The trip to Pisa
We set off after getting free from the marine police and the sky was bright blue, there was very little wind so we thought the predicted force sevens and thunderstorms were just another case of the forecast being entirely wrong. Not so. We had the sails up as a gesture really for the first hour or so and then the wind died entirely but by this time we could hear loud rumbling coming from the mountains which made us up the revs a bit. We have learned the hard way now that if the wind dies that is OK, if it dies then does a 180° then it is time to be prepared for anything. On this day Ali had gone ff below to bake a cake with the girls which of course was all over the place when the wind and rain hit.
I managed to convince Ali it was definitely not gennaker weather so we put that away and then I was thinking we maybe still had a little too much sail up and amazingly Ali agreed so we took the main right down and ran with only the jib. You will know how windy it was when we were going 7 knots steadily with our smallest sail, I was just glad it was coming off the land so the sea was OK. This was also good as our intended destination the river Arno is dangerous with onshore winds and the next stop would have been another few miles. I was designated as the watch ‘as there was no point in two of us getting wet. I am glad to say we got all the way there with no hiccups and the cake came out really well too.
Force Seven, What force Seven??
The entry to the river is quite challenging as there is a thee knot current and the sands at the entrance aren’t charted too well, nonetheless we edged up slowly and breathed a sigh of relief when it got deeper again in the river. We had made contact with the Lega Navale marina earlier and called them again to say we were here and where would we go. It was here I realised why the first phrase taught on my Italian CD is ‘non ay possibilay’ as it was all I heard for the next ten minutes as we were refused from each marina up the river. They all had loads of space too which was quite frustrating when all you want to do is get tied up after a very long windy sail. In the end we decided to just try and tie up somewhere where we met the first person who was willing to talk to us and help. He said we could anchor in the river which we hadn’t realised and use his club to get water after the regatta left the next day. It turned out that the river is the best, calmest anchorage we have ever been in and we were glad we hadn’t forked out for a marina where we weren’t really wanted! The wind died, the sun came out and this was the view by sunset. Stunning.
The next day we caught the bus to Pisa which stops just alongside the river and costs only one Euro. We met some English girls on a hen weekend who pointed us in the right direction for the ‘Torre Pendente’ and off we went. You have to walk across Pisa town to get to the tower and it is a very nice old town with lots more than just its famous tower to see.
An old Roman wash house on the way.
Our first view of the tower as we walked towards it it is so funny to see in real life.
The tower is actually only the 3rd oldest building in the Piazza Del Duomo and the whole setting is quite stunning.
And of course the obligatory photo......
One last photo to show the squinty angle.
One disappointment was that when we went to the ticket office we found out that kids under eight are not allowed up to the top. To say there were two disappointed little girls was an understatement. We decided that Ali would go and I would stay with the girls not having a head for heights I wasn't entirely worried (and the ticket price was 15 Euros!)
So here are pictures of what he saw....
I would imagine my face would have been a little like this!
The steps are all worn on the lower side, Ali said it was a really strange feeling like you were almost falling over all the time.
The view from the top.
Back in town here is a pic of the river Arno a bit further up than we anchored.
A traffic calming church.
The next day we left the river as early as we could manage to sail 50 miles to Porto Ferrario in Elba. It took us about half an hour to raise and clean the anchors as they had been very well stuck into the mud at the bottom of the river. The marina guy who was in the race had told us it would be all medium Northerly winds that day, perfect.
We took lots of pictures on the way out of the river of the old fishing huts and nets. It was kind of like stepping back in time. It seemed that each hut was owned by one little old man who just came down and lowered his nets once a day for a few fish. The big nets are all on pulley systems which they lower down and then raise up when they think they have caught something. We saw a few fish in the nets that raised as we passed and were quite surprised.
A net being raised as we passed.
When they raise the big net, they bang a smaller net up and down in the middle to catch the fish then pull it in towards the shore, very clever.
At the river entrance, the huts are all on a broken down breakwater and the people have to take little boats across.
