Floriana

Leaving the port and heading for Vulcano

The sail to Vulcano took 4 hours and the seas were stepped and choppy. I was queasy even after taking the Bonine! I hate when that happens.

Vulcano up ahead!

The mooring assist came out to greet us and help us get on a mooring. The interesting thing here, and very different from where we sail on the east coast of the United States, is that they moor boats on the bow and on the stern. Also, the mooring balls are a lot smaller than what we’re used to seeing. And boats are very close together.

Notice how close the mooring balls are to one another.

mooring ball at the bow

mooring ball at the stern

Andrea made the process quick and easy.

Another interesting thing, that for those of us that sail the Great South Bay is unbelievable, the depths in these parts go from 4,000′ (yes FEET!) to 20′ in less than 1/4 mile…. and underneath the water it’s all volcanic rock! There are very few patches of sand to anchor in and very few areas that are 20′ in depth. Therefore, mooring fields and marinas are a great help…especially if you want to leave out a scope of 7:1 of chain. Imagine how much chain you’d have to carry and how much that would way! You see rock formations like these everywhere in the waters surrounding the volcanic islands.

We took a stroll around this tiny island and went to a hot springs beach. Not only was it amazing to see how dark the sand is, but to watch the water bubble was incredible. Tomorrow I’m going bathing in one of those hot springs.

Scenes from Vulcano at sunset

A final curious thing: we encountered 3 feral cats while visiting the island…they were all black like the color of lava rock…just saying! LOL