Sailing from Viareggio to Rome

Elba, view from Forte Falcone

Pisa

While docked in Viareggio, we caught a train for a day visit to Pisa. What an amazing city! The Leaning Tower is definitely leaning, we could tell as we climbed the stairs to the belfry. The views from the top are beautiful.

We also visited the nearby Pisa Cathedral and Baptistery, which date back to the 1100-1200's. The architecture is stunning, and the buildings are decorated with elaborate reliefs and sculptures.

Here is a map of our journey from Viareggio to Rome. The blue dots are where we stopped.

We left the Viareggio Marina at 8 am on September 29, heading south past the busy port at Livorno. We saw huge cruise ships, a small group of sailboats from a sailing school, and our first group of Italian dolphins. Sorry, no dolphin pic - by the time we got our camera, they were too far away.

We arrived at the marina at Rosignano Solvay, where we needed to have our water maker repaired. The dealer there was able to clean and service the machine, so we waited out the weather for a couple of days, then fueled up before sailing south to the island of Elba on October 4th.

Elba

As we sailed close to Elba, we could see the Portoferraio lighthouse, and the Napoleonic Mills House, one of two homes where Napoleon was exiled. (see the yellow house in the center of the picture below).

We arrived at the lovely Portoferraio Marina on the island of Elba. We couldn't wait to explore the island.

We toured Forte Falcone and the museum, and walked to the Napoleonic Mills House.

We were lucky enough to spot Batman's secret cruise ship - who knew it was in Italy?

We stayed in Elba for two nights, then on October 6th we left for the Punta Ala marina, where we planned to stay for a couple of days. We sailed across to the mainland, and saw many other sailboats out enjoying the beautiful day.

We made it to the Punta Ala marina around 3:30 pm.

We ended up staying here longer than expected, due to some bad weather that moved through. We did a little exploring, and even caught a bus to the neighboring town of Follonica to do some shopping.

We finally had a great weather window, so headed further south to an anchorage on October 12th. We motor-sailed with our code sail, and pulled into a lovely anchorage near Forte Stella at 4:00 pm. There were several boats around us, but as the afternoon wore on they left, one by one. We were all alone for a bit, then were joined by 4 sailing school boats full of young sailors that anchored near us.

We left this quiet anchorage before dawn, and motored further down the coast to our next anchorage near Santa Marinella. We were anchored in sand right off of a beach, and there were no other boats near us. No wind or waves, and we had a peaceful and relaxing evening.

We pulled the anchor up before sunrise, and set off on our final leg. The sunrise was spectacular.

We motored south toward Rome with no wind and calm seas, and the closer we got to the airport, the more smog we saw. There were many boats, and we turned up the Tiber River to get to the boatyard where we are storing our boat for the winter.

We docked in the river for a couple of nights, then our boat was hauled out and put on stands. We did lots of cleaning and prepared the water and fuel tanks for storage. We let out our anchor chain and cleaned it. Randy did some engine maintenance, cleaned the water strainers, and power-washed the outside of the boat. The freezers were defrosted, fridges cleaned, and any food was discarded. We brought our sails and dinghy into the salon for storage, and said 'farewell' to Sunspot Baby for the winter.

Ostia Antica

While we were waiting for the boat to be hauled out of the river, we visited the ancient ruins of Ostia Antica. Located about 16 miles southwest of Rome, parts of the city date back to the 4th century BC. We saw several bath houses, a large amphitheater, homes, shops, and cathedrals.

There are also dozens of mosaics, many depicting fish and the fishing trade.

We saw flocks of green parrots, who fly in groups from pine trees to palm trees.

Rome

For our last day in Italy, we visited Rome, and walked from the Colosseum to the Trevi Fountain to the Pantheon. We enjoyed a delicious pizza and did some shopping.

Our time in Italy so far has been great. We are looking forward to continue sailing further south in the Spring.

For now, we are back in the States, visiting our kids in Davenport and Thornton. We will make our way to Kansas, and hopefully visit with more friends and family before returning to Italy in February.

Cheers!!