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The Scirocco Wind and the Final Moments of the Ships
(Punta Scifo A, Punta Scifo B, Punta Cicala)
It is worth describing, in this context, my own experience in 2006, of sailing
between Capo Colonna and Capo Rizzuto. There is nothing like traveling in a 5 m-long,
undecked launch to help one understand the real dangers of the sea and the way it
affected seafarers in antiquity. In 2006 the sea was unusually rough for mid-July in
southern Italy, and more than once it was impossible to reach the archaeological site by
boat due to the erratic winds and resulting choppy seas. The mornings typically began
with a light north-easterly wind, known locally as Grecale, but by midday the stormy
Ponente or Libeccio would blow in from west and south-west, only to die down
suddenly by late afternoon (Fig.15). More than once our team was forced to take shelter
in a protected bay and wait for the wind and sea to subside. This experience taught us
what the ancient mariners must have been all too familiar with: unpredictable and ever-
changing winds around Croton. Even though the area offers endangered ships shelter in
numerous protected bays, the entire coastline is totally exposed to the destructive action
of the southerly Scirocco. This may explain why so many ships were wrecked along this
coastline, and why the Punta Scifo A and Punta Scifo B shipwrecks lie with their bows
oriented to the north, while the marble carrier smashed on the rocks of Punta Cicala is
oriented along an east-west axis. 61 The captains of these three ships saw the harbor of
Croton on their starboard side, and would have gladly reached it, if only they could.
61 See Chapter II, pp. 58-65; Chapter III, pp. 74-5 for additional information.
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