29th July, Umag to Venice
My foot feels a lot better even though I have not been able to stand on it for 3 days and just as well we had such a good spot in the Marina where I could see all the boats coming and going, a nice breeze blowing through the boat from the ocean and poor Stan running up and down the stairs to get me cold compressors for my foot and feeding and watering me.
The boat is quite a good place to be with a sore foot as everything you want is on board but the crew decided when they returned from Slovenia and the countryside that I needed to be closer to the facilities so they arranged to move the boat and Ida wheeled me up the jetty on a trolly (see photos).
We left early in the morning and had a wonderful trip across to Venice. I did get hold of Stefeno, Sue's friend in Venice, and his marina does not take boats as big as Affinity but he is endeavouring to make some enquiries for us at various places including St. Georgio's Venice Yacht Club on the island of St. Georgio just opposite St. Mark's square right in the centre of Venice.
Arriving at the entrance of the Vanizia Lagoona at 2.30p.m. was a good time. The Vaporettas (canal ferrys) were quiet at siesta time and all the big liners come in before 8am to deposit their 3,000 passengers each for a days shopping a sight seeing.
Well we did it!!! We got into the St. Georgio's Venice Yacht Club. A combination of Jan's staff card for the Fremantle Yacht Club, Stefano's contacts or the Boxing Kangaroo we dont know or care but we are in and it is a magnificent location. Stan did one of his most spectacular navigation jobs getting us here through some of the most complicated navigation paths we have ever seen. What with all the ferries, boats and liners coming through here it is a very busy stretch of water. (see the photos)!
As it was only about 3pm when we finally berthed the boat in the Yacht Club Jan and Peter went off to sightsee and also to work out how they are going to get to Rome to catch their plane on 2nd August. Ida and Leo were busting to look around as they have both been here before but not for a very long stay.
They all arrived back very late exhausted as it is very hot and the crowds in Venice are amazing. Considering at least 3 big cruise ships come in and deposit over 3,000 people each to go shopping and sightseeing for just one day. Not to mention all the tourists who come by car, train and planes.
30th July, 2005 Venice
My foot is still extremely painful when I put weight on it so Stan and I decided I just shouldnt attempt to get off the boat yesterday. It was entertaining enough sitting in the cockpit watching the traffic in the canal. We had to come in bow first and put a ladder down from the anchor to get onto the jetty. Then you have to walk right around 3 jetties to get to the ferry stop. Stan went for a walk all around St. Georgio's island there is a big old church, a seminary and the small yacht club office. Luckily we had plenty of food and drink on board and I have my books and writing to amuse me.
The crew decided it was possible to get me off the boat by way of the rubber dinghy. My foot felt much better and of course I was dying to see Venice again. They rowed me across the marina to some verticle stairs and I managed to negotiate these and was at the ferry stop. Stan and I went for the long trip right around the canal then got off at the Realto bridge, a little hop around and a coffee, visit to the loo and hop to the next place.
Stan finally found me a table in the shade in St. Mark's Square opposite the Douges Palace where a band was playing some very nice Venician music and I sipped on a very cold beer ($10A) but where else could you get this view?
After a long lunch the hot sticky weather was getting unbearable and the crowds were building up again after the siesta we decided to take the ferry back to the boat. The colourful shop displays of Venitian glass, jewellery to kill for and of course all the wonderful Italian dress designer clothes, bags and shoes make for a very unique and interesting place.
Stan managed to bring over the dinghy and I got in and we rowed back to the boat to collapse in the cool cockpit to wait for the others to come back with all their tales of a day in Venice. Jan and Peter have booked to take the ferry from St. Geogios to the Venice Railway station then onto the Euroexpress to Rome finally the train to the airport all in one day - so all is well. They will fly to Dubai stay at the famous Shangrilah Hotel, it will be truely as the song says "boats and trains and planes are taking them home" all in one day!
2nd August, 2005 Venice to Ravenna
It is just Ida, Leo, Stan and myself now and we have plenty of time to get the boat back to Pescara to put it on the hard stand for winter. Leo has been very keen to visit Ravenna which is a famous town for mosaics going right back to the Bizantine period.
Our trip down the coast was uneventful the 4 of us are used to managing the boat on our own although we only had a short time on this boat when we delivered it to Rome marina before we left last year. It is a beautiful boat to handle and it has all the best equipment on it. Leo and Ida are very happy with it and the way it went this year the only disappointment was they couldnt get the watermaker working to make fresh water.Ravenna is a very slow laid back town after the hustle and bustle of Venice.
