Hi Folks,  

We are now sitting out some quite heavy weather in the marina of Riva Di Traiano, just
a couple of miles from Civitavecchia, the nearest deep-sea port for Rome and
crammed to capacity with cruise ships . Our Journey since Salerno has gone as
follows:- 

Procida. When we last sent out a blog we had just
arrived on the lovely island of Procida, after a pleasant 40 mile sail along
the stunning Amalfi coast - almost a beautiful as the Kintyre
coastscape, and across the Bay of Naples. Procida is situated just outside the Bay of
Naples. Its main business is tourism and it presents itself well, with
beautiful old walled, clifftop villages and delightful wee streets and
alleyways with loadsa interesting wee
shops selling tempting local produce. It
also has a modern, well presented marina with caring helpful staff.  

An almost dewy eyed Rob (great tourism service always
brings tears to his eyes) trotted along to the office to pay our night’s
mooring fee. The charming guy in the office proceeded to calculate the fee and
then told Rob he would give him a discount. He kindly reduced the price from
E60 to E50. At this point Rob’s tears ran rapidly back up off his cheeks (upper) and disappeared into his tear ducts . To add insult to injury Rob asked about the showers and was told he had to buy tokens at E1 each.  

The showers were about the size of tin lockers that you
get in changing rooms, and were situated in a bloody portakabin! On checking
the toilets we found that they had no sodding toilet paper – not even old
copies of the Sun! 

However Procida had one more pleasant surprise for us –
its ferries. They were of a vintage that
would have been around in the 1950/60s when ships had a certain elegance to
them. Tim and Rob waxed lyrical about them while Gina nodded and smiled in a
mildly patronising way.
 

Gaeta. The following morning we left the lovely island of Procida, its awful cludgies and
1950’s chic ferries and headed to the port of Gaeta. After a pleasant sail we
arrived at about 14.00 and were greeted
by some very large, serious grey hulled racing yachts with black sails (Mafia
Class?) along with the remnants of a large regatta which had just finished . We
moored up by a large Brit yacht being 
fitted out for the season by its owner, Andy. Tim and Rob helped him fit
his solar panels and celebrated their success with a beer or two. Andy had
overwintered his boat here and thoroughly recommended it the yard and the
marina. 

Gina went shopping while all this was going on and
managed to find us fresh bread & yet another delightful meal. She is
certainly going native here when it comes to food shopping and cooking. 

In the meanwhile our leaking lavatorial system problem
re-instated itself. Tim, who was taking on the problem with a grim
determination, managed to fit yet another length of hose which minimised, but
didn’t cure the problem! 

As the sun started to set on Gaeta its last rays took the
colours of the beautiful bay from azure blue via orange and deep red to a rich
blue black,while highlighting the beautiful mountains which surround this
lovely town . 

Nettuno

We got away from Gaeta at 6 in the morning as the sun
rose over the mountains. The 45 mile
sail to Nettuno passed quite quickly with a favourable (albeit cold) wind. In
1944 Nettuno was the site of the ill-managed Anzio landings.

On arrival we contacted the port by VHF and, on asking
for a berth, just got a grunt. After 20mins searching this huge marina we found
a berth a long way from the facilities. All seemed a bit grim. Rob went to pay
and was charged E45 for the pleasure of being on a distant mooring.  

On getting off of the boat Gina threw a ball for Marley
which he tore after with all the gusto of a Spaniel that had just slept for 16 hours (not
including meal breaks) and promptly damaged his foot. 

Clearly we didn’t want to stay here longer than necessary, so planned to leg it the following morning for the 55 mile sail to Riva Di Traiano . Sadly the weather gods decided otherwise and decided to beef up the winds and ensure that they were going the wrong way for us.  

We actually spent 4 days in Nettuno and grew to like the place. We came to enjoy Its
imposing walled fort,(seriously batterd by the Allied invasion), supermarkets and cafes – including the only toasty and draught beer cafe we have ever experienced (excellent). 

Our enforced inactivity also gave us time to solve the problem of the leaking bog-hose. It wasn’t the hose at all but the pump which was at fault and only needed a very minor
repair. After the celebration – champagne, canapes, streamers, fireworks and a
7 course banquet (no – not really!) we also fitted a new part to the wind transducer
at the top of the mast. We now know not only the direction of the wind, but also its speed – worrying! 

American War Cemetery
While in Nettuno we visited the American forces cemetery
which was a 15 minute walk from the marina . Over 7000 US soldiers, sailors and
airmen are buried here in this immaculately kept tribute to that golden generation of Americans who gave their tomorrows for our todays.

 It is a beautiful place to visit and contemplate. The whole site is well presented with a memorial building at its centre and, at the centre of that, a heart rending sculpture of two brothers who are buried there. The USA should be very proud, not only of the men and
women who sacrificed their lives, but also of the people who designed, built
and maintained this lasting tribute to that sacrifice.
 

Riva Di Traiano - We finally managed to escape from Nettuno yesterday and
had a long, 55mile motor-sail to Riva Di Traiano. For the first time in our
journey we actually saw an awful lot of other boats. Even Sea Spaniel, who was asleep on deck for most of the journey, occasionally woke up with a twitching nose to see what was
going on. We also found the problem with his paw, he had damaged the membrane
between his claws and a large lump had appeared . After the application of tea
tree oil the swelling now seems to have gone and he is back to his rather
lively self – between sleeps that is! 

On approaching Riva Di Traiano Rob called the marina on
the VHF, using his pre-rehearsed Italian, to beg a mooring for the night, and
was immediately answered, in English, “No problem, call on VHF when you are in
the entrance. Rob did so and a rib with an ormeggiatorre immediately appeared, escorted us to our berth and helped us moor up – excellent. If Carlsberg made marinas they would all be like this!
 
When we took a stroll around the marina we found that it was full of Italian families mimsying around on a sunny Sunday afternoon,having a great time. There were also loadsa retail opportunities ranging from chandlery, sailing clothing, massage parlours, 
high fashion, cafes, restaurants, bars etc, etc. Showers and toilets were immaculate and the
office staff charming and all for E30 a night.   

We have been delayed for a day by the wrath of the weather gods . 2
Ormeggiatorre came across this morning and asked us if we’d like to move to a berth that will be more comfortable when the winds hit. They then proceeded to assist us to move to a more sheltered position in the marina. Most unlike the Italian marinas we have so far experienced.
 
 All being well, tomorrow we hope be heading for Cala Galera, Sa Rocco and the Isle of Elba before making the 140 mile crossing to Nice later this week.