The San Remo Old Town known as "La Pigna". This is the main street

28th August
We left San Remo on the  19th and after a couple of nights at anchor, arrived in Genoa on the 21st and secured a marina berth at the Marina Molo Vecchio right next to the town.  The Old Town is just across the road from the marina and is a labyrinth of narrow lanes with high buildings on either side.

As you would expect with a place with so much history, there is much to see in Genoa, from Via Garibaldi which is supposedly the worlds finest Renaissance streetscape, to a grand square with enormous fountains and an array of churches and palaces.  Unfortunately, much of the fine buildings have been allowed to deteriorate except Via Garibaldi which now dominated by the Worlds major banks and in good repair.  

From Genoa, we traveled to Portofino on the 24th in very easy conditions, arriving just after lunch into a stunning small harbour and probably the Worlds most expensive marina.

The marina is only small with lots of small boats permanently moored on buoys and only about 20 spaces against the harbour wall and while we were there, the range of boats there varied from a 220 foot motor yacht to a small yachts not much more than 30 feet.

A trip up the hill to Castella Brown is a must.  It is an old Castle that was bought by the British Consul General to Genoa in the 1800's, which he restored and lived in.  The name Castella Brown was adopted by the locals after the name of the Consul General.  The views from here are fantastic.  There were exhibits of hyper-realistic sculptures by Michele Vitaloni in the Castle and his work was both amazingly lifelike and prolific.

Portofino is a sleepy little village and after seeing the castle, the church of San Giorgio and the local housing there is nothing else to do but relax, which is quite easy!!

The trip from Portofino to our next stop at Porto Venere, was not exactly a memorable experience.  The seas in the Mediterranean do not seem to need high winds to kick them up.  Although the breeze didn't get over 20 knots all trip, we had very sloppy conditions with a 2 to 3 metre beam sea.

However, we were rewarded when we arrived in Porto Venere.  The bay between the mainland and Isola Palmaria is protected and the first view of the village is small harbour with pastel coloured houses dominated by the Churches of San Pietro and San Lorenzo and the obligatory Castle.  Although small, Porto Venere is a vibrant and busy little place and reminds us a bit of Calvi in Corsica.  It is also the closest marina to the villages of the Cinque Terre.

                                                                      The Harbour at Portofino

10th September
After a few days at Porto Venere, where we visited Cinque Terre and also took a ferry ride to La Spezia for a look around, we left on the 31st August headed off on a long day to cover the 80 nautical miles to the Isle of Elba.  We left on a beautiful morning at 6:30am and had an easy trip on flat seas, arriving at Porto Ferraio at 4:15pm.

Porto Ferraio is the main town on the Isle of Elba and a very lively harbour.  The recreational harbour is large with all the boats moored stern in to the harbour wall with the town and all the facilities just across the road.  The commercial harbour has a constant stream of large ferries from the mainland and also a working fishing fleet.

Porto Ferraio is famous as the town where Napoleon lived during his exile to the island after his defeat in 1814.  He apparently rescinded all rights to the throne of France for himself and his successors in return for relative freedom and sovereignty over the island.  However, the little general obviously couldn't be trusted because after 10 months he sailed from Elba to Golfe San Juan and marched on Paris and installed himself as Emperor again.

We hired a car and toured the island which is not that large.  Elba is a pretty and rugged island with plenty of mountainous areas and as a luxury in this part of the Mediterranean, beautiful sandy beaches.  It is also good for cruising as there are plenty of coves to anchor in depending on where the wind is coming from.

After Porto Ferraio we anchored for a couple of nights before going to Porto Azzurro on the eastern side of the island.  We loved this town, it is a very small fishing harbour with lots of life and plenty of tourists, mainly families.  Anyone who visits must try the grilled or baked fresh fish (usually sea bass or sea bream), it is superb.

After a few nights at Porto Azzurro, it was time for some peaceful anchoring again.  We left for Golf di Procchio on the north of the island as southerly winds were forecast.  Procchio is a large bay with a few small settlements and long sandy beaches.


4th October
Once our tour of the Isle of Elba was complete, it was really just a case of getting the boat back to Portosole Marina in San Remo, which would be it's home over winter.  We had plenty of time so we decided to make it an easy trip with day sails and a couple of side trips along the way.

Our first real destination was La Spezia so that we could take a side trip to Florence and also a return visit to the Cinque Terre, which is a magical place.  On our way to La Spezia, we stopped for a couple of nights at Cala de Medici, a nice new marina, but in the middle of nowhere!!

Florence was as beautiful as ever but full of American tour groups, which surprised us.  I think Trish got it right when she suggested that now high season was over, the low cost tours start.  Still, we had a great trip and enjoyed seeing all the magnificent architecture again (we were there in 2005).

Also while in La Spezia, we had another day along the Cinque Terre, this time we did it by train having previous used the ferry.  Anybody coming to this part of the World should definitely pencil in Cinque Terre for a visit, we have even contemplated a futre week or so in a hotel there.  Although again, the ubiquitous tour groups were there this time when they had not been during our previous visit only about 3 weeks before, adding weight to Trish's theory.

I'll give a forward apology to Americans reading this ....... but you have to love the way Americans throw themselves into things.  The walking groups were mainly American and they were all decked out in their new outfits; quality hiking boots (it appears you have to wear black socks too, not sure why?), baggy shorts, oversized back packs with clips and lanyards holding all sorts of gadgetry and water bottles and of course a pair of walking poles were a necessity (which kept getting caught in the paving).  So what's wrong with that you might say ........ well most of them only walked from the railway station in each village to the nearest Trattoria for a coffee and pastry and then back to catch the train to the next village!!

Our next stop was Loano, which also has a new marina, which is as yet unfinished, but it is close to a beautiful little town and the staff were really friendly.  Being off season, there were only a few tourists there.  From Loano we caught the bus to the Caves at Troiano, an amazing complex of caves with the remains of prehistoric bears and some footprints from Neanderthal Man.

The final leg was a 4 hour cruise to San Remo, which we did on the 1st October.  The boat is now secured in it's berth for winter.

So that's all for 2011 folks ....... to be resumed in April 2012, when we hope to cruise down through Corsica, Sardinia, Tunisia, Malta, Sicilly, Greece and arrive in Turkey for winter.