Chioggia -> Paris

Captain and First Mate

We're up at 07:00 to pack our bags and tidy things up. We have to give the boat back between 08:00 and 09:00. I assume there will be an inspection first, and some papers to sign. Food is running low, so it's tea and nutella on bread for breakfast. Then squash everything into our suitcases, wash the dishes, take out the garbage, sweep the floor. Just before 09:00 I take the suitcases and put them out on the pontoon behind the boat. 

A few minutes later a man comes and says "don't worry, this won't take long". He takes a quick look over the boat, asks if we had any problems, and mentions that we're one towel short. Eileen tells him that we didn't need the fourth towel and it's in a locker in the aft cabin. Then we sign a paper and that's it. We had taken the "pack tranquilité" which includes fuel, insurance waiver, and boat cleaning so I think that also makes for a quicker return procedure. Also the fact that we didn't break anything, lose anything, run aground, crash the boat, or sink!

We say goodbye, pick up our suitcases, and start walking across the bridge towards Sottomarina and the bus station. Thankfully the rain has stopped, and we find the station easily. I go up to the desk and ask for 3 tickets to Padova. The lady says "ok, but hurry because the bus is there and it's about to leave!". We get our tickets and run for the bus. 

The bus takes us back through Sottomarina, past the long sandy beaches, and then winds around into Chioggia from the other side. Then back out and across a very long bridge over swampy lagoon and onto the mainland. From the bridge we can see the ship that passed us as we came into Chioggia! We motor along through the countryside and once again we see many fields covered in bright red poppies. Eileen tries to take a picture with her phone, but hits the shutter button just as we pass a tree. Later we'll be wondering why she took a picture of that tree? I don't bother taking out the iPad.

Soon we arrive in Padova, and first priority is to get train tickets for Bologna. There is a train leaving in 4 minutes and we'll never make that so we get the next one which gives us an hour to kill. As we're getting our tickets (from a machine) we hear what sounds like a marching band playing. We look around, trying to see where the music is coming from, inside the station? Outside? Eventually we trace it to a group of people wearing Bavarian hats and giving an impromptu concert of oom-pa-pa music on the quay. They all have suitcases and must be returning to Germany. They've attracted quite a crowd and get a big round of applause. 

There's a nice looking café there in the station so we stop for a coffee and buy some sandwiches to take with us on the train. Laura buys a small tin of Pringles. Why do kids love every horrible manufactured sickly-sweet salty artificially flavoured plastic wrapped imitation food product, and hate anything that's natural and good for you? Seems like a strange genealogical trait. Must be advertising. I have to admit they taste pretty good though...

The train is about to arrive so we take our bags and head for the quay. This time we're in the same car, but still not seated together. We arrive in Bologna Centrale and head straight for the BLQ coach to the airport. We're just in time, a coach is waiting at the stop. I must admit I was a bit stressed out about all the bus/train/coach connections that we have to make our flight, but everything seems to be going smoothly and we should be at the airport in good time.

We arrive at the airport and the bus stops, but it's not the usual stop. There is a bit of confusion as people start getting off (including Eileen!). There is a small sign that says "East Terminal" or something like that so I tell Eileen to get back on before the door closes! Several other people get back on the bus as well. A few minutes later we arrive at the usual stop in front of the airport. There is a lot of construction work going on here, so it's a bit difficult to figure out where to go. Finally we check in ourselves (with a machine) and check in our bags (with a human). 

Bosun hard at work, and well supervised!

We've got about an hour to kill before our flight, so we want to get through security and have a look around the duty-free shop. As usual there is a huge line to go through security, and while we are queuing I remind Eileen of the time we came through here with my mom on the way back from Riccione. It was the first time she had flown since they brought in the restrictions on taking liquids on board, and she wasn't aware of them. It hadn't even occurred to me to tell her, and of course she had loads of liquids and creams in her carry-on bag. These were expensive items and there was no way she was going to leave them behind. So we had to run back to the check-in desk and check through her carry-on bag after transferring some of the stuff to a plastic bag and my backpack. Then run back to security, get rushed through and onto the plane.

I'm chuckling about that when suddenly I freeze. It just hit me that I have a bottle of limoncello in my backpack! Oh no, how could I have been so stupid! Eileen picked up this bottle to take back with us in a supermarket, and the bottle has an unusual shape with a long thin neck. I was afraid it would break in the suitcase, so I packed it carefully into my backpack. Sh!t. What do I do now?

When we get to the x-ray scanner I tell the security guy that I have a bottle of limoncello in my backpack. I show it to him, explaining that it's still sealed so it should be no problem, right? "Impossible". But, but it... "Sorry". But... "No". He tells me to put the bottle on the tray with my backpack and put it all through the scanner.

