MAFWeiss
Well-Known Member
850 nm from Canet to Salerno and the Amalfi coast (in 3 posts!)
Please note part 2 can now be found as post #18 and part 3 as post #20 on this thread.
As total 'newbies' to sailing, my wife and I had spent our first season and a half on Gentileschi, a Prestige 550 Flybridge, enjoying the fabulous cruising offered by the Cote Vermeille and the Costa Brava based from a berth in Canet-en-Roussillon. However after several uncomfortable experiences with the notorious local Tramontana wind - including a very stressful prang in the marina - we reluctantly decided that we should look for a calmer locale for our boat. A chance return visit to the Amalfi coast on a beautiful day in January 2014 gave me the idea that this could be a great place to be.
View from above Vietri sul Mare looking along the Amalfi coast
So I visited the Marina d'Arechi just to the south of Salerno, a new marina still under construction. The location is fabulous, with great views of the Amalfi coast, and just 10 nm sailing from Amalfi itself and with Capri 25 nm away. I was equally impressed by the quality of the workmanship and planning that had gone into this project, and the management went out of their way - naturally to encourage me to join them. The upshot was that, and rather typically for me, I jumped right in the deep end and negotiated a deal to acquire a 77 year (!!) lease for a 21m berth in a position of our choice at the left hand end of this pontoon.
Under Italian law, a lease such as this is actually registered with their equivalent of the Land Registry, and should anything every happen to the Marina company, my patch of water still remains my property.
So on a rather damp and gloomy afternoon on Monday 28th July, the wife and I cast off for the last time in Canet and headed out to cross the Golfe du Lion to our first stop in Bandol.
This was the first time we had ever embarked on such a long journey on our own, so the excitement was tinged with a certain nervousness especially as the weather for this first leg was not exactly the best. Luckily the wind and sea was a following one, otherwise we would never have attempted it that day. Unfortunately I do not have our log book to hand, so what details I have are drawn from my diary.
We left Canet around 2.00 pm, and we completed the 140 nm crossing to Bandol at around 8.30pm. The last part of the journey was in much better weather, and we arrived delighted that we had successfully crossed potentially one of the most difficult of seas, but rather tired too.
Bandol is a charming little port and well worth a visit.
Unfortunately - and nearly disastrously - our departure from Bandol to Golfe-Juan was delayed by a broken lubricant seal on one of the engines which had to be repaired. So by 11am when we eventually cast off, the wind and seas that had been behind us yesterday had really got up, and indeed were even stronger - and to get out of the bay to get round the cape past Toulon we had to sail into them. The near gale force wind was so strong it started to lift off the sun cushions beside us on the fly helm, and combined with the high seas into which we were now crashing, Catherine became absolutely petrified and was convinced we were going to be flooded, sink and drown! Perhaps rather foolishly, I was determined to get through this. So with Catherine now in her lifejacket and in the salon and holding on for dear life, I was left on my own trying to steer with my left hand, whilst my right was trying to keep the large sun cushions from being blown away. It was foolhardy of me, but after what seemed like an eternity I was able to turn so that the North East winds and seas were now behind us. The rest of the 100 odd nm second leg to Golfe-Juan was relatively uneventful.
We decided to make Wednesday 30th a rest day, and we very much enjoyed exploring this relatively unspoilt small town. So after spending two nights in Golfe-Juan we made the short trip round to Cap Ferrat where we had lunch with friends at the Paloma beach club, before arriving at the marina in Beaulieu-sur-Mer where I had booked an evening meal at the Michelin starred restaurant on the terrace of the Hotel La Reserve close by the marina.
Sailing towards Beaulieu marina with La Reserve to the left
A bottle of 1978 Chambertin with Cap Ferrat in the distance
Friday 1st August we sailed passed Monaco and crossed into Italy.
Imperia
Once we had passed Imperia we then headed across the Gulf of Genoa towards our next overnight stay in Rapallo. The sea was beautiful and during the crossing we were joined by a school of porpoises, a wonderful sight that I had never seen before.
Land Ahoy!! The Ligurian coast comes into view.
The entrance to Portofino, with Rapallo in the distance
The following morning we began our long journey south down the coast of Italy, and our next port of call was Vernazza - one of the famous villages of Cinque Terre - where we moored up and got a water taxi to take us ashore for lunch.
Gentileschi moored outside Vernazza, with a stylish Monte Carlo 65 behind us
The view south from the top of the castle tower in Vernazza
Back on board, and after a little siesta, we sailed onwards to Tuscany and our next stopover in Viarreggio, passing the dramatic marble quarries in the mountains above Massa Carrara, and the fashionable beach resort of Forte dei Marmi, where I have stayed on many occasions over the years. To view it now from the sea was an interesting perspective.
In Viareggio we were given a nice berth with great sunset views.
We spent two nights in Viarregio, as the following day - Sunday 3th August - was our wedding anniversary, and my sister Debra and her eldest daughter Nadine flew into Pisa airport that afternoon to join us for week on the boat; and in the evening I took everybody out for a celebratory meal in Forte die Marmi.
To be continued!
