Tuesday 8 July 2014 - Riva di Traiano

We have decided to stay here and get the furling gear for the genoa fixed.  Richard has read up the instruction manual and it suggests two possible problems.  The first was that the halyard was too tight.  So he made that loose and the sail unfurled and came down.  But that is not the real problem.

The second suggestion is that the backstays are too loose.  Since we took the backstays off when the boat came out of the water, we are certain this is the problem.  Last year when we undid the rigging, we painted lines on the stays with nail varnish to show up to what point they had to be tightened.  But those lines have now disappeared and we had no more nail varnish to mark them again when we were lifted out.  Richard tried to tighten them as much as he could, but we are pretty certain this is the problem.

So Richard goes to the chandlers who organise someone to come.  We are told they will come in the morning.  So despite the weather being pleasant, we just sit on the boat and wait for the repairer to come.  Of course, no one comes.  So we have a light lunch and ask again; this time they say he will come at 3:00pm.

In the meantime as we are here for another night we decide to have a blow out meal at the two Michelin rosette restaurant in the area.  We will have to take a taxi.  The driver who brought us back last night gave us his number.  So we organise reservations to eat at Il Pelicano and to be taken and delivered by Gianluca (the taxi driver’s name).  I am really looking forward to this.

The mechanic comes on time and also agrees that the problem is loose backstays.  It takes him about 45 minutes to give each side 15 more turns and hey presto, the furling gear works.  We ask if he can connect our navigation light, but he doesn’t have time until tomorrow.  We hope to leave by then.

So off we go to our posh dinner.  The restaurant is in an hotel listed in Leading Hotels and is very beautiful.  It is typical Tuscan buildings all painted brick red and tiered down the hillside to the sea.  The restaurant is set up on the terrace.  We really can’t decide what to eat, so take the easy way out and have the tasting menu.  It is six courses (all small portions) plus we have 5 little tastes with our aperitif, an amuse bouche of a stuffed mussel to start and then a pre-desert.  Then of course there are petit fours with our coffee.  But there is also an extra treat.  I have seen sweet trolleys and cheese trolleys in restaurants, but this one has a chocolate trolley!  They come around with four huge slabs of chocolate, milk, white, dark 65%, and dark 70%.  What a delight! I have the menu and will scan and put it here on the blog when we get back home.

Back with Gianluca to the boat.  He is known everywhere.  The hotel know him, as does the marina.  He is also very reasonable.

We are a little later than we want.  We need to leave very early in the morning.  Very high winds are forecast for the next few days, starting tomorrow afternoon.  We have a 30+ mile journey to the next port, so a 7:00am start is needed.

The alarm is set for 6:00am and we get up and make ready to leave.  The weather is fine.  It is sunny and there is little wind.  We set off at 7:00 as planned and can’t sail because of the lack of wind.  In fact we begin to doubt the forecast, because for the first 4 hours there is no wind and the sea is like glass, though there is a slight swell.  But again it takes us by surprise when within 2 minutes the wind builds from 2 knots to 17 knots.  We put up the genoa and motor sail to keep up our speed, because all of a sudden the wind is getting stronger and the sea has become very lumpy and confused.  So we are really anxious to get in to port as soon as possible. 

We have these poor conditions for about the last hour of the trip.  The wind is touching 20-22 knots.  The sea is getting worse and worse.  Richard calls up the marina on the radio when it comes in to sight and thankfully they can find a berth for us.  The entrance to the marina is a bit tricky with the swell coming in, but the sea does flatten as we approach it and we get in and moored safely, with no problem.

This is another one of these large newish marina developments in the middle of nowhere.  There are a lot of empty shops and no food store.  I have more or less run out of fresh food on board.  I do have one duck breast which will do for dinner tonight, but nothing for lunches and only pasta thereafter.  So we wind up having a cheap and unexciting lunch in the marina and then go to try the supermarket we are told is about a half mile away.  The problem is not the distance.  The only way to get to the supermarket is by walking along the highway which has no pavement.  I am not keen, but needs must.  However, I do not want to walk back, especially with shopping.  So when we get there we ask if they can get us a taxi to take us back.  Instead they offer to drive us back.  The man who took us said he was coming in this direction anyway.  The Italians are charming!

Back at the marina I stop at a café to use their wifi while Richard goes back to the boat with the shopping to put away.  He is supposed to meet me at the café, but after 30-40 minutes he has still not arrived.  I am worried and go back to the boat.  It is chaos.  The wind is now blowing a force 6 here in the marina.  The wind itself is not the problem but outside the marina it has caused a 2 – 3 metre swell, some of which is coming into the harbour.  The boat is swaying all over the place, and the plank we use to get on and off keeps falling off the dock!  Richard is madly putting on more ropes to see if he can make it better.  It is a slight improvement, but we are not moving nearly as much as some of the other boats, so we doubt we can do much more.  Getting on and off is a real risk as the plank keeps moving all over the place!  Maybe we should get ourselves a real passarelle.

So we are on the boat for the evening.  We have had dinner and are both very tired after an early day.   It appears from the forecast we will be stuck here for at least the next three days and these winds are predicted to last until Thursday!  At least we now have some food.