"Is this your bag?". Yes. The scanner guy says to the security guy that he sees liquids. The security guy says "Yes, there is a bottle of limoncello". The scanner guy says "No, there is something else". What are you talking about? There isn't anything else! The security guy starts rifling through my backpack and suddenly pulls out a jar of lemon marmalade. NO! Not my marmellata di limoni?!!! 

The day we arrived we went shopping for some basic groceries, and I spotted this jar of "traditional made in Italy authentic lemon marmalade" so I thought it might be interesting to try it. I liked it so much that I bought another jar to take home with us. But surely a jar of marmalade is not considered a liquid? "Sorry, you can't take it". Carp. I can either go back and check them through in my backpack, or leave them behind. Knowing they will break in my backpack, I reluctantly leave them behind. 

We head for the boarding gates, and it's not looking good when we see lots of construction work and no duty-free. There is a café so we console ourselves with a coffee. When we finish the coffee we still have a bit of time so we stroll around and suddenly we see this huge duty-free around the other side of the security area. We head over there, and they have everything: limoncello made with Amalfi lemons, marmellata di limoni, squid-ink pasta, vin santo, biscotti, salami! Woohoo! 

We arrive back in Paris, and it's a bit hard to adjust to normal life again. It doesn't feel like we were only away for a week. Feels more like a month. Eileen comes back from the bakery with a lemon cake instead of usual pain au chocolat or chausson au pomme. "Just for a change", she says. The Eurovision song contest  is on, so we watch it while sampling our vin santo and biscotti. 

Post scriptum
I'm dying to see the video from Bacino San Marco, where Eileen was driving the boat through all that crazy traffic. I take out the iPad and go straight for the video, but it's not there. Thinking I must be looking in the wrong place, I start clicking around, but I can't find it anywhere. Back to the video section, and there is just a brief one second clip showing the dashboard of the boat. I remember at the time, it was the first time I had used the iPad as a video camera and I hit the start-stop button quickly to make sure it was working. Then I hit start and videoed for a good 5 minutes. But I guess I missed the start button because the boat was bouncing around, and the video wasn't actually recording. Aaarrrggghhh!!!! 

Another lesson learnt the hard way. Practice using your new stuff before you need it for real. At least the photos I took with the iPad came out, but in general the quality is really bad compared to my old Canon digital camera. Dirty lens, wrong settings? Not sure but I'm surprised how bad they look.

Rowing in the lagoon

Looking back on our holiday, one thing really strikes me. I don't think you can appreciate just how fragile Venice is without having visited the lagoon. People didn't come to live here by choice, they came to flee the invading barbarians after the fall of the Roman Empire. They left their fertile lands to live on tiny, water-logged islands in the middle of a lagoon. That they were able to prosper and leave us the incredible heritage that is Venice today is a magnificent tribute to their ingenuity and perseverance. A World Heritage Site if ever there was one. 

Le Vignole -> Portosecco -> Chioggia

Le Vignole

Once again I'm up early, before the girls. Sitting by the open door of the boat, watching the small fish swim by in busy schools, watching seaweed floating by, listening to birds, pheasants, church bells, chickens, a cock, a peacock! I write a few notes on my phone that I'll use to make blog entries when we get home. Two men row past in a gondola.

I notice a thick black line along the wall on the opposite side of the narrow canal. I had also noticed this along the edge of the canal at San Francesco. What could it be? Skid marks left by unskilled houseboat pilots? These boats have thick, black rubber rubbing strakes along the sides. Maybe it's the high water mark? But why black? Algae? It's strange how I like getting up early on the boat. Normally I'm not a morning person at all, but these early mornings on the water are something special. 

The girls are up now, and before we go we want to take on water, so Eileen and I start by warping the boat around. The current is flowing past, so to turn the boat all we have to do is release the stern and give it a little push. The flowing water does the rest. Now that we are facing the right way, we can just drive off ahead. We pass the sailing barge and the few small hire boats moored behind it. Our hose is still too short. We need to move back a bit, but there is a mooring line in the water from one of the hire boats, and I don't want to get it stuck in our propeller. We take the rope off, slide the boat back, and finally the hose reaches our tank. But the hose keeps wanting to pull out of the intake pipe. It occurs to me that a rolling hitch would be perfect for keeping it in place the time to fill the tank. The only problem is that I can't remember how to tie a rolling hitch... But wait, I've got a knot-tying app on my phone! A few minutes later I've got the hose under control with a rolling-hitch to a stantion. We have a quick breakfast and prepare the boat to leave. We're later than planned, again.

