golden locks

Amaris Sails the Globe

40.51 N 13.11 E

Making 6.8 Knots under motor

Heading 103 Degrees True

Wind 1.5 knots variable

HOT HOT HOT

It will come to no surprise to those of you who know our 16 year old nephew Cody that his hours are a bit different than ours.  He usually rises around noon, makes a sandwich, stares at a wall for a few hours, takes a nap, and finally in the early afternoon he tells us about his previous evening hanging out with the locals until 2 in the morning.  At first, we would wake up like good little uncles when the zodiac came roaring back to the boat in the middle of the night - or on a few occasions in the early hours of the morning (I supposed we could have had him start the coffee for us?).  We had a few discussions about how we should put a kabosh to this type of behavior and mandate a more reasonable curfew - but we secretly were a bit envious of his ability to hang out with locals, build relationships and learn about the cultures of other kids his age.  Not surprising to us, most of the kids his age speak great English having studied years of it in school.  Cody takes after his uncles however with our knowledge of either French or Italian.

Nonetheless- I didn't decide to post an article about Cody's nocturnal habits - I am simply amazed at his HAIR.  Shawn's hair has of course turned from bleach blonde to super bleach blond with red undertones (that would be from his burnt scalp).  Mine of course looks the same, just a few fewer hairs each day...  and the occasional "distinguished silver."  Cody however has gone from dark brown to layered level of browns and blondes with amazing highlights.  Either one of two things has happened - natural sun, or he attended some fashion institute hair salon in the middle of the night on one of his recent escapades!  I suppose what little sun he gets during the day is doing him some good.

We just spent an amazing couple of days in Ponza - an Island off the coast of Western Italy.  As we are now sadly leaving as we need to continue our trek to Sicily.  I think we all could have stayed a week in Ponza enjoying the food, scenery, and shopping.  Who would imagine store after store all 400 sf with racks of fresh fruit, local (amazing) wines, and cases full of salumi/cured meats.  Unfortunately, we missed the fish monger-Fortunately the store we grabbed last minute provisions at sold "freshly made pesto" along with freshly stuffed sausages.  

Ponza, similar to the more well know Greek island of Santorini, is formed from the crest of a volcanic crater.  The cliffs of several of the sides of the island rise directly from the sea to 200-300 meters and have the appearance of soft white soapstone (I am sure it is likely sandstone).  We anchored near "inferno" bay where the evening sunset turns the white walls various shades of red.  I think the true stunning part of the anchorage was anchoring in 9 feet of water above glorious white sand seafloor.  The boat appeared to hover above the beach in the crystal clear water...  well it rippled a little after i did my cannonball!