6: Italy, at last. Venice!

7th August 2008
Siesta time in Italy. 35 C in the shade and nothing moves. We are in the Lagoons to the East of Venice at the far North of the Adriatic. Here the seas are very shallow and not very well charted. The countryside is flat, marshy and mosquito infested. This is the land that Venice is built on. We have a deep draft and have already spent one night grounded. However, the people are so friendly that it more than compensates for the lack of scenery. In Italy everyone says hello – and I mean everyone (I had to stop because someone came up to talk!)
After Pula we spent a further week exploring the Istra region. After the rest of Croatia we found the coast of Istra over commercialised and less friendly. We did like Novigrad and made a couple of friends there. Novigrad was not what you would call pretty but it still had its fish and veg market in the heart of the town, unlike beautiful Rovinj full of craft shops and music thumping Porec.
Our first port of call in Italy was Grado – mainly because I thought the picture in our pilot looked interesting! It was not really like the picture but we liked it anyway. Our pilot was not very helpful regarding the approach to Grado and we gingerly followed a double line of wooden posts in depths of around 3 meters (we need a minimum of 2m) up to a “marina” in one of the canals that our book said was free for the first 48 hours – our sort of Marina! We found out why. In Croatia there are no tides to speak of and we have forgotten to take them into consideration. We were arriving at 4.30 in the afternoon to find the tide in full flood... going out over very shallow water and through a very narrow channel. On top of this the good breeze that had blown us to Grado at 6 knots was now blowing with the tide. Mooring in this narrow canal was stern too with the bow secured between two posts that were the exact width of the boat. How did people get their boats in!!!???
First I, then Andy, spent a while trying to reverse between two posts but it was impossible not to end up moving sideways at about 5 knots and completely missing! However, help was at hand – three Italians on a very large catamaran and two Austrians on a very small wooden boat invited us onto their “alongside” pontoon. What we hadn’t taken into account was their draft and as we came alongside we ran aground! We decided to stay anyway, our keel dug into the fine mud, and spent a very pleasant 18 hours waiting for the next daytime high tide, chatting to our two neighbours and exploring the canals of Grado.
Our next port of call was a spinnaker run to Caorle, just 30 miles from Venice and another sandy lagoon town. Again we had to negotiate uncharted waters up to a marina near the town centre (we haven’t been able to find anywhere to anchor so this is a very expensive time for us). This time we found ourselves in a marina village with 450 berths. This time we succeeded in berthing on only the second attempt as there was no wind or tide and Andy went to register at the office. He was gone some time and when he returned to the boat he had a big grin. The two women at reception had chatted him up, booked a restaurant, lent him two bikes, given him a map and told him where we should go and attempted to book us the marina in Venice. Wow – we haven’t yet found a tourist information office this helpful! On top of this “the glamorous one”, Andrena was going to join us at the restaurant later to check we had a good meal.
The meal was lovely though rather more expensive than we would have normally chosen (the restaurant was very posh with big shiny BMW’s parked outside, wine waiters and a named chef who cooked whatever we wanted) but Andrena had negotiated us a €20 each meal-deal and we probably paid much less than anyone else there. I suspected that Andrena had an interest in the restaurant and later, when she arrived with her very charming and handsome husband of 29 years, Bruto, I became more certain as they knew everyone there (I was wrong - it turned out that the second lady in the marina office was the owner). We were invited to their table for grappa and coffee and discovered that Bruto was a very interesting man who loved the English – hence our invite. He told us that he was 65 but I would have put him ten years younger. Until recently he was a test pilot, working for the European Space Agency and also flew with the Italians version of the Red Arrows. He still does a lot of sailing – and has raced and sailed in some pretty radical conditions and he regaled us with some hair-raising tales. He is truly an adrenaline junky.
Caorle has two very interesting churches and bell towers and lots of sandy beaches. It also has an intriguing and extensive fishing village on the mud flats of the estuary where the round houses are made of reeds. We cycled for an hour or two exploring this reed village, marvelling at the reed boat houses, the allotments, hens, ducks and manicured gardens. We have never seen anything like it in Europe. The one we were able to look inside was open plan with a large open bar-b-que like fire in the centre with kitchen sink, seating and beds around the edge.
Tomorrow we go to Venice where we are meeting Piers and Jenny. We are really looking forward to arriving in Venice by boat and now that we have had two places to practice our entry and mooring techniques we feel confident about doing the same in a very busy port.
12th August 2008
Our arrival in Venice was dramatic, but perhaps not in the way we intended. As the Palazo Ducale came into view the heavens opened and suddenly we were in 50m visibility with large hail stones coming at us thick and fast. Everything on the water (and it was like a motorway with boat traffic of all sizes and speed) slowed or stopped – including us – while we waited for the storm to pass. We had a while to wait and arrived, with relief, at our marina rather wet. That night we stayed on board and watched the most amazing electric storm over Venice.
We spent 72 wonderful hours exploring every narrow street and canal of Venice with Piers and Jen. Our biggest adventure was to motor our tender up the Grand Canal! About half way up a taxi-boat hailed us and asked if we were English.... I guess only the English are mad enough to attempt this feat... and gently told us that only Venetians’ are allowed to motor their boats up the Grand Canal. We, apparently, could use the smaller canals... so we did, weaving our way between gondolas and houses. Returning to our boat on Certosa Island, along the Canal di San Marco, around the South East tip of Venice, and then across Canal delle Navi later that night in the dark was exciting – but the least said about that the better.
We loved Venice and its art. We got up early every morning to beat the crowds and saw inside the splendid Palazo Ducale and the jaw dropping opulence of the Basilica di San Marco. We went to the opera and ate gold-plated (at €25 each they should have been) pizza and pasta. On Murano we watched glass blown and looked at amazement at some of the incredible glass art. The Venetians are lovely people, charming and not at all pushy – we bought nothing.
It was great to spend time with Piers and Jen. They are such a lovely couple though after next weekend will not see each other again until Easter. We also will not see Piers again until next year – in February or March if we make it to China or after his return to the UK in September.
Tomorrow we are meeting Roger and Thelma who are with their friends Nigel, Jean, Bill and Anne on holiday on a motor yacht in the Venice lagoon. It is great to be with friends and family after six weeks break!