Thursday 18^th June – On Passage – Isola Stromboli

38:49.190N 15:13.707E

We reached Stromboli at twilight as planned to see the spectacular sight of the active volcano behaving like a Roman candle firework in the night sky; it has been dubbed 'the lighthouse of the Mediterranean'.  The island is a traditional conical volcano rising to 925m, and is in an almost continuous state of activity, releasing pressure continuously rather than as a big bang.

We wondered if we would be alone out there as we had not seen any other boats en route; how wrong we were – just as we arrived at the north west face of the volcano where the eruptions are visible, approaching from the south-west, a flotilla of tourist boats came round the north east corner to join us and we all sat bobbing around in the darkening night watching for the periodic bursts from Stromboli.  The sunset behind us provided great contrast to the colours of the island.

As night drew on, the eruptions looked even better and you could see the lava flowing down the side of the volcano towards the sea, this is called the sciara del fuoco (or flow of fire).  After a particularly good burst, most of the tourist boats went away and so we sat in the night with the engine off just watching.  Once the engine was off it was also interesting to hear the roar as the eruptions took place.  Sadly, with it being dark, the camera could not do justice to the spectacle.  All in all, well worth the trip.

We left around 10.30pm, motoring as there was hardly any wind, and set course towards the Messina Strait.  We ate dinner late as we sat on watch. 

It is a lively watch tonight as much of the traffic is heading to or from the narrow entrance to the Messina Strait.  We have prudently offset our way point so that our path does not coincide with any of the large ships going direct.  Obviously this does not deter the fishing boats from getting in everyone's way as usual.

Isola Stromboli

© Pyxis 2009