Captain Ron's cruising notebook
Approach notes, berthing and anchoring detail, depths, VHF channels, shelter, fuel, and where to eat when the boat is sorted. Written aboard, from Croatia and Italy to Malta, round the whole loop of Sicily, and back to Malta for the winter. Where we have not been, it says so.
Home for the winter · back 16 October 2026
EVERYTHING ZEN finished the Sicily loop and is wintering in Malta, in the Marsamxett / Valletta area, until about mid-April 2027. Marina di Valletta, VHF 13, the Manoel Island shelter, Gregale, ferry traffic and fuel.
Read Marsamxett guideBeen there · 15–16 October 2026
The last stop in Sicily before Malta. The south-facing anchorage and why there is no visitor marina, the reefs and the Isola di Capo Passero anchoring ban, Marzamemi berths, the tonnara and the fort, red prawns, Noto and Vendicari, and the nearest chandlery in Siracusa.
Read Portopalo guideBeen there · twice, back 9 October 2026
Back on 9 October after the Taormina run, three months after a July week at anchor in Porto Grande. The approach past Capo Murro di Porco, holding and swell, berthing at Ortigia, dinghy landing, and the Portopalo corner warning for anyone leaving southbound.
Read Siracusa guideBeen there · twice, back 8 October 2026
Back on 8 October, coming south from Messina, after a buoy stop here in late June. Holding, depths, swing room, wind exposure, the Capo Taormina buoys, dinghy landing, and the bolt-holes for when it turns.
Read Taormina guideBeen there · 7–8 October 2026
An overnight on the north shore at Mortelle and a tide-timed run through the Strait. Currents and Messina VTS, the Torre Faro, Capo Rasocolmo and Capo Peloro lake anchoring bans, Marina del Nettuno, the noon astronomical clock, Ganzirri seafood and pitoni, and where to find chandlery.
Read Messina guideAeolian Islands · visited October 2026
The quiet island at the western end. The Pecorini a Mare buoys and why there is no safe all-weather mooring, the Bue Marino cave ban and 150 m rockfall lines, one temperamental cash machine, fuel and parts on Lipari, the Bronze Age villages on Capo Graziano, the Fossa Felci walk and which restaurants are still open in October.
Read Filicudi guideAeolian Islands · visited September 2026
The lighthouse of the Mediterranean. The Marina del Gabbiano buoys off Punta Lena, why there is no all-weather anchorage, the 2 NM Sciara del Fuoco zone, the 300 m rule, the 290 m / 400 m walking limits, the nearest chandlery and fuel, and how to watch the eruptions from the water without breaking any of it.
Read Stromboli guideAeolian Islands · visited September 2026
Small island, big reputation. Cala Milazzese and Drauto at the south end, the Basiluzzo and Lisca Bianca islets and their bubbling seabed, the Bronze Age village on Capo Milazzese, and what a yacht can and cannot do at San Pietro.
Read Panarea guideAeolian Islands · visited September 2026
The original volcano. Porto di Levante and Porto di Ponente by wind direction, the gas warnings, the status of the mud baths, the Gran Cratere walk, and Lipari next door for everything the island doesn't sell.
Read Vulcano guideAeolian Islands · visited September 2026
The Aeolian service island: shelter by wind direction, Pignataro and Marina Lunga berths, the Portinente buoys, fuel, supermarkets, hospital and the nearest boat bits. Plus the Castello, the archaeological museum, Filippino and the Stromboli-by-night boat trip.
Read Lipari guideAeolian Islands · visited September 2026
The green island. Anchoring off Lingua on sand in the posidonia, Marina Salina and the Santa Marina buoys, fuel, groceries delivered to Lingua, buses and hydrofoils—then the salt lake, capers, Malvasia, Pollara and the climb up Fossa delle Felci.
Read Salina guideBeen there · 21–22 September 2026
The Norman cathedral town on Sicily's north coast. Porto di Presidiana and its NE exposure, the 2026 Coast Guard anchoring lines, La Rocca and the Temple of Diana, the Mandralisca museum, where to eat, Castelbuono and Himera, and the nearest chandlers in Termini Imerese and Palermo.
Read Cefalù guideDestination research · 22 September 2026
Groceries delivered aboard at the marina, marine services, Roman baths, mysterious quarry discs and Villa Piccolo’s pet cemetery. Published sources; anchorage delivery and opening hours require confirmation.
