Venice

At 6:00am on the 19^th July, we cast off the Customs dock and motored out on glass. This can be a dangerous crossing when the Bora blows down from Trieste, but for us the only danger was falling asleep.

We are finding the Italian east coast very different from anywhere we have been in the past four years. There are no islands and the coast is featureless. 

No mountains and shallow seas. Without electronic navigation aids it would be very difficult to work out where we are.

It was not until we came right up on the entrance to the Venice waterways that we could see from the channel markers where to enter and what to follow. Fortunately our lives were made so much easier thanks to our Aussie mates who preceded us, told us which marina to book into, which water bus to catch to visit the police and port authority to check in to Italy and how to get around.

We had the 7^th flag raising ceremony since the beginning of this adventure and it was about time, there is not a lot left of our Croatian flag.

At 3:15pm we moored alongside in the very new part of Marina Sant Elena on the northern tip of Venice island itself. 150 Euro per night plus 15 Euro for power and water… 

I suppose it is Venice.

Checking in was a schlepp. Packed, water bus to the southern end of the island where the cruise ships doc. Once again made easy by our mates, really not sure how much longer it would have taken without their help. Phil and I went to do the check in while Al and Erwin scrubbed the boat inside and out.

That evening we water bussed into Piazza St Marco. Now I’m sure a few of you reading this blog have been there. I was there as a back packer but it is simply breathtaking. The decadence is hard to describe today, the thought of what it must have been like in the days of the Roman Empire is awe inspiring. It is vast and magnificent and crowded…..

We decided to get away from the square to eat, found a place, ate and on our hunt for a nice bar got completely lost. It’s ok guys, just find a bar and ask… Would you believe in a town like Venice, they were all shut at 10:30. All four of us had a different idea of which way to go and I think it was Erwin who led us out of the darkness.

We wanted a tour of the little canals and while Al the Google Meister was searching he came across a deal where we could register our dingy for 10 euro and get a navigation chart of where we were allowed to go. Now that was the go and the search for these agencies begun. After hours of walking and searching and realising this information was out of date we ended up at the Mayor’s office.

What blew me away was the only person who could speak English was a young man with Cerebral Palsy. Imagine how tough it was for this guy to negotiate all of life’s hurdles and manage to learn a second language. He explained that I would need to prove that I was a Venetian resident and the office providing the permits was only open till 12:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays… it was 12:30 on Thursday..

Well we had our 40 Euro 3 day water bus passes and decided whist refreshing ourselves at a water side bar at Ponte Rialto that that was how we would see Venice.

The following day Al and Phil headed in and Erwin and I decided to head to Lido Island for a swim. The island forms a huge break water for Venice and is where all the beaches are. We are spoiled in Australia when it comes to beaches and clean water is all I have to say about that. 

We joined the boys in Venice for lunch and more exploring.

On Friday evening we were joined by Giovanni and Chiara, a couple who frequent the heli-ski lodge Al works at in the winter. We had planned to go out to dinner, but they’d had to drive from an hour north of Venice after work and arrived too late for that. All knocked up a delicious spag bol and the party ended at 3:00am! They stayed the night and we managed to talk them into coming sailing with us to Chioggia 15 miles down the coast the following day.

It was a very slow start, we cast off at 12:05 on the 22^nd July for a leisurely trip down the most interesting of canals to Chioggia.