Florence and Pisa from the Sea...Sailing up the Arno River

The Arno River goes all the way to Florence and we have heard that it is possible to sail up this river for at least two miles and that there are some very nice marinas along the river edge.   

Pisa is close by and Florence is an hour away by train.

There is a bar (not the kind that serves drinks) at the entrance and the pilot book is not a good place to go for instructions, as it is several years old and bars are ever changing.  We do know that it is shallow at the entrance and grounding is a very high possibility unless extreme care is taken.

Fishing nets are hanging in the air at the entrance to the river

SV Rio Luna have told us they have been in here this summer (They went in the front way as are more shallow draft than us) and also we have specific recent information from a local sailor who we have met at Cala di Medici on how to get in safely past the bar.  
 
Our instructions are to keep going north past the river mouth, taking care of all the fishing buoys which are sprouting from the water there like a field of asparagus.  Stay out from and parallel to the coast until you are level with the third mole you can see coming out from the shore, then make straight for the coast and turn again to starboard when you can see the church steeple through the gap in the mole on the northern side of the entrance to the Arno River.  Proceed to make your entrance through the gap in the mole lining up with the steeple as you go.

We follow the instructions to the letter and are in 3-4 metres of water right up until we are just about passing through the gap when it shallows out to 2.1m.   Quite a few local boats are coming and going through this gap, so we are re-assured that we have our instructions correct.  But this is a bit of a hairy moment as we need 2 metres underneath.  However, we are soon over the shallow part and proceed across the river to the south side and turn to motor upstream, searching for Arnovecchio Marina 2 miles inland.

There are lots of nets hanging over the river.
We soon find Arnovecchio Marina and its not long before we are parked right in the haulout bay and can look around us at wild ponies, ducklings and corn fields.

It is idyllic and peaceful with adequate facilities and very helpful people.  We are more than comfortable leaving the boat here while we go and explore, first Pisa, then Florence.

 

The bus stop is right at the gate

 Capn Buck likes the Leaning Tower...

Here we stay for the next 3 days of hectic activity as we make the most of our proximity to Pisa and also to the beautiful city of Florence.

Its lovely coming home in the evening to the river and the quiet. 

We meet two New Zealand backpackers on the train home one evening and regret not inviting them back to stay on the boat. 




There is so much to see, - graphiti and street scenes capture our imagination too....

Richard goes all arty...

Thank you Florence we love you....

All cultured out, after 3 days we head north for La Spezia, and on our bucket list this time is the Cinque Terre.