down right on the beach. And it thus makes the best shower I have ever had in my life, every time I visit. We even used it to fill up our water tanks on the boat on one occasion. Of course the source gives more water in December than at the end of the dry season in April. But even my last shower in May was a luxury, no 5 star hotel could ever give me; Luke warm water, gently pouring down and I shampoo my hair, whilst standing on a beach with a scenery that is hard to describe, but imprinted on my eyes. Just before the soap reaches them and I have to close them and give in to my senses o f the warm water streaming down on my head and shoulders. No mosquitos, no pirates and... no other tourists You are sailing around in the tropics; temperatures are constant around 35 degrees during the day. Look for shadow and a lot of sunscreen. Even snorkeling is done with a T-shirt on, to prevent sunburn. At night the temperature drops to a comfortable 25 degrees, which makes it perfect for sleeping on deck and admiring the sky and star abundance above. And that without a single mosquito around, once you are in the island group. Mosquitos need fresh water and garbage to live on, and there is not enough of either. So, enjoy your cocktail on deck after sundown and don t worry about mosquito-spraying, or annoying buzzing sounds around your head or having to sleep under a clamboo. Be free, and fully enjoy this really last paradise to be discovered.

20 Pelican, Alaska

21 Fishermen don t swim - Pelican, Ak. Dean Martin: Is he as good as I used to be? John Wayne: It d be pretty close. I d hate to have to live on the difference. There s always a man faster on the draw than you are, and the more you use a gun, the sooner you re gonna run into that man. I never entered a saloon of the old wild west with a Hawaiian shirt and a pink baseball cap, but I surely felt that way the evening I moored at Pelican, Alaska, with a sexy sailboat that did not smell of salmon. I was just out of place, and supposedly belonged to another world, of city slickers who used the sea as a playground in comfortable season, like a boxer who just punched balls or a hunter using an M16. To add insult to injury, the mast stuck higher than the trollers stabilizers, and that did not gain me any high five. An outcast, deserving minimal attention, who was utterly unable to buy a single bloody silver in one of the world s salmon capitals. That was distressing, really. First of all because the place was a small marvel, ducked near the bottom of a gorgeous fjord, Lisansky Strait, open on the main entrance of Alaska s inside waters. Then because it was a lively and genuine small village without tourists, gift shops and cruise ships belching thousand of yellow-trousered, beer-bellied yanks. Third because I just felt an inexplicable liking for fishermen, and every single finger of the 163 inhabitants, all of whom wearing trousers but only two thirds being men, was devoted to speed up the salmon s journey from the ocean to the supermarket shelves. I loved Pelican so much, in effect, that I foolishly decided to come back with guests aboard during a cruise between Sitka and Juneau. But by then I had grasped how to face the natives and I knew I could draw as fast as they did The gods were favourable that day and something livelier than a fresh breeze was blowing up the inlet towards Pelican. Trollers were on their way back home from the wealthy grounds and banks of Cross Sound. I knew I had my chance and I was not going to spoil it. I explained my plan to Patrick, a tort lawyer from Colorado who forgot the existence of fear in the forests of Vietnam, and he backed it wholeheartedly. We had began with a territorial campaign in the fog off the entrance of the fjord, by tacking restlessly among busy boats, claiming our territory in order to reach the entrance with a seriously leaning boat. Then we moved to a more psychological warfare: grossly over canvassed, we were doing nine knots and a chinaman, but we could keep the pace of the trollers, and even gain some ground on the more loaded ones. We could notice from the increase of exhaust smoke that the campaign was having a discreet success. But we all knew that the final battle was to be fought in the harbour, Pelican s main street, where all activity takes place with the one notable exception of Rosie s Bar. Cinco de la tarde. Dead bushes were rolling around. Three knots, no-wake policy enforced by the harbourmaster/sheriff. We had to draw very fast. We flew full main and genoa into the port at 9 knots on a course dead straight towards the fishing boat moored at the southern end of the harbour, the engine revving idle just in case of mistakes. Once in the middle we rolled the genny, while keeping our course towards devastation. Few yards off the boats, we steered full helm to port, thus achieving a swift 180 degrees turn into the wind, we let the halyard go, the main fell silent on the deck and we found ourselves few inches beside the transit dock, to which we made fast. That was all. I settled my heartbeat from heart attack to normal, and began to prepare dinner. Not ten minutes went by when a slight knock on the hull broke the journey of a 5-pound king from the hull of a grey fishing boat to our galley, accompanied by a wide smile from the responsible of the not-too-premature salmon departure. The menu was rapidly altered and a section of the beast devoted to sashimi. We invited the fisherman, who we soon discovered was a wealthy accountant in his previous life, and I soon discovered that American big shot lawyers are no lesser men when it comes to slaughtering a fresh salmon on a galley sink for immediate consumption after a quick dip in soy sauce. In the meantime the fisherman had found comfort on the chart table seat and was observing the massacre in the most perfect disbelief. You aren t going to eat it like, that I mean you know like raw? Why not? said the terror of Colorado s health service (he used to sue medical doctors for their errors ), while gulping a conspicuous piece of red meat. But but it s.. like raw So what? said I try a piece and I forwarded a piece of slimy tail dripping soy sauce towards the incredulous accountant.

