Alberoni -> San Francesco del Deserto

We're up at 9:00 after a bit of a disturbed night. But at least we held fast! For breakfast we have bread with marmellato di limone, yoghurt, and tea. Laura has cereal (we actually found goat's milk). We go looking for a few groceries in a shop that we had seen yesterday. There are actually two shops right next to each other. They are both very traditional kind of places, with quite a limited selection but we are able to get the essentials. 

On the way back we spot a gelateria that had been closed yesterday, and won't be open until after we leave this afternoon. Laura is not happy about that. She will have to make do with an industrial ice-cream from the café beside the harbour. 

There are two cafés there, and one is quite a hip looking place, nicely decorated, fancy furniture, trendy music playing. Two people are sitting outside (tourists?). The other one is a bit of a shack. Plastic chairs. Plenty of locals are sitting outside chatting amicably. We go for that one and order caffè lattes and a kit-kat ice-cream thing for Laura. I suppose the customer ratio will be reversed in favour of the hipster place when tourist season is in full swing.

We prepare the boat, undo mooring lines and slip the last one. Wind, tide and a bit of motor push us across the harbour, then drive straight out. Eileen says we have an audience, but they are disappointed this time. No drama.

Lido

 We motor slowly, quietly along the inside of Lido. In contrast to everyone else on the water, we are not in a hurry. Even if we were, this boat can barely get out of it's own way. It's seriously underpowered. But that's okay because the whole canal-boat thing is about the scenery sliding by slowly while you take in the sights, sounds, and smells. It's very relaxing.

Eileen makes sandwiches for lunch and brings them up to the fly bridge. It immediately starts pouring rain. We get wet for a bit, then give in and move below to the inside steering position. We are approaching Porto di Lido now, and there are more and more vaporetti and water taxis going in all directions. The visibility is not too great and as we leave the shelter of the island the water becomes choppy from wind and the wakes of passing boats. 

We're trying to find the entrance to Canal Sant' Erasmo but we've missed it and gone too far. We're approaching Punta Sabbioni. We turn around and go back. With a combination of chart, binocs, and iPhone Navionics we finally find our canal. We snake around the edge of the island of S. Erasmo. At one point a vaporetto pulls out from a stop ahead of us and takes off down the canal. The boat-handling skills of it's driver are very impressive as he hand-brake turns around the tight corners. I'm filled with respect for these professional mariners who are out in all weather conditions, keeping to tight schedules night and day, in narrow canals with heavy traffic and strong currents.

The rain has stopped and we move back to the fly bridge. We're approaching San Francesco del Deserto, where we plan to spend the night. The guide says get there early and take the tour in the morning to avoid the crowds, so by spending the night we should be first in line. 

It's a tiny island with an ancient Franciscan friary. Saint Francis is said to have stayed here at the invitation of a rich Venetian family when he returned from the holy land in 1220. The island was later donated to followers of Francis who founded the friary. 

Bus takes the ferry between the islands

There is one tiny canal that winds it's way into the grounds. It's off limits to the public, but visitors are allowed to moor at the entrance. It looks to be very sheltered inside as we approach, but the wind and tide are blowing the bows off as we get nearer. I can't see anything to tie on to. Once more, Eileen spots mooring rings on the wall on the left side. 

We back up and try the approach again, coming almost straight at the wall this time, then turning away sharply at the last second. It feels like we are going to clobber the wall but we come alongside quite nicely and tie up to the rings. We decide to shift the boat in a bit further to get more shelter. 

Once the boat is safely tied up we break for an apéritif. A sign at the entrance says "Closed Monday, no picnics, no sun bathing, no swimming, appropriate attire". Like St. Peter's in Rome, I say to Eileen. Like the casino in Monaco she says to me! Visits are from 09:00-11:00 and 15:00-17:00. There is no charge for the visit, but donations are gratefully accepted. No sign of any monks, but Eileen thought she saw a curtain move in a window.

It's so calm and peaceful here after that slightly wild crossing of Porto di Lido. There are birds singing, fish, and crabs. A flock of French kayakers come in, turn around, and go again. Eileen overhears one of them say "Next year, we're going to rent a boat like that". Laura decides she wants to start "Crab Watching" tours. It's true that she has a natural talent as a crab-spotter! 

San Francesco del Deserto

Once in a while fishermen come by in little boats dropping small pots or lines. A man goes by on the other side with a strimmer. We have a quiet dinner, then a few games of Go Fish and Scrabble. Eileen gets "winters" for 96 points. 

Laura wonders if the monks would be willing to exchange something for a gelato. Or maybe they don't eat gelato. Maybe they only eat bread and water. Or pasta (no sauce) and water? Eileen hears a mosquito. The hunt is on... Swat. Laura sees another! Swat! And another!! Swat! A quiet night is had by all.


Log Entry for Monday 6 May 2013:
From: Alberoni (depart 13:00) Towards: S. Francesco del Deserto (arrive 16:00)

Tides
▲ 0955 0.7m
▼ 1520 0.3m
▲ 2140 1.0m
▼ 0425 0.1m

Baro: 1015 hPa
Wind: 8 kn gusting to 12 kn
Temps: Low 13° High 21°
30% chance of showers forecast between 14:00 and 23:00

Engine hours: 545.6 - 548.9
Water: 3/4
Battery (12V): 12.5
Battery (24V): 25

Chioggia -> Alberoni

Where's my gelato?

We allow ourselves a lie-in since yesterday was a long day of traveling, and we're on holidays after all. Eileen and Laura want to get some bread and a few other things before we head off, so they walk into town to find a pasticceria.

