The 4th of July came and went without the customary fireworks; it seemed somewhat anticlimactic as at least a couple of us kept expecting fireworks somewhere, but alias, not so much as a sparkler! We did work in a bar-b-cue and toasted to Independence Day with some wonderful wine from Penisola Sorrentina, around where we had worked around Capri.

THY SEA IS SO LARGE ...... OUR BOAT IS SO SMALL

Our last day at Ponza as spent preparing for the journey north to Elba. The ISIS was prepared for the 16 hour tow and equipment stowed for sea. Annalisa Zarattini, of the Superintendents for cultural heritage for Lazio met with us to review our results for the time we have spent at Ponza. The discovery of 4 new wrecks around the Isle of Zannone was pretty spectacular and Annalisa was dully appreciative.

We gave the crew shore leave in shifts as we are at anchorage and preparations to depart must be complete by this evening before the evening meal. Some of the crew toured the Island in a little yellow, oversized golf cart and managed to get off the beaten path. Some observed it was a little like squeezing 10Kg into a 5Kg space as they negotiated the tiny back “lanes” up and down the hill behind the town.

Later that evening, Fortaleza raised anchor at slowly streamed the ISIS slowly behind to tow her and began the 16 hour transit to the north and our next set of challenges.