11/4/23 Marna Scarlino, Italy
Awaken at about 100 to thunder and lightning right on top of
us, the sky opened up and it rained hard. If that was not enough it let loose a
volley of hail the size of marbles for about 30 minutes. When you live in a
plastic tube hail sounds pretty bad. I expected to find a pock marked decks in
the morning. I got up to peak out at the hail storm, I could have probably made
a small snow man with the accumulation in the cockpit, but I would be pelted to
death in the process. As the thunder moved off into the distance I drifted back
to sleep. Sadly, the admiral was up for a while full of adrenaline.
In the morning the sun was shining bright and there was no
damage to the boat that we could see. In fact, this rain really cleaned the
boat and the hail was long melted away. We could see the boat next to us was
holding water on his decks, the scuppers were obviously plugged up from the sea
grass. We walked to the office to let them know so they could advise the owner.
As we walked the marina, we could see lots of activity as people were out
checking on their boats.
Back on the boat we had a text from our friends Bonnie and
Don who were now on the cruise ship in Malaga, Spain. The ship was diverting
south to avoid high winds and 6.9-meter seas. In the news there was flooding in
Pisa and the banks of Lake Cuomo were over run. Our boat neighbor, Fillipo,
arrived to clean out his scuppers and check on the boat. He came from Florence
where he reported more flooding. He did indicate that this was very unusual
weather, I was glad to hear that, not that it changed anything. We exchanged
contact information with Fillipo and learned a bit about him. Always good to
make friends with your neighbors when you will be leaving your boat for 3
months.
It felt good to enjoy my morning coffee with the sun on my face, the wind subsiding and temperature about 69. Suzette set about cleaning the stainless in an effort to mitigate the salt spray damage. I worked on fabricating the sunshade side panel that would attach to the bimini. I made most of it at home, but I needed to add the snaps and tailor the bottom attachment by hand stitching a slot for the stanchion and a hem.
Homemade lintel soup for dinner was a welcome warm meal.
Another early night in anticipation of a noisy night.
11/5/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
Another high wind night, gusts over 40 knots making the
usual racket. The morning was a little less wind and lots of sunshine. Tinkered
around the boat in the morning. We decided to do a big load of whites, sheets,
etc. in the marina laundry. They had big machines and a better dryer. Once we
got a load started (5 euros!), we headed to the chandlery with a new list of
things we needed to fabricate a bridal and dock line similar to others we saw
on the dock.
The best mooring system, in my opinion, was a short piece of
chain looped on the bollard, a shackle to close the loop, a line with a thimble
spliced into one end, a heavy rubber shock absorber laced into the line, the
thimble attached to the shackle on the chain and the bitter end tied to our
stern cleat. This acts as the main dock line with plenty of shock absorbance.
We will double up with the existing dock line loose in the event the main dock
line gets over extended or breaks. With rollers on the fairleads there is very
little chaff in the system. Add to that lines that criss cross the stern to
keep us centered in the mooring and it is pretty sound and stable at the stern.
The bow is secured with two 1” hawsers to a dead man.
The chandlery had everything we needed. The restaurant in
the marina was open so we decide to stop for a bite; a G&T, delicious
seafood salad and a fantastic Tiramisu for dessert. The laundry was still
drying so we visited one of the stores that, up until now, had not been open.
Beautiful nautical house wares and clothes. It was interesting to talk to the
proprietor and the resort manager who had wondered in. Everyone says that this
weather has been extreme and not normal, but they assured us that this was a
very safe marina and there were never any issues due to weather.
We gathered our laundry and headed back to the boat. I
enjoyed the sunshine as I spliced in the thimble and laced in the rubber
snubber on the first dock line. It is getting cool by 1600 and the sun is set
by about 1730, making for a short day. The wind continued until about 2100,
then died for a quiet night.
11/6/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
A calm night and a beautiful sunny morning with temperature
at 62. We turned on the heat for the first time this trip. That, hot coffee and
cookies warmed in the oven made for a very cozy morning. We broke out the bikes
and headed into town for several errands. First stop was St Lorenzo’s church to
donate some shoes, clothes and household items. The church is very simple, but
the iron columns and portico speak to the fact that this was a steel
manufacturing town at one time. The priest took our donation and inquired as to
where we were from and we enjoyed some nice conversation.
