3/28/2024 Marina di Scarlino
The wind was howling in the morning as we listened to the
lines tighten and grown. Our neighbor arrived to oversee some work on his boat.
I was surprised when they took down the genoa in this wind, but they were
replacing the hydraulic furler. They worked diligently all morning as we
watched from the comfort of our saloon. Shockingly something had broken the
window on his fixed wind shield. It must have occurred last night because we
had not noticed it previously. The wind must have blown something into it.
The wind started to settle after lunch so we headed into town on our bikes to run some errands. 6 stops later we had found the Polyphosphate crystals for our water filter system and a new relay to replace the damaged one. Everyone along the way were very helpful suggesting places that might have what we needed. The polyphosphate was carried at the commercial plumbing supply house. The relay we found at an auto parts store specializing in race cars.
Our last stop was Conad to provision for our departure. We
managed 4 panier bags, a cooler bag and a knap sack full of groceries. Our
little bikes were loaded down for the 8 km ride home. Returning to the boat we
unpacked, stowed our bikes and enjoyed a fresh salad and bread for dinner.
3/29/2024 Marina di Scarlino
Up early with great anticipation for a generator repair
today. The technicians arrived promptly at 0930 and set to work installing the
new controller! They quickly had the new controller in and spent the rest of
the morning trying to figure out why it would not run. The conclusion is a bad
alternator which will require removal of the generator and sending the
alternator to Cummins. Looks like we will head to a marina near the Boma shop and
they will remove the generator on Tuesday. Once they send it to Cummins, we
will get an ETA on the repair and reinstallation of the generator. This is the
exact reason I bought a new boat, so I would not have to spend a lot of time on
repairs along the way. So much for that logic.
Philipo and Edwardo were on their boat also having generator
work done. Happily, they were successful. We bid them a tearful good bye, but
hope that one day our paths would cross again. Suzette gave them the customary
big Italian Easter egg we had bought. With the high winds there would be no
group sail and no Easter brunch for the group.
No generator means no clothes washer, so now we head to the
laundry with our mountain of clothes, bedding and towels! They have a clean and
efficient laundry here in the marina. While the laundry was in, we stopped at
the marine store for a fresh bottle of butane as we had run out yesterday. A
bit of reading on the patio and the wash was done. Having a dryer is a bit of a
treat. There is a dry cycle on the boat washer dryer, but it is not the
greatest.
For dinner we broke into the ham we bought, sliced some
asiago cheese and bread, made some egg salad had some creamy gorgonzola and
enjoyed a smorgasbord. Desert; Nutella and peach jam on a thin slice of bread.
3/30/2024 Marina di Scarlino
The wind blew pretty steady all night, but sleep came easy.
I am not happy about the generator situation, but we are resigned to make the
best of it. Another windy gray day, but things are opening in the marina today
so we did a bit of shopping, fortunately, no buying.
I discovered a series of hiking paths nearby so we headed
out for a couple hours of walking. It turns out that this is a very popular
spot for mountain bikers, hikers and even horseback riders. The trail we took
generally followed the coast with beautiful views to the sea as we ascended
some 400 meters. The goal was the statue of Garibaldi. He was an important
figure in Italian history, for us in California, Garibaldi is a beautiful fish
that we always find in the kelp. Garibaldi landed here when he was in exile and
on the run. The path was punctuated with beautiful blooms and the scent of
rosemary growing wild.
On the boat we enjoyed another hardy homemade soup and 5 cheese bread.
3/31/2024 Marina di Scarlino
Easter Sunday! It was overcast, breezy and cold, but that
did not deter the people from strolling with their families along the dock,
ogling the boats and enjoying family time. We puttered on the boat getting
ready to actually leave the next day. With the boat clean and stowed I decided
to do a little video of the interior, though I don’t think it can be posted on
my Blog. The sun peaked out so we siexed the opportunity to scrub the top
sides. It is amazing how much red clay gets deposited, especially during a
light rain. The fact that it blows north from Africa says that it will only get
worse as we move south.
The boat was as ready as it could be and still be at the
dock. The grocery store at the marina opened this weekend so we walked up to
pick up a few last-minute items, mostly alcohol. It turns out that the store is
associated with Conad so we were familiar with the brands and what they
carried. They did have a much better liquor selection, clearly catering to yachts
and charters.
Since we did not entertain guests for brunch, as we had
planned, we had brunch for dinner. Fried potatoes with Easter onions and bacon,
eggs over easy on warm 5 cheese bread and grilled sausage. To drink we enjoyed
a bottle of Prosecco with a touch of sweet cherry juice and a splash of St
Germaine. A perfect Easter dinner for two.
Some last-minute weather checks for tomorrow’s cruise showed light rain, calming seas of 2 to 4 foot and shifting lighter winds. Not ideal, but it was time to go!
4/1/2024 Marina di Scarlino
April fools’ day? It seems that this is not a thing here, or
if it is, we missed the joke. All kidding aside, we were finally getting
underway and heading to Porto Santos Stefano to meet up with the Generator
people who would extricate our generator. The day was gray with on and off
drizzle and light, but somewhat gusty wind from the southeast. I had forgotten
how much work it is the actual leave a marina; gathering electrical cords and
hoses, readying the lines, departure, stow the lines, stow the bumpers and set
the course. It felt so good to get underway and head south. The rain was
minimal and with light wind we motored south and ran the water maker.
