We left Nettuno at 07:45 in a reasonable swell but no wind, albeit it had been forecast and we were looking forward to a nice downwind sail. It was not to be ,hey ho, that’s Med “sailing” for you. It was a 45 mile, 8 hour motor. The wind did eventually kick in as we approached the promontory about a mile from Gaeta but to be honest it wasn’t worth hoisting the sails just to bring then down again said the skipper, it was also approaching beer o clock !
Passing the promontory at Gaeta and the lighthouse built into the cleft (bottom right)
The area the marina is in is called Port Sant’Antonio and shares the area with a naval base. The old village on the promontory was so severely damaged in WWII that it was virtually abandoned afterwards and a new town was built on the isthmus.
The old quarter seen from our approach
The old quarter around the harbour of Porto Santa Maria is a wonderful place: the streets, vaulted passageways and winding steps rise steeply up the medieval village to the cathedral originally built in the 1106.
We went for our usual exploratory stroll
Finally a picture of the marina in the background and the old town in the fading sunlight.