22 Had it been a rotting sewer mouse his expression could not have been different, but he gulped it nonetheless. Macho culture. Seconds passed, during which the amateur-cut sashimi travelled along the oesophagus, and the slaughtering continued on the sink undisturbed by the noise of the oven, where 6 thick salmon steaks were pinking in a broth of butter, white wine spices and onion. I have been fishing salmon for 22 years. Upon my word. Never tried this thing raw And? I was an idiot Few hours later the operations were transferred to the trollers cabin. This was centred on the engine. A brand new Japanese diesel mounted in a 1958 hull. The crew consisted of the captain and a deckhand, a 22yo girl from the lower 48. There was no engine room. Or better, there was nothing else except the engine room, being the berths right thereby. The silencing system was built of pure air. Wine prevented my memory to retain that conversation, but I have dim memories it was an old engine vs. sail thing. The man was ready to cross any ocean with his diesel, while I was not even thinking about leaving a harbour without sails. None of the contenders gave away a single inch, and we all crashed to our bunks happy and sure of our own point of view. We also exchanged the classic Alaskan stories, made of whale & bear close encounters, maddening tidal streams, unexpected gales and secret anchorages. Indeed the grey hull of the fishing boat once attracted the affection of a young humpback calf, who though he found an older brother and attached himself during the night to the vessel. As one can easily imagine, a fishing boat rolls differently with a 10-ton whale hugging it, so the man felt something strange in the morning and one can imagine his surprise when he saw the thing there. But these things happen in Alaska. Everybody knows that. was surely forthcoming. The harbourmaster did not charge the berth. Invitations to Rosie s were normal. A fisherman still using a sailboat for his toil confided me that the previous night s manoeuvre was noticed. I came back to Pelican other times, and it was like going back home. From that day onwards Cadeau met many fishing boats, and every time it was a meeting among peers. Memorable encounters were entered in the logbook in the remotest islands of the Galapagos archipelago, the winter harbours in the Mediterranean or the dreadfulest corners of the Patagonian Channels. True, most of the fishermen I met were not masters in business administration by upbringing, on the contrary I had sometimes the feeling I was going to be killed on the spot, but there are no real class differences at sea, and it s a fact that a fisherman is the fastest to achieve that particular relationship with the water that surprises so much those who do not live on the sea. Fishermen don t swim. None desires to and most cannot. After many thousand miles I came to understand why. It s not, as land dwellers might imagine, like a perpetual hangover, a reaction to excessive sub ministration of wide watery expanses. It s not overdose or tiredness. It s much simpler and basic. It s indifference. A desire to deal with it in the swiftest, more efficient and briefest possible way, diminishing the contacts with saltwater to the bare minimum. Fish is found in the sea, therefore at sea we must go to catch it. Sailors like sailing and travelling, therefore sooner or later they have to go at sea to pursue their end. Still, the sea is not an obstacle, nor a container. It s a given fact, a reality we cannot come to terms with so we do our best to make fishing easier and crossings faster. Sunsets, waves, gales and the romance of the sea are things a fisherman better appreciate from land, if he does. I don t think we have to write treaties about this. It s simple and easy to explain. Who lives and works on the sea appreciates, loves, respects and talks about something else. The following morning Pelican was totally different. No one came to greet us, but everyone said hallo along the street (a boardwalk suspended on the water s edge), with the same ease and tone they would use with a long time pal. If we stopped to watch the activity in a troller, an invitation for coffee or beer

23 Mandatory start from St.Jean Cap Ferrat/Villefranche. The group of bays around the spectacular Cap Ferrat and the delightful village of Villefranche are one of the top three places of the area. You might expect Cary Grant sneaking out at night to meet Grace Kelly in one of the most expensive villas of the planet, you can swim in well sheltered crystal waters, enjoy the topless girls on the beaches, share the same anchorages of the biggest superyachts around and get lost among the alleys of St.Jean and Villefranche itself. Too many places to see also inland, Eze Village, 10 kilometres from St.Jean, among them. From there it s a short hop to Nice, a boasting city of nearly a million which still it retains a unique feeling of France between its fantastic square and the alleys of the old town. The old harbour is just what every harbour should be. Antibes is another beautiful town-cum-citadel and makes a convenient base to explore inland, to Grasse and St. Paul de Vence and its citadel. Iles Lerins/Cannes. The world famous posh town of Cannes, besides being blessed by a great climate, location and a good film festival, has the unabashed luck to have two islands in front, themselves divided by a green and sheltered channel where hundreds of boats find good shelter and great location. The islands are national parks and boast a fort, a perfect monastery (still in use) and great treks to walk around under the umbrella of maritime pines. From Cannes it s 20 miles to St Tropez. Swim at midday under the bright red rocks of the Esterel then head for St. Tropez for a jet-set night among celebrities, old and nouveau riches, sky-high prices and fashionable discos. The town itself is still very cute and the harbour is a must see. Port Cros. Considering that you ll leave St. Tropez late and almost certainly poorer and hangover, relax till 2 pm by the beaches between La Ramatuelle and Cap Camarat than do the effort to get to Port Cros, a Marine Reserve that stands out of the Riviera like Stanley Park in Vancouver. The shores are impressive, the water is pristine, the snorkelling rewarding. Port Man anchorage ( N, E), althouggh apparently bottomless, is well sheltered and seriously beautiful. FRENCH RIVIERA