The boat next to us is preparing to leave. We see the husband showing the wife how to fend off with a boat hook. They are an older couple and I ask the man if I can be of any help. He says he thinks they should be ok. He explains that they have been canal-boating before, but always with a group of other people. This is the first time they've been by themselves and his wife is not very experienced. We tell him that we don't have much experience either so we wish each other good luck and they head off.

We have breakfast, planning where to go. We are being lazy and taking our time, but we'll have to speed things up a bit. The man in the boat next to us said that if you stay in Chioggia you will be charged and it's quite expensive. There is a stiff breeze blowing and I think they might have preferred to stay put.

Laura has big swollen mosquito bites on her ankles. They must have bitten through her socks! We tidy up and prepare to leave. I had been thinking of maybe heading for Torcello on the first day, with Alberoni as Plan B. Given our late departure, it's definitely Plan B. Alberoni is a fishing village on Lido, about half-way to Torcello.

There are four thin strips of land that separate the Venice Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. They are Sottomarina, Pellestrina, Lido, and Cavallino. Pellestrino and Lido are islands. Sottomarina and Cavallino are connected to the terra ferma (mainland). These strips of land generally have sandy beaches on the Adriatic side and small fishing villages on the lagoon side.

Between the four strips of land are three entrances to the lagoon where the tide flows in and out twice a day and ship traffic passes. These are Porto di Chioggia, Porto di Malamocco, and Porto di Lido. They are in the process of building barriers called MOSE across these entrances to hold back the water during extremely high tides, and hopefully save Venice from the damaging Aqua Alta. Having to worry about tides is quite rare in the Med, but I think the tides here are due to the water sloshing up and down at the end of the Adriatic. Then the narrow entrances to the lagoon make for strong flows in and out.

We leave Chioggia, passing a long line of moored fishing boats. We follow the briccole to the end and then are unsure where to go. We are about to cross the Porto di Chioggia which is a wide expanse with no briccole. By watching other boat traffic we figure out that there must be sufficient depth to cross pretty much anywhere here. The tricky bit then is finding the dama on the other side that marks the beginning of the channel leading along the inside edge of Pellestrina.

Pellestrina

We motor along, passing Pellestrina Town, S. Antonio, and Portosecco. Each village has it's own church and fleet of fishing boats. As we come to the end of Pellestina we have to cross the Porto di Malamocco. Once again we are on a sharp lookout for ship traffic as we cross, and careful of the mighty tidal streams that flow in and out of these gaps.

Soon we come to briccola number 25, which is marked as being opposite Alberoni harbour. It is a small public harbour and is recommended for mooring overnight. It turns out to be smaller than small, it is in fact tiny. And there are several boats already inside. It looks like there might be room for us along the pontoon just inside the entrance, but we're not even sure we'll be able to turn the boat once inside. And the entrance is very tight.

Just to add a bit of pressure there are two bar/cafés beside the marina, and lots of Sunday day-trippers milling about waiting for something entertaining to happen. They won't be disappointed. There is a fairly stiff breeze blowing across. We go in and turn sharp left at the entrance, hoping to get a bow line to the pontoon, and then have the stern swing in. Eileen manages to get the bow attached, but the stern blows off. I take a line ashore and try to pull the stern in but there is too much wind. Two guys come over to help, then one of them says "motore, motore". I realize that he's right, I need to spring the stern in using the engine. It doesn't quite go as smoothly as planned but we get it done eventually. Stern is safely tied off, even though there is not much of a gap between us and the boat behind. We thank the two men and go below for a celebratory drink.

Rain is forecast for early evening but we're hoping to have a look at the beach on the other side of the island. I had read a bit about the beaches around Venice, and this one is supposed to be one of the more natural, wild ones. But first things first. We stop for coffees and ice-cream at one of the cafés. Then, taking the first road we can find that goes perpendicularly across the island, we soon arrive at the beach. Over a giant sand dune and down to the water's edge. The water is still quite cold at this time of year, the wind is blowing sand in our eyes, and we can feel the rain coming so we head back to the boat.

DANGER, KEEP OFF!

All the other boats have gone and we are alone in the harbour. We soon realize that the wooden pontoon we are tied up to is falling apart. Every time a boat goes by in the channel, the middle section of it rocks back and forth alarmingly, creaking loudly. Bits of wood have broken off. And there are lots of ferries and vaporetti (water buses) passing on a Sunday evening. We decide that it will probably hold together until tomorrow, but surely it should have a "Danger, Keep off!" sign on it? Laura is not reassured. She wants to move the boat to the harbour wall. With the wind blowing across the harbour I feel we are better being blown off a rickety pontoon than onto a stone wall, so we stay put.

Eileen prepares some pasta with pheasant sauce, which tastes delicious. After dinner we play Go Fish (I'm pretty good at this), a Memory game that Laura bought in Hyères (Laura is very good at this), and Scrabble (Eileen is very good at this)! The rain comes, wind is blowing, boat is rocking but at least the ferry boats have stopped for the night. Eileen squirts some dish soap on a particularly squeaky bit of the pontoon. It seems to help. We get tucked up in bed, but soon the "clack clack clack" noise of the bimini has me out, tying bits down. I get up several more times during the night to tie things down. It also occurs to me during the night that it would be a very bad thing to find oneself standing on that pontoon when a boat passes. You would be bucked off like a wild horse. Must be careful of that.


Log Entry for Sunday 5 May 2013:
From: Chioggia (depart 13:00) Towards: Alberoni (arrive 15:30)

Tides
▲ 0835 0.6m
▼ 1405 0.3m
▲ 2045 0.9m
▼ 0330 0.2m

Baro: 1017 hPa
Wind: 10 kn gusting to 14 kn
Temps: Low 15° High 23°
Rain forecast from 17:00

Engine hours: 542.9 - 545.6
Water: 4/4
Battery (12V): 13
Battery (24V): 26