The marina staff were very helpful and spoke English, explaining that we would need to call when we were out front for someone to lead us in and help us tie up. The depths were a little shallow so we were happy for the assistance, with 7.5 feet being the least we saw as we backed up to the pontoon to Med moor. The lines were a little short too, and half the chain was out of the water after we had tied off the stern and motored forward to take up the slack. (Hopefully the predominant wind was from the stern or else there was a possibility of getting pushed back onto the dock, which did have a big rubber bumper). There were a couple of large sail boats further down the dock so we figured it was quite a bit deeper where they were. This was high season in the Med, and this marina was the only one of the three that we had contacted that had gotten back to us. It was medium on price, had space for the time we wanted, and seemed secure. It was the staff that made it really awesome though.
After tying up and doing a boat clean, we had hose off’s on the dock and Todd walked up to check us in. He returned with a smile and said there was a nice bar/Ristorante/Pizzeria/Gelateria, and cafe, just below the marina office. There was also a dive center and a rental place for bikes, scooters, cars, and boats (if you so desired), and the bathroom facilities were large and clean..better and better this place is me thinks (to channel Yoda!).
It was a fair hike up there as we were located close to the marina entrance, and it was hot! Fortunately they served their red wine chilled when we walked up that evening around 9 pm. After the first wine on the bar side, the waiter was able to score us a seat at the Ristorante for the much-coveted Italian pizza! We were at an outside table and had neglected to bring our readers, so we just pointed at the menu and waited to see what showed up. The first one that arrived was a grilled octopus with red sauce, olives, and arugula and it was super! The second one was bacon, pine nuts and walnuts with garlic and cheese, which was also flavorful, (although we thought it was going to be something with anchovies.) We weren’t able to eat them both but did have a second glass of wine to help digest the cheese, and managed to get the “controllo” (check) sorted, before strolling back to the boat.
There is always an initial sense of relief after you get tied up in a marina, and then excitement to see what it’s like and what’s around you. You plan a big list of jobs to accomplish and you feel like you can rest without worrying. Fairly quickly you realize there is less breeze and a lot more heat, and you can’t just roll over the side into the water to cool off. Then you revamp the jobs list, and if you get one thing done a day, you’re feeling pretty accomplished!
Todd spent his last day going over the parts list that he would try and collect while in North America, and Valerio one of the nice staff at the marina office, offered to look into locating spares for the generator here. The newest items on the list were long stainless screws to fix the second step on the masters side, which snapped off when I was going down them the day before. (The bruise is impressive on my “starboard hull”). We walked up and located the nearest little market, and picked up a few supplies, including a little hand trolley to lug water back to the boat. I got some washing done which dried in a flash, and Todd packed a few items, (he always carries a spare shirt now after getting strafed by seagulls at both ends of the trip the first season!), and off he went to the airport in Cagliari. He would be spending the night in Paris, and continuing on to Vancouver with a seaplane back to the cabin on Thetis island the next morning. I would be boat sitting, figuring out the area, working on some Italian, and doing that one job a day, until he returned.