We arrived in this little bay yesterday afternoon and decided to stay for today. There were only a handful of sailboats here this morning but now, at lunchtime, we’re in the middle of a little Italian vacation village on the water, so to speak. There are well over a hundred little and bigger motor boats anchored around us, sometimes tied up to one another in little packs. People swimming everywhere, paddle boats, floating toys, you name it. Everybody is enjoying the fabulously clear water and the grand scenery with quite a number of caves in the rock faces. There are also a couple of beaches ashore with colorful umbrellas stacked in precise rows. But come 7 pm, all of that will be gone again and we will share the anchorage with just a handful of traveling sailboats. We were a bit concerned last evening about the disco we could hear gearing up at 6 pm, but either they stopped early, or the land breeze swept the sounds away!

After Agropoli we came to Acciaroli, another low key fishing harbor turned into a marina. We arrived at 2pm and were told “full”!! Strange, because the docks were pretty empty. But no problem, there’s a good spot to anchor just outside the breakwater in front of the town beach and we could still go into the harbor by dinghy and have dinner ashore. At 6 pm the procession started: one motorboat after another for an hour and a half until the entire harbor was stuffed full to capacity! There appears to be a standard distribution of responsibility on Italian motorboats when approaching harbor and docking: The men drive - preferably at high speed and creating large wakes until the last opportunity for slowing down - get ready on the dock lines, etc. The women do not budge from their tanning positions on the foredeck and aft deck cushions until the boat is docked. It’s quite amusing to watch (but only if I’ve brought the swim platform up to safety before the armada arrives….).