Our journey continues with visits to Punta Ala, Gaeta before we finally reach the fabulous sights of Vesuvious, Ischia, Capri and the Amalfi coast
Please note part 2 can now be found as post #18 and part 3 as post #20 on this thread.
As total 'newbies' to sailing, my wife and I had spent our first season and a half on Gentileschi, a Prestige 550 Flybridge, enjoying the fabulous cruising offered by the Cote Vermeille and the Costa Brava based from a berth in Canet-en-Roussillon. However after several uncomfortable experiences with the notorious local Tramontana wind - including a very stressful prang in the marina - we reluctantly decided that we should look for a calmer locale for our boat. A chance return visit to the Amalfi coast on a beautiful day in January 2014 gave me the idea that this could be a great place to be.
View from above Vietri sul Mare looking along the Amalfi coast
So I visited the Marina d'Arechi just to the south of Salerno, a new marina still under construction. The location is fabulous, with great views of the Amalfi coast, and just 10 nm sailing from Amalfi itself and with Capri 25 nm away. I was equally impressed by the quality of the workmanship and planning that had gone into this project, and the management went out of their way - naturally to encourage me to join them. The upshot was that, and rather typically for me, I jumped right in the deep end and negotiated a deal to acquire a 77 year (!!) lease for a 21m berth in a position of our choice at the left hand end of this pontoon.
Under Italian law, a lease such as this is actually registered with their equivalent of the Land Registry, and should anything every happen to the Marina company, my patch of water still remains my property.
So on a rather damp and gloomy afternoon on Monday 28th July, the wife and I cast off for the last time in Canet and headed out to cross the Golfe du Lion to our first stop in Bandol.
This was the first time we had ever embarked on such a long journey on our own, so the excitement was tinged with a certain nervousness especially as the weather for this first leg was not exactly the best. Luckily the wind and sea was a following one, otherwise we would never have attempted it that day. Unfortunately I do not have our log book to hand, so what details I have are drawn from my diary.
We left Canet around 2.00 pm, and we completed the 140 nm crossing to Bandol at around 8.30pm. The last part of the journey was in much better weather, and we arrived delighted that we had successfully crossed potentially one of the most difficult of seas, but rather tired too.
Bandol is a charming little port and well worth a visit.
Unfortunately - and nearly disastrously - our departure from Bandol to Golfe-Juan was delayed by a broken lubricant seal on one of the engines which had to be repaired. So by 11am when we eventually cast off, the wind and seas that had been behind us yesterday had really got up, and indeed were even stronger - and to get out of the bay to get round the cape past Toulon we had to sail into them. The near gale force wind was so strong it started to lift off the sun cushions beside us on the fly helm, and combined with the high seas into which we were now crashing, Catherine became absolutely petrified and was convinced we were going to be flooded, sink and drown! Perhaps rather foolishly, I was determined to get through this. So with Catherine now in her lifejacket and in the salon and holding on for dear life, I was left on my own trying to steer with my left hand, whilst my right was trying to keep the large sun cushions from being blown away. It was foolhardy of me, but after what seemed like an eternity I was able to turn so that the North East winds and seas were now behind us. The rest of the 100 odd nm second leg to Golfe-Juan was relatively uneventful.
We decided to make Wednesday 30th a rest day, and we very much enjoyed exploring this relatively unspoilt small town. So after spending two nights in Golfe-Juan we made the short trip round to Cap Ferrat where we had lunch with friends at the Paloma beach club, before arriving at the marina in Beaulieu-sur-Mer where I had booked an evening meal at the Michelin starred restaurant on the terrace of the Hotel La Reserve close by the marina.
Sailing towards Beaulieu marina with La Reserve to the left
A bottle of 1978 Chambertin with Cap Ferrat in the distance
Friday 1st August we sailed passed Monaco and crossed into Italy.
Imperia
Once we had passed Imperia we then headed across the Gulf of Genoa towards our next overnight stay in Rapallo. The sea was beautiful and during the crossing we were joined by a school of porpoises, a wonderful sight that I had never seen before.
Land Ahoy!! The Ligurian coast comes into view.
The entrance to Portofino, with Rapallo in the distance
The following morning we began our long journey south down the coast of Italy, and our next port of call was Vernazza - one of the famous villages of Cinque Terre - where we moored up and got a water taxi to take us ashore for lunch.
Gentileschi moored outside Vernazza, with a stylish Monte Carlo 65 behind us
The view south from the top of the castle tower in Vernazza
Back on board, and after a little siesta, we sailed onwards to Tuscany and our next stopover in Viarreggio, passing the dramatic marble quarries in the mountains above Massa Carrara, and the fashionable beach resort of Forte dei Marmi, where I have stayed on many occasions over the years. To view it now from the sea was an interesting perspective.
In Viareggio we were given a nice berth with great sunset views.
We spent two nights in Viarregio, as the following day - Sunday 3th August - was our wedding anniversary, and my sister Debra and her eldest daughter Nadine flew into Pisa airport that afternoon to join us for week on the boat; and in the evening I took everybody out for a celebratory meal in Forte die Marmi.
To be continued!
Our journey continues with visits to Punta Ala, Gaeta before we finally reach the fabulous sights of Vesuvious, Ischia, Capri and the Amalfi coast
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