Roman Playground

We weren’t sure if we were going to stop at Capri.  It was on the schedule, but it all depended on a couple of factors – the weather and if there was space at the anchorage of “little harbor”.

This was a view of the anchorage from the restaurant.  I’ve labeled the Pipedream so you can see where it was anchored.  Most of those boats left by the time we came back to the boat.

The marina in Capri at the main harbor runs about €200 a night which is a lot of money to tie your boat up so that was pretty much out of the question.  It is free to anchor out on the other side of the island at the “little harbor” free for one night and then out of curiosity you are supposed to move over to the other side and pay for however many additional nights you want to stay there. 

The other factor is weather.  Whenever you are anchoring your boat, it is important to check the wind patterns.  If you are looking at 20 knots or over of wind you are looking at a bumpy and possibly unsafe night.  Generally when anchored it is in an inlet of sorts to shield the boat from passing wakes and strong winds.  In this case we were surrounded by cliffs of rock and while depth wasn’t an issue here like other anchorages, being pushed into the walls of solid rock was. 

Once we approached the area we had a crew meeting and nobody seemed to care one way or the other so we ended up moving around in circles for a good 10 minutes before I spoke up and said I wanted to go ashore so yes we were going to anchor.

Once this decision was made up, the proceedings began and I learned again how to anchor the boat.  There is over 200ft of chain attached to the anchor and the rule is you take the depth and amount of chain needed and let out anywhere between 3 times to 10 times that number of chain to give the boat room to swing.  The depth finder on the boat is broken so we guessed and it seemed to work out alright.  I got to actually run the controls while Dad and John let the chain out and set the anchor.  (The chain is on a remote control to make things a lot easier, but they still had to keep it from getting tangled and to make sure the anchor stuck)  We were surrounded by other boats that were clearly there to enjoy the Sunday afternoon sunbathing and swimming (among a ton of jelly fish I might add) and we knew they would leave as the sun began to set.  The important part was not to run into any of these boats while setting the anchor… we succeeded and the next task was to get the dingy off of the deck of the boat and attach the outboard motor. 

It always amazes me how much weight the halyard lines attached to the mast can lift.  I suppose its primary job is to hold up the incredibly heavy mainsail without or without the wind filling it, tugging it one way or another – so the weight of an outboard motor is nothing.  That went on without a hitch and knock on wood, but it started right up thanks to Geno, Dad’s Italian mechanic at the Ostia marina.

Dad had been to Capri and never likes to leave the boat for the first 24 hours when anchored out of fear that it’s not secure and we’ll come back to no boat… or boat pieces… so he motored John, Jenny, and myself to shore and left us there to explore on our own.

This was the view of Capri from the boat as we were headed towards our next stop.  You can see the cliffs on either side of the main town, what is harder to see but when up close is amazing, are the houses built on these cliffs.  Amazing homes.

We had the best time.

The first priority, as it usually is when we reach land, was to find food and cold beverages.  We went to a small family run café where I had the best pasta I had had in Italy to date.  It was spaghetti Bolognese (spaghetti with meat sauce) and had fresh herbs, chunks of ground up sausage, and the best sauce ever.  The server was a lot of fun too and joked around with us a lot which made it a really fun lunch.

Now for those of you not familiar with Capri, it is described as the former pleasure dome to Roman emperors including Tiberius who built a dozen villas around the island and ruled from the island because he didn’t want to return to Rome.  Now it is one of Italy’s most glamorous seaside getaways.  A playground for the rich and famous. 

I read up in Fodor’s of the sites to see and decided that the Giardini di Augusto (Garens of Augustus) sounded really nice and it looked really close to the anchorage so we aimed for that.  Now when looking at the map it just looks like you go up a few rides and then walk to the east and run right into it… not so much.  You got to Via Krupp which at first glance looks like a nice paved road that takes you along the cliff and will end at the garden… what one doesn’t see until it’s too late is the switch backs that are required to climb because the garden is located at the top of a cliff.  I have to say that the views were phenomenal, and the sense of accomplishment was great at the top, but that climb up kicked my butt.  Once we reached the garden it was nice, but not very big and there were a ton of people up there that we didn’t see climbing with us.  There was a bus we could’ve taken into the city and then walked to the garden from there.  Oops. 

This is the view from the top looking down at the switch backs we climbed to read the Gardens of Augustus.  At least it was really well paved which made it a little more pleasant.

This was the central statue in the garden.  It was commissioned in 1997 and is “Afrodite a Capri”.  Like I said the garden was really beautiful, but not great.

John, Jenny, and I at the top of the cliff.  The rocks behind us are pretty much the identifying land mark of Capri.

On the search for this bus stop after we vetoed walking back down the switchbacks, we passed a number of high end stores including 2 Pradas, because one isn’t enough apparently, and a Versace, plus some very impressive hotels and restaurants.  What we found interesting was that we saw people actually climbing stairs while rolling their suitcases behind them.  If a person is spending money to stay in a hotel like that you would think the hotel would provide a golf cart service or a bus boy type of person to come and help carry the bags. 

Dinner was made on the boat that night.  We confirmed that the kerosene stove does work and made some lemon cello cocktails.  Lemon cello is a drink that was come up with in Capri. (Anyone who has seen Under the Tuscan Sun should know what I am talking about)  It’s made by taking the peel of a lemon and putting it in a bottle.  Then sugar, lemon juice, and pure alcohol is added and it’s left to ferment.  It’s pretty strong stuff.  Dad and I had it straight one night and couldn’t finish it because it was too much – one of those drinks that burns on the way down.  So we decided to mix it with tonic and that worked out really well.  It cut it just enough to make it really refreshing and good. 

Jenny hanging out at the second Prada we saw in Capri Town.  The model’s faces cracked me up.  

Everyone seemed to have fun in Capri and I am really happy I made the decision to anchor and stay there.

– Dad and I on the boat passing the rocks of Capri.  I give some major props to Jenny who was able to get a focused photo, with my terrible point and shoot, while balancing on the stern of the boat and bouncing side to side.