Read Capo d’Orlando guideBeen there · twice, September 2026
Palermo's seaside village: Liberty architecture, a promenade walk, seafood, cocktails and provisions. We anchored here on 10–11 September and again from 16 September. Tender access still marked "confirm locally".
Read Mondello guideVisited several times, most recently five nights in the harbour in mid-September while the weather sulked. The port versus the beach, what a tramontana does to the bay, and the Zingaro coast next door.
Read San Vito lo Capo guideAnchored off Trapani at Ronciglio for a crew change in late August. VHF channels, transit rules, depths, an 80-tonne crane and two travel lifts, and which of the two harbours to run to when the maestrale fills in.
Read Trapani & Marsala guideHarbour berths and numbers, the marine park zones, seasonal buoy fields, anchorages sorted by wind, the maestrale rule, and why a 14 m boat is not a natante.
Read Favignana guideThe practical landfall on a coast with very few doors. Marina di Cala del Sole, anchoring in the roads on sand, the south-Sicily lee-shore rule, and the bolt-hole spacing between Licata, Porto Empedocle, Sciacca and Mazara.
Read Licata guideApproach, depths, shelter directions, the Corallo pontoon past the fuel dock, and the 13:00–18:00 window when the trawlers all come home at once.
Read Sciacca guideBerthing at Marina di Valletta, Pieta: VHF 13, the Manoel Island shelter, Gregale, ferry traffic, Msida fuel, and what living aboard through a Maltese summer actually costs you in sleep.
Read Marsamxett guideAnchoring at the Blue Lagoon: eco-moorings and Posidonia rules, day-tripper and ferry traffic, the North and South Comino Channels, and where the quiet overnight actually is.
Read Comino guideAnchoring at Ramla l-Hamra, holding, depth and exposure, the approach to Mgarr and its ferry fairway, and where to run when the north gets ideas.
Read Gozo guideA week at anchor in Porto Grande. The approach past Capo Murro di Porco, holding and swell, berthing at Ortigia, dinghy landing, and the Portopalo corner warning for anyone leaving southbound.
Read Siracusa guideA proper working port with a volcano behind it. Four yacht clubs and Blu Marina, depths, what a strong south-easterly does to it, Capitaneria contacts, fuel, the fish market and the trains.
Read Catania guidePorto dell'Etna: the adult berth below the volcano. VHF 74, 370 berths, fuel until sunset, mooring help around the clock, and a short evening hop from Taormina once the thunder settles.
Read Riposto guideThe prettiest open roadstead that owes you absolutely nothing. Holding, depths, swing room, wind exposure, the Capo Taormina buoys, dinghy landing, and the bolt-holes for when it turns.
Read Taormina guideOpen-roadstead beach anchorage, sand holding, dinghy landing caution, the train station, the Archeoderi synagogue site, Bova village above, and real marina fallbacks for when the swell wraps in.
Read Bova Marina guideA useful Ionian stop with old Greek swagger and one draft warning that has teeth. Porto Vecchio depths, Yachting Kroton Club, the Lega Navale fallback, the old town, and Capo Colonna.
Read Crotone guideAnchor down at the end of Italy's heel. Lighthouse, caves, the marina fallback, supermarket run, anchorage notes, and full end-of-a-coast recovery mode.
Read Leuca guideA working ferry port with a very good berth hidden inside it. Marina di Brindisi on VHF 08, Brindisi VTS and the commercial harbour, anchorage notes, chandlery, provisioning and the old town.
Read Brindisi guideThe Gargano landfall at the end of a 62-mile Adriatic crossing. Marina di Vieste approach, VHF 06, depths, wind exposure, fuel, provisioning, laundry, the old town and the sea caves.
Read Vieste guideThe last address in Croatia. Nature-park buoy fields and ticket prices, the INA fuel berth, Skrivena Luka and Velo Lago shelter, harbourmaster contacts, and the 62-mile crossing to Vieste.
Read Lastovo guideOne island, two harbours, opposite weather — and no marina on either. Town riva laid moorings and depths, port tariffs, the approach, fuel, the island's fresh-water limits, and Komiza's west-wind problem.
Read Vis guideWe took the quiet north coast, not the Hvar Town catwalk. The Vrboska anchorage and ACI marina, the Hvar Town buoy field and its anchoring ban, Jelsa and Stari Grad shelter, Pakleni, and where to run in a jugo.
Read Hvar guide