Chioggia to Pasaro - it's lonely sailing along this coast

Chioggia is only 20 miles south of Venice. We headed out far enough to make the coast line indistinct and the water deep enough to safely sail then turned south. At some point on the journey I lost my plot (literally) and took an entrance one before we were meant to and how fortuitous that was…

Once we got inside the outer islands we were able to turn south again and follow a narrow channel for a good 10 miles down to Chioggia. 

All the houses along there were painted different and lively colours, there were fishing huts on stilts in the shallows, and the bay waters were calm. So uniquely attractive.

On arrival in Chioggia it took ages to be allocated a spot in the harbour and we had a new mooring method. It involved reversing between two posts barely wide enough for the boat, tying to those posts as we reversed releasing line as we went back onto the pontoon, tightening the stern lines at the appropriate distance then tighten the lines from the poles in front. Easy said unless you’ve misjudged the distance between the poles and the dock and have to hastily add line to line which ran out as we reversed. Luckily there was no wind…. 

Now we know.

We discovered that Chioggia was having its annual fish festival, which is a big deal here and the town slowly packed out. Our Italian friends showed us the whereabouts of their favourite restaurant and caught a water bus back to Venice. That evening we spruced up and headed into town. 

It was seething. The fish festival consisted of a number of high speed canteen/cafeterias along the central promenade and the queues would have been a hundred meters long!

Not for us... We headed to the favourite restaurant and watched an 8 seater table leaving. A not too friendly waitress refused to give it to us unless we were 8. Luckily with the little Italian I have we managed to invite another foursome to join us. The waitress didn’t seem happy but conceded. The meal was great and her demeanour improved as the boys poured on the charm. A late evening walk revealed yet another pretty town.

At 11:11 on the 23^rd June, we cast off and sailed for Ravenna some 55 miles away. Ravenna was good for three things..

• It is a huge safe marina. 
• The marina area came alive our first night there. 
• Thanks to the late arrival of some parts for the engine, in the safety of the marina we endured an almighty unpredicted storm which we might well have been caught in out there.

A very polished Polish blues group in the middle of the street. A beer popup serving really nice beer with free truffle flavoured chips and snacks. A BBQ cooking mixed meats. Combine these and you have a recipe for a great night. We did.

Our starboard engine has been overheating. We checked the impeller, the doodad that pushed cold seawater around the engine to cool it. It looked mangled so we changed it. End of problem? No. We figured we had the wrong impeller and the lady from Volvo Penta confirmed this so we ordered more. A day later they arrived and were identical to the ones we have, just a new part number. The engine is still overheating so we’re thinking blocked inlet hose but in these waters there is not much we can do about that without flooding the boat…

At 2:20 on the 26^th we cast off and sailed for Cesenatico. The most beautiful town I have ever visited. That is a big call but it is literally breathtaking in the way the towns folk have presented it. It just reeks of civic pride.

We forgot to call on arrival and as we approached the junction, in a very narrow canal, where we turn for the marina the coast guard came alongside in a rib and asked what we were doing there. 

We explained we were looking for a spot in the marina, which we could see was tiny and blocked by a swing bridge. They gave me the radio channel to call but didn't fancy our chances. A smiley voice came back with “Sure we have space, I’ll open the bridge.” 

Gingerly we eeked our way in and alongside a pontoon just inside the swing bridge. Such a cool spot.

Aperol Spritzers and relax before the evening stroll. The photos above say it all. Just incredibly beautiful.

10:45 on the 27^th we headed out into traffic in this tiny canal. I had to reverse twice to get out of the way of incoming fishing boats and it is obvious they don’t have boats like ours very often. The canal was lined with onlookers all the way out to the heads. Summer Amy did us proud.

A 28 mile run to Pesaro, another long run in and up river we moored alongside in a large unattractive bay opposite the Coast Guard who had directed us in by radio and asked if I could visit them with our papers.

An hour and a half later I emerged after this guy took every piece of information I could give him, right down to the engine numbers. He then photocopied everything having already written it all down. Pecking with two fingers at the keyboard and constantly answering the phone…. It took longer than any check into any country and we weren’t even checking in! Then after all that we were not charged for the night on the dock??

A long walk into the old town revealed a better place than our first impressions. I love sitting in an outdoor restaurant on the edge of a large piazza with a cold glass of wine and Italian food and watching their world unfold in front of me. 

We still have lots of that to look forward to.