This one looks like it may not last just too many more storms!
When we got out of the river mouth it was a flat clam and Ali couldn’t believe it and nearly went on strike until the breeze did pick up and we had one of the most pleasant sails ever a nice steady 6 knots most of the way.
Goosewinging with Elba just visible in the gap.
Kaylee relaxing at the bow.
We got into Porto Ferrario just in time for tea the anchorage there is nice and big the only minor fault being the wash from the ferries is quite extreme!
Sunset Porto Ferrario
Dinghy ride to Porto Ferrario.
The next day was exploration day we went into town in search of Napoleon’s residence when he exiled on the island. He lived a luxurious lifestyle for someone who was exiled.
What a contrast with this a bed identical to the one he used whilst away on a 'campaign'
After that we went for a look at the old lighthouse on the point.
Porto Ferrario harbour.
We went down along the foods of the world fair that was on along the pier. We bought some Italian bread and olives etc but weren’t really tempted by this offer. The ‘Best of British’ repacked cheddar at 5 Euros a chunk, no thanks! It didn’t seem to be selling too well, no wonder when the French stall was quite nearby. The other thing they were selling was sets of crockery and I couldn’t even bring myself to take a photo of the ‘Princess Diana’ set, I mean really is that what everyone else thinks we all have in our cupboards?!
We left Porto Ferrario after two nights and anchored in a little bay eight miles further West along the coast. It was a nice wee spot and sheltered from the easterly winds. We spent the afternoon at a little beach and Kaylee got in some swimming, Alisha thinks the water isn’t warm enough yet and so just paddled and played on the beach.
That’s all we saw of Elba but it seems a very nice place, a great place to spend a day or two with loads of walks, fortresses etc.
Dinner outside, this was the day Kaylee began to go around naked in the boat because of the heat, poor thing she has nothing left to take off when it really does get hot in a few weeks!
This was the sunset on our last night at Elba. It was very nice as the sun managed to set between the two rocks over the Island of Capraia in the distance. The next day we were set off for Corsica.
We set off after getting free from the marine police and the sky was bright blue, there was very little wind so we thought the predicted force sevens and thunderstorms were just another case of the forecast being entirely wrong. Not so. We had the sails up as a gesture really for the first hour or so and then the wind died entirely but by this time we could hear loud rumbling coming from the mountains which made us up the revs a bit. We have learned the hard way now that if the wind dies that is OK, if it dies then does a 180° then it is time to be prepared for anything. On this day Ali had gone ff below to bake a cake with the girls which of course was all over the place when the wind and rain hit.
I managed to convince Ali it was definitely not gennaker weather so we put that away and then I was thinking we maybe still had a little too much sail up and amazingly Ali agreed so we took the main right down and ran with only the jib. You will know how windy it was when we were going 7 knots steadily with our smallest sail, I was just glad it was coming off the land so the sea was OK. This was also good as our intended destination the river Arno is dangerous with onshore winds and the next stop would have been another few miles. I was designated as the watch ‘as there was no point in two of us getting wet. I am glad to say we got all the way there with no hiccups and the cake came out really well too.
Force Seven, What force Seven??
The entry to the river is quite challenging as there is a thee knot current and the sands at the entrance aren’t charted too well, nonetheless we edged up slowly and breathed a sigh of relief when it got deeper again in the river. We had made contact with the Lega Navale marina earlier and called them again to say we were here and where would we go. It was here I realised why the first phrase taught on my Italian CD is ‘non ay possibilay’ as it was all I heard for the next ten minutes as we were refused from each marina up the river. They all had loads of space too which was quite frustrating when all you want to do is get tied up after a very long windy sail. In the end we decided to just try and tie up somewhere where we met the first person who was willing to talk to us and help. He said we could anchor in the river which we hadn’t realised and use his club to get water after the regatta left the next day. It turned out that the river is the best, calmest anchorage we have ever been in and we were glad we hadn’t forked out for a marina where we weren’t really wanted! The wind died, the sun came out and this was the view by sunset. Stunning.
