Our time in Venice is short, but very lovely in this amazing place. We say our farewells to Amee and Michael and ride the speedboat shuttle back to Vento Venezia on the island of Certosa at 11pm on Sunday10 August. It is quite a buzz flying across the still water in the darkness.Our departure next morning via the fuel berths is accompanied by some moments of confusion as the chart plotter maintains "no fix" mode for quite some time. We negotiate the channels successfully and very carefully and are eventually fuelled up and chartplotter back on line as we depart leaving Lido to starboard.
Our destination is Chioggia in the southern part of the lagoon, where we will meet up with the Simrad Agent to get our VHF radio sorted out. We motor the 3 hour passage, trying to sail for a while but the wind is not on our side today. The entrance is tricky but not as tricky as the marina which is pole berths and almost impossible to turn and reverse Matelot in the small space. Richard's patience is tried and a few words fly, but we eventually tie up. The VHF agent provides us with an English manual for the boat and instructs us on its use. It turns out to be operator error, but who would have guessed it from the conflicting instructions in the on line manual. The marina is brand new and completely empty. We cannot access water and have an issue with shore power as well but eventually get lit up. All for E65 for the night and we wonder at the price when we set off to walk into town for dinner and have to circumnavigate the canals to the nearest bridge which is quite a walk, when it would have taken 30 seconds to cross the canal at the back of the marina in a shuttle but none is provided for by the marina.
This is a pretty little fishing town which we enjoy for the evening. Our provisions are low as we have not visited the supermarket in Venice, so the next morning we decide this is the moment to get the outboard going on the inflatable and we motor into town to shop. The canal where we "park up" is very calm except for when large boats motor by leaving large wakes, at which time our small tender behaves like a rubber duck in a bathtub. I run in and out of the supermarket and baker and we beat a hasty retreat back to Matelot to head for parts north of Venice in the Laguna Morano. We are looking for an overnight anchorage as it is "time" for another first.
We are so spoilt in NZ. Our anchorages are protected and plentiful. We spend our first night at anchor in a spot called Lignano, moored on the edge of the channel, not too close to a row of piles marking shallow water. Very flat water and the fresh wind is predicted to drop overnight to 5-10 knots. We chicken out initially and call in to the marina, but become more stoic about anchoring out when quoted E85 for the night. We read in the pilot book that this area is not desirable to enter or leave in a SE gale and we wake in the morning after a good sleep to freshening SE up to 20 knots so decide to get out fairly quickly. This is an interesting experience which I will not say much about, just that we leave with two other similar sized yachts for company and they both turn back! The water shallows up over the bar and is not helped by the steep sea state, but we are soon in deep water and safely heading back to Isola, with an improving sea as we go. We have a magnificent sail - absolutely magnificent. Our old sails are on their last outing but they perform very well.
Richard is ecstatic as we romp across the northern Adriatic and Gulf of Trieste back to Isola, to be greeted by news that the Friday night storm has wreaked havoc here, seriously damaging 30 per cent of the yachts in the marina. The Russell Coutts 44 which we were parked next to up on the hard stand has a smashed mast and Felix breathes a sigh of relief to see us safe and sound! See the before and after pics.
Captain's Comment:
It is four months now since we departed New Zealand. Pretty much every moment has bought something new and exciting and we are now ready for some quiet, relaxing cruising! However, I suspect that each day will continue to be a day full of surprises and demands that challenge us to the max - but it is good for us and keeps us on our toes! I am sitting here in the yacht club in Izola as yet another storm breaks. My weather web site (meteo.hr) tells me that we can expect 35 - 55 knot winds from the SE and heavy rain over the next 12 hours. This is an area where you have to be on your toes as far as the weather is concerned and that is part of the learning curve for us - obtaining up to the minute and accurate weather forecasts. I'm glad however that we are in a marina tonight rather than anchored out. I don't think it would be very pleasant out in one of these storms - they are quite vicious if short lived, full of continuous lightning and crashing thunder. We depart for Croatia on Tuesday next and my weather "guru" tells me it will be fine and clear. I hope he is right! My thanks and continuing regard for my first mate. She has put up with a lot but seems as I do to enjoy the challenge.
Cap'n Buck
August 2008
2 comments:
Please, please ensure you are properly insured!
Whew! when do you stop and just "go sailing"? Reading your adventures is mind-blowing. What boring and ordinary lives we are living "down-under" Love from us both, Pam and John
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