Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishAll seemed peaceful and serene as we sailed past what, from afar, looked like a great craggy molehill. A whisp of smoke from the top of it was the only reminder that this was (and is) an active volcano.At which point there was an almighty eruption – not from on high but from me.For an Italian patrol boat suddenly appeared from nowhere, ordered us to halt and lower our sails and then threatened me with arrest unless I coughed up £270 – pronto.Over many years of European travel, I have acquired the odd parking ticket and one speeding fine.But I have never been apprehended at the wheel of a boat (especially one bobbing along at jogging speed).My crime, however, was to sail too close to the west coast of Stromboli, the remotest of Sicily’s Aeolian Islands.The gloriously-named Stromboli (it sounds like a circus act or an ice cream) is home to 500 people who live on the slopes of a volcano which spits and splutters all year round, drawing a steady stream of tourists by ferry. Robert Hardman visited Sicily’s Aeolian Islands. Vulcano, pictured, is 20km north of Sicily and located at the southernmost end of the Aeolian islands Stromboli, pictured, is located north of Sicily and is one of four of Italy’s active volcanoesA few weeks before our arrival, a particularly violent emission had spewed rocks and larva down the uninhabited side of the island, hence the temporary two-mile exclusion zone on that shore.It was clearly no big deal as there were no warning signs and we had merrily sailed past the Italian patrol boat half an hour earlier, waving at the crew as they sat at anchor having lunch. They could easily have alerted us with a parp of a horn but preferred to wait and watch until we were inside their no-go zone before whizzing alongside to hand out a fine.All our protestations met with a Sicilian shrug.It was the only blip during an otherwise glorious week among these seven dramatic islands which lie 20 miles or so above Sicily.Less well-known (and less crowded) than the islands of Greece or Croatia, they are each very different.Ultra-chic Panarea draws in the celebs in their superyachts. You can enjoy some fabulous early-evening people-watching as the smart crowd come ashore for cocktails.Our favourite was lush Salina, with its vineyards and little fishermen’s huts hacked into the cliff face of Pollara, the prettiest spot on our entire voyage. Some, like Filicudi, are barely inhabited (it was a high-security prison for Mafia dons in the Seventies). As you might expect from its name, Vulcano, like Stromboli, has an active crater, casting a not-unpleasant whiff of sulphur over its tree-lined shores and pretty little restaurants. Panarea was popular with artists and intellectuals during the 1960s. It is the smallest and oldest of the Aeolian islands Salina is the second largest island in the Aeolian archipelago. It is known for making sweet Malvasia wineEasily the best way to enjoy them all is from your own boat. Chartering a yacht for a week is no more expensive than a villa or hotel, except the view changes every day and you can hop straight from your bed into waters as pure as any in the Mediterranean.Easily the best way to enjoy them all is from your own boat. Chartering a yacht for a week is no more expensive than a villa or hotel, except the view changes every day and you can hop straight from your bed into waters as pure as any in the Mediterranean.We hired through Borrowaboat, who have a worldwide database of 50,000 boats for all budgets. We wanted something big enough for my wife and I plus two children, aged 15 and 12, plus three family friends for a week. For £750 a night, you can hire a boat like our Oceanis 48 with four double cabins, three loos (with shower) plus a useful double bunkroom for extra storage. Borrowaboat will also supply a skipper, too, for an additional £170 per day. Since I am a sailor, we didn’t use one (although if we had, that local expertise might have spared us from that £270 fine).Our galley (kitchen), included a decent-sized fridge with ample room for drinks and ice on top of the essentials. Our daily routine was a leisurely breakfast and swim before sailing (or motoring) for a few hours to a sheltered bay for a long lunch. At the flick of a button, the yacht’s transom would fold back to create a generous bathing platform with a very-useful deck shower.On a couple of evenings, we would find a quiet bay and cook on board. Otherwise we would stop for the night near a village and motor ashore to a restaurant in the dinghy. The larger towns have marinas which charge crazy sums for an overnight berth (one wanted £200) and other places will try to charge you £60 just for tying up to a buoy. Unless bad weather is forecast, avoid them all and just drop anchor each night for free, as we did.You really do feel you are sailing through history among a chain of islands which appear in the greatest works in both Greek and Latin – Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid. Robert and his family hired their yacht from Borrowaboat.com. You can choose to hire your own skipper to sail the boat too, for an extra £170 a dayAfter dropping the boat back in Sicily, we treated ourselves to a couple of days on dry land before catching the flight home from Catania.I can’t recall a finer sight anywhere on earth than the view from Taormina’s clifftop Roman amphitheatre. Then we walked next door to Belmond’s Grand Hotel Timeo for lunch on a terrace with its own, very different place in literary history. After his wife’s fling with a local mule driver, it’s where DH Lawrence started writing Lady Chatterley’s Lover.BORROWABOAT offers seven nights for a Sicily-based three-cabin yacht (sleeps six) from £3,500 (borrowaboat.com, 020 3318 3641). Easyjet flies from Luton to Catania daily from £234 return.
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