When Dolphins Fly – Sant’ Agata di Militello, Sicily

Sant’ Agata di Militello mainland Sicily to Mare delle Isole Eolie,

The day and trip begin, the destination will be a 17nm sail to Vulcano the first port on our journey.

The Tyrrhenian Sea awaits our crossing, and she welcomes our 45-foot Lagoon Catamaran. As mainland Sicily fades in the distance, ahead we can see the island of Vulcano. To the west, we sight Alicudi and Filicudi. Within the chain of what is known as the Aeolian Islands, there are a total of seven. Throughout our trip, we will explore five of the islands.

The quiet peaceful crossing accelerates suddenly into a loud frenzy. Someone shouts “Dolphins, portside, 11 o’clock”. Now a trip that begins with a dolphin sighting is one to be filled with blessings and luck. Follow me here because we are going to Take Another Route.

I rush to fetch my binoculars and camera and quickly stake my claim in the bow pulpit. Bottlenose dolphins are in full frolic, propelling their bodies completely out of the water, spinning, flipping, and flopping probably hunting for a snack. We point the boat in their direction and follow them a good 45 min. Checking our plotter we are now way off the sailing course to our destination but who cares. The aquatic entertainment was worth the detour. The dolphin’s lunch hour seems to be over.

Back on course, we plotted our route from the southwest side and around to the north making our approach to the island of Vulcano.

We discover some independent smaller islets and giant boulders detached from the island. There are some cays offering great areas for anchorages and for swimming as the water variation changed from deep blue to the shallow depths of ice crystal light green exposing the sand and coral below us.

The island begins to take definitions as we get closer. Reaching the far north point of the island we are flanked on the port side by the island of Lipari, the largest in the grouping to be visited later and to starboard lies Vulcano.

Passage through the straight is breathtaking as it narrows you can feel the massive cliffs opening their giant arms to suck us through the passage. Almost a medieval look is cast upon the erratic shape and the colors of deep grey volcanic ash clay to the greens of shrubs topping the cliffs.

Straight away through the passage once again the Tyrrhenian sea opens her arms to expose a vast view, and in the distance, you can now see Panarea and Stromboli.

We change our course again and make our way south down the east side of the island. We have nearly circumvented three-quarters of the island as we enter the Porto Vulcano.  It is identifiable as we observe the hydrofoils skimming above the water ferrying passengers to the island.

Ferry transportation can be taken from Palermo or Messina in Sicily or Reggio Calabria on the mainland of Italy.

Baia Levante Marina was easy med-mooring as is typical in Italy.  This marina is well equipped and the berths are set in a sheltered bay. They offer spaces for 120 boats with drafts from 1-6 meters and for yachts up to 60 meters in length. There is assistance at the dock as we enter the harbor making docking our floating home for the next 2 days easy and quick. Freshwater is available here also, always a good amenity to top off the water tanks on the boat. Eight people can consume a lot of water in a day.

After many months of planning, this trip is underway and destined to be written about.

The Aeolian Islands are one of 55 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Italy.  The commodore of my sailing club in Houston, Texas, and I planned this 14-day, 7 port visits. By confirmation of my sailing Italian friends, the Aeolian Islands became the chosen route.  We chartered 5 boats and were 40 people in our group. Mostly we stuck together but from time to time boats deviated in their course. The five main islands, Lipari, Panarea, Vulcano, Stromboli, and Salina each offered something different, historic, the cuisine of the Mediterranean, cultural immersions, and unique personalities. In addition, we sailed to ports on Sicily of Palermo and Cefalu and returned to the home port of Sant’ Agata di Militello. You will find on other blog postings about the experience at each port and I do hope you enjoy the stories. Feel free to post a comment or subscribe to my mail list.

Baia Levante Marina http://www.baialevante.it/

Note: throughout our trip, we found that having cash to pay for docking and moorings was convenient although some marinas do accept credit cards the internet connections don’t always work to process the card.