But before we leave we want to see if we can visit the tiny church on the other side of the bridge. We walk over, taking a few pictures on the way. Actually the whole lagoon must be the most photogenic place I've ever visited. For the first time since I've had this camera (Canon PowerShot A710IS, nearly 8 years!) I've run out of space on the memory card. I actually had to delete some of the less successful photos last night, and now it's full again. I'm going to have to use the iPad to take pictures from now on. I feel a bit self-conscious. I've seen more and more people taking pictures with iPads lately, but I still think it looks stoopid! The tiny church is locked up, so we return to the boat and cast off the mooring lines. Venice, here we come again!

A Goldola crossing Bacino di San Marco

We leave the peace and quiet of our little canal and hang a right onto the Canale San Nicolo, which leads directly to Bacino di San Marco. This is the stretch of water between San Giorgio and Piazzetta San Marco. Soon we can see the Doge's Palace to the right. Traffic is getting really crazy now, with boats of every size heading in every direction. Tour boats and vaporetti are pulling in and out of quays all along the edge of San Marco. Work boats are chugging by. Water taxis are speeding past. We are the slowest thing on the water, except for a lone gondola crossing over from La Giudecca. Wow, that's bravery! 

The boat is pitching and rolling heavily as we hit the crossed and confused wakes of all the passing boats. It's utter madness. I'm trying to take pictures. Eileen is at the wheel, and to my amazement she is absolutely calm! Laura and I are keeping a lookout, calling out positions of boats passing from behind, crossing from the left and right, coming from ahead, sometimes all four at once! I hit the "Video" button on the iPad, thinking what a great video this will make.

Doge's Palace and the Piazzetta San Marco

As we proceed up the Canale della Giudecca things calm down a little. By now we've passed the entrance to the Grand Canal, and now we've got Giudecca on our left and Venice on the right. We pass by the super-yacht Space, moored up to the quay. In the distance we can see the tops of hulking cruise ships sticking up over the buildings. There is quite a controversy surrounding the presence of these cruise ships in the Lagoon and the damage they might be causing to the canals and the fragile base on which Venice rests. Not to mention the atmospheric and visual pollution. 

We come to the top of La Giudecca and circle around to the left, tucking in close to the other side of the island. This side of the island is very different, with many small shipyards at first, followed by beautiful country villas. We see the futuristic "Tender to Space" tied up. Down near the bottom of the canal we turn left and take a last tour of San Giorgio past the church of the same name, the campanile, and the marina where we had been thinking of staying. In the end we were happy with our mooring on Le Vignole so we spent a second night there instead.

Now we are heading away from Venice, the start of our journey back to Chioggia where we will spend the last night, giving the boat back first thing in the morning. Hard to believe we'll be flying out tomorrow. Today is overcast and much cooler than yesterday. Venice is receding into the cloud and mist as we head along the Canale San Spirito through a quiet and peaceful part of the lagoon. Soon all that's left are the campaniles. Eventually those disappear too. 

Laura is at the wheel now, and there is virtually no other traffic. We pass several small, mostly uninhabited islands; Isola San Clemente, San Spirito, Poveglia. There is a certain melancholic atmosphere in this part of the lagoon, especially after the adrenaline-inducing bounce up the Giudecca Canal. The realisation that our holiday is coming to an end adds a bit of sadness too.

Poveglia

There is a recommended anchorage on the other side of Poveglia, and I'm tempted to stop there for lunch. The island, like many of the islands in the lagoon was originally populated by those fleeing the barbarian invasions on the mainland. Many buildings, churches, and fortifications were built as populations grew. When these small islands became impossible to defend, the people were relocated to Venice and the islands remained mostly uninhabited. Eventually Poveglia was used as a quarantine, and then as a hospital for the mentally ill which finally closed in 1968. As we pass the southern corner of the tiny island, the bricole peter out, and we don't have a depth sounder so we chicken out. We can't afford to run aground when we have to have the boat back in Chioggia tonight.

We continue to Malamocco, and from here on we are retracing our steps from the outward journey. We decide to try to stop in Portosecco, where several moorings are indicated on the chart. We spot rings along the wall opposite bricola 53 and head in towards them. Tucking in behind some piles, we come alongside the wall. Eileen tries to lean down to thread a line through a ring but she can't reach so I take the line and hang over the wall precariously, just managing to get it through. We tie up the boat in line with the steps, get a few things together and head ashore.