Next stop was on the outskirts of town, Brico Hardware Store. We needed an assortment of items, most importantly duct tape. They had most of what we needed and at a reasonable price. Last stop was the grocery store, Pam’s, for some fresh vegetables and bread. A large store with anything you needed. We made a bee line for the boat, about 5 miles, with our bags and bike racks full. I managed to zig when I should have zagged and fell over on my bike. Those little 16” wheels are hard to manage. A bit of road rash, but it will heel. Back at the boat we stowed our groceries and knocked out a couple chores with our hardware purchases. There always something to fix, improve or clean.
11/7/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
A bit more overcast and cooler, feeling like a fall day. The
yard sent a text saying my oil and filter were in so we walked over and picked
it up. I have been trying to sell my original Delta Anchor and engaged my new
friend Christo at the yard. He showed me an app, sort of craigs list of Italy.
We dropped our stuff at the boat and went to the Marina restaurant for espresso
and WIFI. It was an opportunity to catch up on my Blog, post my anchor and check
amazon for a couple items. Unfortunately, Craigs list of Italy wanted an
Italian phone number for verification.
Wish I could get rid of this anchor!
Back on the boat I finished the sunshade for the starboard
side, though we will not be needing it this trip. We walked back to see Christo
about an empty jug for my used oil and he came through. We made our usual
rounds checking out the boats and how they did things. A lot of the boats have
flexible solar panels, but mounted on a rack above the bimini. I prefer mine on
the bimini canvas, less visible and they have held up well in the high winds.
The sun did peak out for a bit in the afternoon, but sundown
comes early. Left overs for dinner in the countdown to eat up all our food by
the time we leave.
11/8/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
Up early to check weather and plan out the next few days. A
few more days of wind and rain then calm and clear for a few days…I hope. I had
planned to go out to one of the islands today, but the partly cloudy day quickly
turned to torrential rain. I have my list of things to do in order to properly
store the boat. So instead of cruising to an Island I systematically pulled up
the floor boards and cleaned and vacuumed the bilge. Suzette worked on
finishing the carving of the last of the Jamone and used the bone to start a
broth for soup. It is getting colder everyday so soup is a welcome meal.
By noon the rain stopped and the sun came out. It warmed up
quickly to the point were working outside I had just a pair of shorts on. We
cleaned and stowed the dinghy and the solar panels. The rain did a good job of
rinsing everything and, for a change, did not leave mud behind. With dinghy out
of the way I stripped the lines off of the retractable dinghy davits for
storage. Suzette cleaned and polished the SS grill and stowed it below. Beautiful sunset for the evening.
While Suzette worked on making a pizza, I worked on
finishing the cover I made for the cockpit table. I just needed to thread a
line into the hem to tie it in place. Our pizza was delicious; jamone, onion,
artichoke and an assortment of tiny mushrooms. This was the first pizza on the
stone cooked in the oven and it worked perfectly. Plus, the added benefit of
warming the cabin.
11/9/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
With the predicted weather we are tossing in the towel on
any more cruising this season and preparing the boat for storage. We depart for
Rome in 1 week for a few days of touring there. The morning did dawn bright,
sunny and calm. The cabin was 57 degrees making for a great night of sleep.
Suzette slipped the covers to turn the heater on and quickly crawled back under
the covers. It did not take long for the sun to warm the air and make for a
beautiful morning.
With the aft port lazarette empty I decided to tackle two
chores. The propane (Butane here) locker sits above the lazarette with a hose
dutifully connected at the bottom of the locker to vent the propane. I
discovered that there is a knock out on the molded plastic hose connection and
it was never knocked out. A quick job to undo the pipe and cut out the knock
out when you can actually get in the lazarette. Second job was to pull the
excess solar panel wiring through to the controller and properly cut the wire
down to the necessary length. When I modified the bimini the solar panels were
moved aft and I simply coiled the excess. Now satisfied with the installation I
cut about 20’ of wire out of the system which should result in less line loss
and more power to charge the batteries.