Around noon the wind picked up to about 12 knots from the west. We unfurled the sails and silenced the engine. It took a little adjusting, but the main was looking good after all our tweaking. We were making good way so Suzette went below to prepare some lunch. Just about the time she came up with a tray of food and hot tea the wind piped up to 20 knots rather unexpectedly. We reefed the main and adjusted the sails as we were making about 8 knots.
Arriving at the harbor the wind was still blowing 20 as we
furled the sails. A great sail! As we rounded the jetty into the harbor the
wind dropped to about 12 knots as the harbor is surrounded by 4 story apartment
buildings and the hills rise up immediately. The docking was a bit tricky with
wind on our beam, but the Marineros was very helpful and we secured the ship.
The office was closed so we could put off our check in until tomorrow. We did
all of the new marina chores to properly connect the boat.
The rain seems to have ended so we washed the salt and new
layer of red clay from the decks. The town looked very picturesque, it was only
1700 and the sun was trying to shine. We cleaned up and headed into town, which
ran along the quay. There were a few shops open and Suzette found a bargain on
a new pair of white clam diggers. Further on there was a great chocolate shop;
Suzette was out of chocolate so we decided to give this new brand a try. As we
wondered to the west along the quay, we could see that we were getting into the
high rent district, lots of boutiques and restaurants. There was a huge Easter
egg in the square where the kids were posing for pictures. It was Monday, but
here in Italia that is the holiday for Easter.
We walk until the sun was setting and it was getting cold. Back on the boat we enjoyed a fresh pasta primavera and 5 cheese bread with a bottle of wine. With all of this fresh air and sailing I was down for the count in my calm and quiet bunk.
4/2/2024 Port Santos Stefano, Italy
We woke to beautiful sunshine and new views outside of our
ports. We waited with great anticipation for the generator technician who
arrived about 0915, no long drive this time as Boma is located her in Porto
Santos Stefano. They had the generator ready for removal by 1030. They were
arranging for a place for us to dock on the quay so they could bring in a hoist
and pick the generator out of the boat. Unfortunately, not until 1400.
We had some time to kill, so we went for a walk up to the
Castle high above the harbor. Everything in this town was terraced up the steep
slope out of the harbor. The Castle was not opened so we moved on to the byzantine
looking church down the hill. It also was closed. We had seen some art work in
the marina office that we liked and we had noted the artist’s name. We went in
search of his gallery. We found the gallery, but it was closed. It was more of
a studio and there was a number you could call to summon some assistance. We
were content to peak in the window see colorful fish and impressionistic sail
boat paintings, all very fun and whimsical.
Raffaellesco
We arrived back at the boat and readied the boat to motor
across the harbor to the quay. The quay was high and a bit ragged with only one
bow line. The mechanics were on hand to help, but they were clearly not experienced
marineros. Unlike the calm morning the wind had picked up and was hitting us on
our port beam as we backed in. We finally settled the boat and they positioned
their little truck mounted crane to hoist the generator. He was coming up a
little short on his reach and we were getting a bit of movement on the boat.
The generator had only a ¼” of clearance and we did not want to damage any
fiber glass. We were ready to toss in the towel and wait until the next morning
when it would be calmer wind. They called the boss and he came down to
supervise. He seemed to indicate that it could and should be done today, but
did not offer any real guidance, then he was gone. We ran additional dock lines
out for a wider and more stable support. We winched in the port line to bring
the stern to port and repositioned the truck. With the new position and a
stable boat we were able to remove the generator!
We extricated our selves from the quay and made our way back to our dock to tie up. We appreciated the more knowledgeable marineros as he quickly secured our lines and presented the sand line. We will leave the generator here for repairs while we continue to cruise, but we will have to return for the reinstall.
After cleaning up the boat and cleaning up ourselves we headed
to shore. I had spotted Kookaburra II up on the hard at the ship yard and
wanted a closer look. I do not think the name was a coincidence, this looks
like the 12 meter that Australia raced in the 1987 Americas Cup race. Though the Cup boat was Kookaburra III. Dennis
Conner beat them and brought the Cup home to the US. I could not get any closer
to it, nor was there anyone to ask about it. I could not find any info on Kookaburra II. I wonder how it ended up here
looking pristine and ready to race.
We picked up a few items at the Carrefour, a grocery store popular in France, but found all along our journey. They had some baking items Suzette had been in search of for a while. At the docks there were two fresh fish vendors, we bought a small whole Sea Bass for dinner on the boat. The day had been warm, take your shirt off warm, but it was cooling of quickly as the sun had dropped behind the hill. On the boat I stuffed the fish with lemon slices and squeezed lemon over it. I managed to cook it to perfection on the grill while Suzette prepared beans, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and cheddar to make a fabulous fish burrito. So good with a Gin and Tonic as we settled in for the night to do some trip planning now that we were free to roam. The weather for the next 10 days looked beautiful, fair wins, sunny and calm seas.
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