any trip planned

[dabsolute470]

last year we went away for a week after x mass up the east coast and made our way to shotley / harwich for the new year and it was fab.
great fireworks..
prob do the same again this year woodbridge then syh, ipswich, and shotley then home to fambridge

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I suppose that mid of July is a tad late for an "early trip", but just FYI, going by boat at the so called "Festa del Redentore" in Venice has been one of my most remarkable boating experiences EVER. Highly recommended.

Looks fab but how does it work? With a private boat, can you just drop your anchor somewhere off San Marco or do you just mill around for the fireworks? Do you have to leave the lagoon directly after the fireworks or can you stay overnight? Can you go ashore from your boat and leave it unattended?
Talking about Venice in general, I've seen a couple of marinas in Venice itself whilst wandering about but are these open to visitors? Where's best to moor for visiting Venice? Can you just navigate freely within the lagoon or not?

 

[MapisM]

Well, it's been a dozen of years since my last Redentore night, so don't trust 100% what I'm saying, 'cause it's rather how it used to work, than how it actually works nowadays.

Anyway, yes, private boats just dropped the hook anywhere along Giudecca channel. How near to San Marco, it just depended on how early you got there, because well before the fireworks began, you could almost go from San Marco to San Giorgio walking from one boat to another...!
I never stayed overnight, and I don't think it's allowed. But considering the unbelievable amount of boats floating around that night, if you would stay in some place where the boat is not so obviously noticeable (i.e. not in the middle of the channel!), maybe the police won't bother telling you anything. And I don't think you would risk to be fined anyway, just asked to move, at worst.
In any case, I would definitely NOT recommend to leave the boat unattended and go ashore. Keeping an eye around and some big fenders handy is a must, unless your vessel is an old and rusty steel fishing boat (of which there's plenty around, that night!).

Marinas... That's tricky. In Venice, boats are everywhere, but the facilities for pleasure boats were poor, and I don't think they're much better now. There's a very small marina, right in the middle of the fireworks, in San Giorgio island, but you have much better chances to win the lottery, than find a space there for that night.
A bigger one, which as I heard is being restructured/enlarged, is in Sant'Elena island.
But the only one for which I have direct experience, having also bought from them one of my previous boats, is "Darsena Dec" in Mestre. This is a very good one, and also convenient to reach by car, but it takes more than half an hour from Venice, because you can only cruise at 6 kts or so along the lagoon.

Lagoon which, to answer your last question, you can in principle navigate freely (albeit obviously at slow speed). Where the access is restricted, there are indications. The key issue is that as soon as you go out of the main/bigger channels, unless you have someone onboard who knows perfectly where you're going, you'd better keep a very close eye on depth, and also carefully check the charts and tides.
Fwiw, the nicest island to visit in the lagoon is Burano, imho. Btw, there was also one of my favourite fish restaurants (Gatto Nero).

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Thanks for the useful info. Actually my questions about marinas were more general in terms of where to berth to visit Venice when the Redentore isn't on. Are there any marinas on the Lido?

 

[MapisM]

Are there any marinas on the Lido?

Not afaik. Everyone and their dog has a boat around there, but they're smallish open boats, moored along the endless docks.
Otoh, the Sant'Elena Marina which I mentioned before is right in front of the Lido, and actually even more convenient than the Lido itself for visiting Venice.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Ok thanks

 

[BartW]

Jan is possibly the worst month to wait for a weather window around the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian sea...
Unless you don't mind the risk of a long wait, I'd rather bring the boat there now.

well, also now the predictions are not good in these seas,
moreover,
we have planned a few more day's on the boat in the nice harbour of Cassis where she is moored until january,
oa new years eve.

we shall see what's happening in January, yes statistics don't show a good forecast, but statistics have been so much wrong this year that I will give it a try, and wind has been blowing so much the last couple of weeks, they must run out of wind by then

I am not in hurry, although I would like to sail her back to SOF around easter, and spend at least one more summer in SOF , ao exploring Cote d'azur