Tuscany Cruise
We left from Genoa with Mrs Gosnell and Robin onboard for the 80nm trip down to Livorno harbour. The trip down was uneventful with no fish and no wind. Once in Livorno harbour we then ran aground being guided to our berth by marina staff. After a lot of trying we were eventually pulled off the mud by 2 pilot boats and berthed on a commercial dock for the night. The next day we were guided into the Benetti shipyard marina where Cheryl and Stephen joined Timoneer. After lunch I went to the Pisa airport to meet Leslie and Jack. Meanwhile the rest of the guests went exploring the canals of Livorno’s old town by tender.
Sunday morning I went and picked up a rental van and we loaded it up with the mobility scooter and wheelchair, the guests and Jordi as my navigator. After a drive by the Italian naval academy in Livorno, we headed out into the beautiful Tuscan countryside past fields of sunflowers. We arrived at La Locanda del Toscano, an agriturismo restaurant, surrounded by vineyards and farmland. Here we indulged in many courses made from produce from farms in the local area. The friendliness of this family run place made for a very memorable meal. While we still could move, we all got back in the van and drove to Pisa and joined the crowds viewing the leaning tower. It is incredible that it still stands and also that such an amazing structure was built as a bell tower. We then headed back to Timoneer for a very light dinner.
At La Locanda del Toscana
Torre di Pisa
In the morning we left before breakfast for the 45nm journey to Elba Island. We tied up in Portoferraia by the old town walls. Some of the guests went wandering the streets of the old town before the afternoon heat forced them back to the aircon. In the evening the town comes alive when they block out the traffic and a market sets up all around the harbour. One of the reasons Elba became famous was because Napoleon was held here. In the town was his winter house and further out was his summer estate which the guests went and checked out by taxi. On their return we headed around the East side of the island past the old iron mines and dropped anchor for a swim in the beautiful clear waters off Ortano before then heading into Porto Azzurra for the night. This turned out to be a shoppers paradise both in the evening markets and during the day. The guests had a great time shopping in the morning.
Porto Azzurra
Wednesday we left and found an anchorage in Golfo Stella on the south side of Elba where we stopped for lunch. The wind started to pick up so we tried to go for a sail but the wind did not continue to strengthen and we gave up and went and anchored in Golfo della Lacona.
Fort near Porto Azzura
We left Elba Thursday morning and motored across to the Tuscan coast and anchored for lunch and a swim south of Cala di Forno. We got the stand up paddleboards (SUP’s) out and Robin and Stephen had a go. We then moved on down the coast to Tallamone where some of the guests climbed the castle in the small village. There were a lot of kite and wind surfers here and the breeze filled in nicely for a sail across the bay to Santo Stefano. We went stern to the town dock and had some religious ceremony taking place on the breakwater dock beside us. It seemed quite odd and disrespectful that there were guys standing around in their Speedos behind this ceremony and then we realized that the water polo court was behind the breakwater.
This guy was at the religious ceremony
After a quick shopping trip for sunglasses Friday morning we headed off to Giglio Island. This island was made famous 2 years ago after an Italian captain hit the rocks there sinking the Costa Concordia cruise ship with the loss of 32 lives. It was refloated and towed to Genoa 2 weeks before we arrived. There is still a lot of work going on there to remove all the structures used in the salvage. All the guests went ashore for lunch at the La Margherita restaurant. Some then went up to Giglio Castle, a village on top of the island. They returned with bottles of Asonica Passito, a locally produced desert wine which was pretty tasty. We motored back to the mainland and anchored off Argentario. It was a beautiful evening and we had a BBQ on the back of Timoneer and enjoyed the sunset. Some even saw the “green flash”. The swell changed and we had to run a stern anchor out in the last of the daylight which enable us to have a good night’s sleep without rolling.
Sunset
In the morning Robin and Stephen had another go at the SUP’s and got the knack of it. We got underway, fishing lines out, and headed for Civitavecchia 40nm down the coast. We didn’t catch any fish. It seems harder and harder to get fish in the Med. On the approach to the harbour we were passed by a massive ferry doing 20 knots. We then followed it in to the harbour past 3 cruise ships and finally made our way to our dock. Civitavecchia is the main cruise ship dock for Rome. Some guests went wandering and found the evening market along the seafront. Italy is known for its leather and Robin couldn’t walk by a lovely leather jacket.
Sunday morning and Jack decided a day of rest was required before the big trip home. The rest of the guests headed off with a driver to Rome and spent the day seeing the sights and shopping. On returning it was time to try and fit all their purchases of the trip in their suitcases ready to depart in the morning.
It was quite a different trip starting in a shipyard, finishing in a commercial harbour and a lot of beautiful places along the way. Stephen and Cheryl were first off at 4:30am and then Robin at 11:30. After lunch we took Mrs Gosnell, Jack and Leslie to the airport to start their journey back to Nantucket.