I could only manage to go to two of the churches where the mosaics are but they were both amazing. It was so nice to be able to view the ceiling in the church by just sitting on the pews and looking up without crowds pushing around. There was beautiful music playing and it was so serene. Unfortunately you cant take photos but if you are ever anywhere near Ravenna go see the mosaics they are worth the trip.
We went to a fabulous seafood restaurant right on the waterfront. We all had huge platters of mixed seafood and Leo had a big steak, wine and coffee for only E70 for 4 of us. A lot cheaper than Venice I can assure you.
It is pretty quiet now just with 4 of us on board so we decided to play 4 handed Euchre when we got back to the boat. Stan partnered Ida (who had never played Euchre) and Leo and I managed to trump them for a while but I think Ida is getting it sussed so we will have to watch out!
3rd August, Faenza (from Ravenna)
Last night we had a huge storm with lightening, rain and wind. Leo had some business to attend too so Ida Stan and I took the train up to the little inland town of Faenza. It was a nice hours run through very fertile farm lands. Katherine and her friend Kate visited a lady friend they had met in Florence and she invited them to stay and they really enjoyed their week there and Stan and I were quite interested to visit it too. It is famous for its ceramics and Ida loves ceramics too.
It is a delightful town and the big piazza with its arched collenades all around gives it a very laid back atmosphere (see photos). We wandered around the quiet town looking at all the wonderful ceramics but not being able to buy any as they do not travel very well in a boat.
4th August, Ravenna to Rimini
Fine weather, not a cloud in the sky so we are off down the coast to Rimini. There were a few swells but otherwise a short pleasant motor sail. There has been very bad weather in Sardina and Corsica so the swell we are experienced is from the south. The weather reports give us all the Mediteranean and the Adriatic so we can expect some more weather from the southwest.
Marina de Rimini is one of the mopst luxurious we hae experienced. Over 600 boats can fit in here and the facilities are exceptional. Thee is a local bus service into the town centre which is great for me as I am still walking with pain and great difficulty.
The town of Rimini was very quiet and sedate, not what we were expecting from the guide books. Leo found a very good Chinese restaurant, in fact Rimini has many Chinese restaurants something we have not experienced on this trip. We wandered around the old town as there were open markets in the main piazza. Rimini suffered also from extensive bombing during WWII, may be because Mousolini was born here and now buried here, Rimini was the home of Facism.
The night life, bars and transvestites we were lead to expect here became evident as we caught the late bus back to the marina and it went through this area and it was really hopping. A lot of English tourists come for the beaches and the night life and the cheap air fares makes it all more affordable.
5th August, 2005 Rimini to Ancona
We keep hearing ominus weather reports of gale warnings over the VHF radio. The weather is fine, the seas are smooth but we do feel the swell is getting bigger so pulling into the welcome marina at Ancona felt safe.
The marina here is even bigger than Rimini, over 1,000 boats of all sizes can fit in here. It is fairly bare at this time of the year as all the Italians seem to be in Croatia holidaying. However, there were still some yachts preparing to go to Croatia and they too had heard the weather reports and as the wind and swell was now coming from the northwest they were all waiting to see if it developed.
After we had tied up a very friendly English guy came up and introduced himself to us. He of course thought we had sailed the boat from Fremantle. He gave us copies of all the latest satalite weather reports and there certainly was a gale coming down from the northern Adriatic and due to hit Ancona in the next couple of days.
Over the next few days we were in Ancona we got quite friendly with this guy and he told us that his father was an Italian Electrical Engineer with Marconi in the late 1930's and had gone with him to England on some project but when war broke out they were interred Italy being on the wrong side etc. However, when the Americans joined the Allies they were working on the early stages of developing radar and found out these Italians were interred and President Roosovelt wrote to Churchill to ask for their release to work with them and they subsequently developed the radar which helped to win the war.
His father subsequently married an English girl but had always kept in touch with his family in Italy taking his son over for holidays with his cousins and making sure he could speak fluent Italian. So this guy comes over every year still to spend August with his cousins and their families and they all own several yachts between them and this year they were off to Croatia that is when the weather cleared.
10th August, Ancona to Pescara
We did have to spend several days at the Ancona marina as the big storm did come in with strong winds, rain, hail and the works. It only lasted a day and then the sun came out and the marina was empty. We left at first light and had a beautiful motor sail down the coast, not much wind but a reasonable swell.