The next day we caught the bus to Pisa which stops just alongside the river and costs only one Euro. We met some English girls on a hen weekend who pointed us in the right direction for the ‘Torre Pendente’ and off we went. You have to walk across Pisa town to get to the tower and it is a very nice old town with lots more than just its famous tower to see.
An old Roman wash house on the way.
Our first view of the tower as we walked towards it it is so funny to see in real life.
The tower is actually only the 3rd oldest building in the Piazza Del Duomo and the whole setting is quite stunning.
And of course the obligatory photo......
One last photo to show the squinty angle.
One disappointment was that when we went to the ticket office we found out that kids under eight are not allowed up to the top. To say there were two disappointed little girls was an understatement. We decided that Ali would go and I would stay with the girls not having a head for heights I wasn't entirely worried (and the ticket price was 15 Euros!)
So here are pictures of what he saw....
I would imagine my face would have been a little like this!
The steps are all worn on the lower side, Ali said it was a really strange feeling like you were almost falling over all the time.
The view from the top.
Back in town here is a pic of the river Arno a bit further up than we anchored.
A traffic calming church.
The next day we left the river as early as we could manage to sail 50 miles to Porto Ferrario in Elba. It took us about half an hour to raise and clean the anchors as they had been very well stuck into the mud at the bottom of the river. The marina guy who was in the race had told us it would be all medium Northerly winds that day, perfect.
We took lots of pictures on the way out of the river of the old fishing huts and nets. It was kind of like stepping back in time. It seemed that each hut was owned by one little old man who just came down and lowered his nets once a day for a few fish. The big nets are all on pulley systems which they lower down and then raise up when they think they have caught something. We saw a few fish in the nets that raised as we passed and were quite surprised.
A net being raised as we passed.
When they raise the big net, they bang a smaller net up and down in the middle to catch the fish then pull it in towards the shore, very clever.
At the river entrance, the huts are all on a broken down breakwater and the people have to take little boats across.
This one looks like it may not last just too many more storms!
When we got out of the river mouth it was a flat clam and Ali couldn’t believe it and nearly went on strike until the breeze did pick up and we had one of the most pleasant sails ever a nice steady 6 knots most of the way.
Goosewinging with Elba just visible in the gap.
Kaylee relaxing at the bow.
We got into Porto Ferrario just in time for tea the anchorage there is nice and big the only minor fault being the wash from the ferries is quite extreme!
Sunset Porto Ferrario
Dinghy ride to Porto Ferrario.
The next day was exploration day we went into town in search of Napoleon’s residence when he exiled on the island. He lived a luxurious lifestyle for someone who was exiled.
What a contrast with this a bed identical to the one he used whilst away on a 'campaign'
After that we went for a look at the old lighthouse on the point.
Porto Ferrario harbour.
We went down along the foods of the world fair that was on along the pier. We bought some Italian bread and olives etc but weren’t really tempted by this offer. The ‘Best of British’ repacked cheddar at 5 Euros a chunk, no thanks! It didn’t seem to be selling too well, no wonder when the French stall was quite nearby. The other thing they were selling was sets of crockery and I couldn’t even bring myself to take a photo of the ‘Princess Diana’ set, I mean really is that what everyone else thinks we all have in our cupboards?!
We left Porto Ferrario after two nights and anchored in a little bay eight miles further West along the coast. It was a nice wee spot and sheltered from the easterly winds. We spent the afternoon at a little beach and Kaylee got in some swimming, Alisha thinks the water isn’t warm enough yet and so just paddled and played on the beach.
That’s all we saw of Elba but it seems a very nice place, a great place to spend a day or two with loads of walks, fortresses etc.
Dinner outside, this was the day Kaylee began to go around naked in the boat because of the heat, poor thing she has nothing left to take off when it really does get hot in a few weeks!
This was the sunset on our last night at Elba. It was very nice as the sun managed to set between the two rocks over the Island of Capraia in the distance. The next day we were set off for Corsica.
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