Cardo
Well-Known Member
We spent a night here on our way to Greece this time last year. At the time, the marina was not fully functioning, so they charged a flat fee of €20 for any sized boat, which included water at the taps. Chap running the place was very friendly.
This year things are now fully up and running! As in, the only difference is they have now switched on the power so the shore power works. This obviously means they can now charge normal rates. For our 10m this was €30. Ok, not too shabby for Italian standards, although not exactly a bargain considering the time of year. SWMBO dealt with the chap first time and she doesn't like trying to haggle.
However, compared to when we were here last year where the place was nearly full and there was a good, crowded atmosphere, this year the place is relatively deserted. And I think I've found out why.
We arrived yesterday, with the intention of heading off this evening. Unfortunately, weather isn't great so we've pushed the departure off to tomorrow. The chap running the joint, Francesco, told us yesterday that unless we left this morning, we would be weather bound until Monday. I'm keeping an eye on the weather, and playing things by ear.
Francesco dropped by a few minutes ago on his rounds. He asked how many more days we were planning to spend here. I mentioned it depended on the weather, so we're planning to stay at least another night and see how things are looking tomorrow evening, and if required stay another night. This is when things went down hill. Francesco insisted on knowing how many nights we would be staying, he didn't like my one, maybe two nights answer. He then stated he had a reservation for tomorrow, so this is why he needed to know. Looking around the place, I asked if he had a large enough reservation that would fill up the marina, obviously he wasn't willing to answer this question. He then changed tack and asked when we were planning to leave tomorrow. I mentioned the evening, probably around 7pm. He didn't like this, either. He stated he would only allow us to stay until 2pm. He then proceeded to lecture me, comparing the marina to a hotel. Ok, no problem, we'll move to the transit berth and wait there until we leave. Again another lecture about the purpose of transit berths, and that this did not apply to our situation. If we wanted to stay that late, we would have to pay for another night. I asked him flat out where the transit berth was, but he refused to say. I pointed out a part of the quay with a couple of derelict boats on it and asked if we could go there for a few hours, and he said he was in charge of the entire harbour and he would charge us if we went there, also.
So anyway, I've told him he's not very nice and we won't be returning customers. The man is seriously lacking in people skills and I'm not surprised this place is a ghost town. We've never had a problem staying until 7pm when planning overnight passages, even in harbours that were reasonably full.
My advice, the place is ok as a one night stop if travelling between Italy and Greece, but the town is naff and Francesco's a plum, so don't stay longer than absolutely necessary.
This year things are now fully up and running! As in, the only difference is they have now switched on the power so the shore power works. This obviously means they can now charge normal rates. For our 10m this was €30. Ok, not too shabby for Italian standards, although not exactly a bargain considering the time of year. SWMBO dealt with the chap first time and she doesn't like trying to haggle.
However, compared to when we were here last year where the place was nearly full and there was a good, crowded atmosphere, this year the place is relatively deserted. And I think I've found out why.
We arrived yesterday, with the intention of heading off this evening. Unfortunately, weather isn't great so we've pushed the departure off to tomorrow. The chap running the joint, Francesco, told us yesterday that unless we left this morning, we would be weather bound until Monday. I'm keeping an eye on the weather, and playing things by ear.
Francesco dropped by a few minutes ago on his rounds. He asked how many more days we were planning to spend here. I mentioned it depended on the weather, so we're planning to stay at least another night and see how things are looking tomorrow evening, and if required stay another night. This is when things went down hill. Francesco insisted on knowing how many nights we would be staying, he didn't like my one, maybe two nights answer. He then stated he had a reservation for tomorrow, so this is why he needed to know. Looking around the place, I asked if he had a large enough reservation that would fill up the marina, obviously he wasn't willing to answer this question. He then changed tack and asked when we were planning to leave tomorrow. I mentioned the evening, probably around 7pm. He didn't like this, either. He stated he would only allow us to stay until 2pm. He then proceeded to lecture me, comparing the marina to a hotel. Ok, no problem, we'll move to the transit berth and wait there until we leave. Again another lecture about the purpose of transit berths, and that this did not apply to our situation. If we wanted to stay that late, we would have to pay for another night. I asked him flat out where the transit berth was, but he refused to say. I pointed out a part of the quay with a couple of derelict boats on it and asked if we could go there for a few hours, and he said he was in charge of the entire harbour and he would charge us if we went there, also.
So anyway, I've told him he's not very nice and we won't be returning customers. The man is seriously lacking in people skills and I'm not surprised this place is a ghost town. We've never had a problem staying until 7pm when planning overnight passages, even in harbours that were reasonably full.
My advice, the place is ok as a one night stop if travelling between Italy and Greece, but the town is naff and Francesco's a plum, so don't stay longer than absolutely necessary.