As the sun was setting we arrived at the big marina at Pescara (over 800 boats). When Ida and Leo went up to present their papers to the Captanari they warned that we would probably be visited by 3 lots of police, the locals, the coastguard and the customs. We thought this was a bit unusual as we had entered Italy over a week before and nobody even battered an eyelid.
We met up with Luciano, the Beneteau agent, and he invited us to have dinner at the Yacht Club. He duly introduced us the the head waiter and suggested dishes from the menu, excused himself as he said he had to get changed and meet up with some other guests. We decided that we wanted an early night as we had been sailing all day and the Italians dont eat till 10 p.m. so we asked for our dinner at about 9pm. Just as well we did as the Italians did not arrive back to the restaurant until 10.45pm, just as we were finishing our coffees.
11th August, Pescara
We were visited by the 3 lots of Police each of them filled out forms, which had already been filled out at the Captanari when we arrived, and asked questions in broken English and us in less than broken Italian. We found out later that there had been some terrorist scare on the internet and the terrorist had an Australian accent so everyone was on the look out for Australians just as we sailed into Pescara with our Boxing Kangaroo flying high and our Aussie flag.
All seemed to be ok'd and we moved the boat over to the Danimar marina to be prepared for hard stand for the winter. Matilda was still in the water and when Leo told Owen he was furious as they had left nearly 3 weeks ago and were told it would be put on the hard the next day. Leo and Ida are not leaving until Affinity is up on the hard and locked in the secure yard with the guard dogs.
Our next task was to change our airline tickets back home as we are about 2 weeks earlier. Ida was able to get onto Emirites Airline and change their tickets to the Thursday after us but I had no luck with getting onto Cathay Pacific so Stan and I went into Pescara on the bus and emailed our travel agent and she was able to get us on the Sunday midday flight out of Rome getting us to Perth on Tuesday morning. It is a long stopover in Hong Kong but we will go to the airport hotel. Clare and Andrew Hubble offered for us to stay at their appartment but with my foot being so painful we will take the easier way.
13th, 14th and 15th August, 2005 Pescara to Rome
We took a taxi from the boat to the bus station, a very pleasant 2 hour bus trip over the mountains to Rome and stayed at the Raffael Hotel walking distance to the Termini where we caught the train to the airport. It was all very quiet when we left Rome as it is a big holiday for the feast of the Assumption no doubt St. Peters will be crowded but with a broken bone in my foot I dont think getting into a big crowd would be a good idea.
17th August, Scarborough
Back home to a very cold wintery day. But the big smiling faces of Katherine, Lewis and Nash at Perth airport was the best welcome we could get. Lewis asked Stan on the way home in the car "Grandstan when I grow up and go on a big plane will you come to the airport and pick me up?" We sure will Lewis and somehow I think we have started the next generation of the Travelling Duffys/Stocks/Margarias!
5th August, 2005
I have not been able to add too much to the website lately as I slipped on the deck, before any wine and while we were in port at Omag, Istria. I banged the side of my foot on the stauncheon and I may have cracked a bone. But I put RICE Rest, Ice, compression and elevation for a few days and now I can walk, very slowly, but we are really only passage making our way back to Pescara to winter the boat and Leo and Ida want to get some extras put on which they have waiting for them in Pescara and Leo wants to crack the whip on the Beneteau agent while he is still around.
We will come home a couple of weeks earlier if we can get a flight out of Rome, via Hong Kong, so we should be back well before the end of August. Dying to see everyone.
I have lots more stories to put on the website which I will enter when I get time and can find a decent internet place as we are out of the tourist areas now. SO KEEP VISITING THE WEB FOR MORE PHOTOS AND STORIES.
6th August, 2005 Rimini
The Marina de Rimini is one of the most luxurious we have experienced. It has over 600 mooring sites and beautiful amenities but we are a long way from these facilities as a 47 foot boat is in amongst the outside berths, this is common now the boat is much bigger than the 411 (42 feet long).
There is a good local bus service into the old town centre but Ida and Leo decided to get in one of their long walks so we agreed to meet in the main Piazza where there is open markets, music and the usual summer evening parade of people.
We had been led to believe by the Lonely Planet that Rimini was a very swinging town with lots of night clubs, transvestites and anything else a tourist would want. We found it to be a rather sedate centre with some nice old buildings and restaurants. This whole coastline was heavily bombed during the second World War and especially Rimini being the home town of Mousolini and a German strong hold. However, after a delightful Chinese meal, yes Leo spotted a Chinese restaurant he couldnt resist, we caught the special night bus home which went along all the night spots on the coast and this was definitely the area the guide book talked about.