With the clouds building and rain predicted to start at 1500
it was time to clear the decks and get ready. The rain started at 1450, right
on time. We settled in below anticipating rain for the next 24 hours. We
enjoyed tea at 1600 and then I launched in to making a frittata for tomorrow.
Suzette made mac and cheese for dinner. It did rain overnight, but not hard.
11/10/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
A cold gray morning with rain off and on all day. We did
take a couple walks in between and during the rain, but mostly read and
relaxed. Homemade soup for dinner from the ham bone. The wind was high over
night, but only 25 or so.
A clear sunny day with plenty of wind. Once it warmed a bit,
I spent a few hours changing the oil and filters on the generator. A big job
due to the fact that you need to disassemble the box it is in to reach the
filters and drain the oil. The oil drain pump worked, but it was leaking and
making a big mess. After finishing the oil change, I disassembled the pump and
found a bad o ring. Amazingly, the chandlery had what I needed. We will test it
tomorrow when we change the engine oil.
Our boat neighbors, Fillipo and Diletta, were on their boat
and Suzette invited them for a glass of wine. This turned into an evening out
for dinner. They brought two friends, Andrea and Areillia, who had an Amel
Super Marimu, a great French made blue water cruiser. Fillipo and Andrea were
friends since childhood in Florence. The restaurant was about 16 km SE up in
the hills, a long winding road as Fillipo navigated the climb. It was such a
great experience to enjoy a local’s restaurant with local friends. The
restaurant was La Tana Del Cinghale (The Boar’s Den). I had the signature dish,
wild boar cooked on an open fire. We talked and laughed well into the night.
For a night cap Fallipo ordered Amaro, a favorite of mine for Black Manhattans,
but no one liked the Amaro served here. It tasted like nut meg, which explains
why they asked if we wanted it with sugar. I thought it was an interesting
digestive.
Beware...
A quiet night on the boat with light rain overnight.
11/12/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
The night’s rained continued well into the day providing a
good opportunity to change the engine oil and do the engine service. My
refurbished oil pump worked like a champ and made it a much less messy job.
The sun came out around noon so we decided to walk to the
little grocery store for two critical items; coffee and tonic. On the way
Suzette stopped in one of the women’s clothing stores that had previously not
been open. She had been drooling over a dress in the window. She tried it on
and, admittedly, it looked great so we bought it. The rain did return for our
walk to the grocer, but then cleared for the afternoon. I was expecting a visit
from a local sailmaker to take a look at my main sail, but he was a no show,
most likely due to weather.
It felt good to lounge in the cockpit and soak up some sun,
but by 1600 it is getting cool and time to go below.
11/13/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
Up early to meet with a local rigger and look at our main
sail. After some analysis and rework of the tack connection we decide to go out
for a sail and see what it looked like. The wind was light so we could easily
take the main out at the dock, but as we headed out of the bay the wind built
to 20 and the sea was broad side to us as we headed to Faro Isola Palmaiola for
a protected anchorage. I needed a place to dive the boat and check the zincs.
After about 45 minutes of getting beat up the admiral said turn the ship
around. We zig zagged back to the marina and headed in to the fuel dock to top
off the tanks. The fuel dock was closed. So, we went back out into the bay and
sailed to the south end of the bay and back with very little swell. The main
sail looked good so we called it done and headed in to the marina. By the time
we settled in it was 1630. We took a lot of salt water so we did a quick wash
down before heading below.
11/14/23 Marina Scarlino, Italy
Up early before the breeze and rolled out the jib to rinse
it off before we stored it for the winter. It was about 60 degrees and cloudy,
but it had to be done. Mid-morning had us heading to the fuel dock to top up
the tanks. The attendant there was pretty unfriendly and unhelpful, not the
norm here in Italy.
Back the dock with the tanks full it was time to get serious
about putting things away. While the jib was out trying to dry on this cool
cloudy day I worked on stripping the boom of its lines and blocks. Laid out all
the lines for drying, but, again, not a good drying day. Set up the dock lines
for the long winter. The sun did finally shine for a couple hours, but not
enough. Tomorrow is another day, but predicted to be windy, so the jib will
have to wait until Thursday. The wind picked up at the end of the day as the
sun disappeared and we rolled up our projects.
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