Portosecco is a very small, simple fishing village with a very pretty-looking church. We wander over trying to find the entrance to the church but end up in someone's yard. Backtracking a bit we come to the church entrance but it's closed. We decide to head for the beach. It's a five minute walk from one side of the island to the other, and then up some steps and over sand dunes and we're on the Adriatic Sea. It's deserted except for a group of people sitting on one of the embankments that protrude out to sea. We walk along the beach for a while, Eileen and Laura dipping their feet in the water. The sun has come out now, and suddenly it's getting very hot. 

Beach at Portosecco

We walk on for a little while then turn around and start to head back. The sun is blistering hot now and it feels very humid. There are showers forecast for this evening, and we had planned things so that we would be back in Chioggia before then. I'm watching the sky carefully and I can see thunderclouds gathering on the horizon. I'm starting to get worried that we'll be caught in a thunder storm, so I hurry us along back to the boat.

We untie the boat and set off again along the canal towards Chioggia. We're only about half an hour away, but it has clouded over completely now and I'll be glad once we're tied up for the night. We cross the Bocca di Porto di Chioggia, looking out for ship traffic whose path we would be crossing. Off to our starboard side a small ship is approaching. I keep an eye on him, and he is steadily falling back so we'll pass safely ahead. Once across the channel, I'm surprised to see that he is turning in and coming up behind us. I wonder if it's wide enough for him to overtake here? He seems to think it is! Eileen is at the wheel and once again she is staying calm and cool as this big hulking ship slowly overtakes us.

Ship overtaking. Keep calm and carry on!

We hesitate a bit over where to go, but eventually identify the entrance to the port of Chioggia and then the canal that takes us back past the moored fishing boats and over to the familiar Rendezvous Fantasia base. At first it doesn't look like there is anywhere to park, but then we identify an empty berth near the end of the pontoons. We head up, turn, and start backing in. There is not much wind so this shouldn't be too difficult. Laura is watching the stern, and she warns me that I'm going to hit the mooring pile to port. I give it a little blast of ahead and the stern moves over to starboard. Back into reverse and we slowly slide between the piles towards the pontoon. Someone from RVF is there to take our stern lines, and soon we are moored up safely. Wooohoo! I get a great rush of relief and pride all at once. I'm relieved that we made it back safely, we didn't break anything, and nobody got hurt. I'm also immensely proud of my crew who were brilliant through it all! 

After spending a week in a watery, boaty universe it feels strange and somehow unpleasant to see cars, buses, and all this road traffic. It's early evening so we should still have some time to see more of Chioggia before getting something to eat. Chioggia is not flooded with tourists who all disappear at sunset, so it's quite busy and animated on a Friday evening. Along with the cars and scooters it's also surrounded by canals and boats, so it makes for a gentler transition from our water world back to dry land. 

We walk the length of the main street, Corso del Popolo, visiting churches along the way. We walk out to the lagoon end of the street and there is a vaporetto stop with boats going to Venice. Very tempting, I could probably find the shop with the glass squids but they would almost certainly be closed, so I give up on the idea. Eileen is intent on going back to the same restaurant where we ate the first day, El Fontego. Large, heavy rain drops are starting to fall as we arrive, and waiters and customers are rushing to move inside off the terrace. 

Good choice of wine! My cheeks hurt...

We are seated quickly, inside also this time. I'm feeling adventurous and in a mood to celebrate so I order the "big gnocchi" starter followed by calamaretti for the main course. I choose a wine, and the waiter makes a sour face and shakes his head disapprovingly. He comes back a few minutes later to say that he is sorry but my wine choice is not available. He suggests another and I accept. Several minutes later the waiter and proprietor come to the table looking very serious. The proprietor apologizes profusely that the wine suggested by the waiter is not available, but in any case he would recommend a different wine anyway and is sure that I'll be happier with this recommendation. I think it was my choice of red wine with fish that threw them off. They weren't going for it though, and I had no choice but to accept the white. And a good choice it was, too!

We're all feeling relaxed and quite relieved and our holiday is coming to an end, so we are really enjoying ourselves. The wine probably contributed something too! Laura is making a serious face, and it makes me break out in laughter. I'm trying to get the waiter's attention with the Irish finger wave. It doesn't work. Every once in a while the table sways back and forth, as if from the wake of a passing boat. Laura has to hold her cheeks cause they hurt from laughing so much! Eileen finally manages to get the waiter, we pay and head off in search of gelato. It's pelting rain, with thunder and lightening in the distance. Earlier on we had scouted out all the gelaterie, and there is one across the way that stays open til midnight. We eat our cones while sheltering under the arcade, strolling along and window shopping. When we're finished our ice-creams we hurry back to the boat in the rain, jumping over puddles. Sleep comes easily.


Log Entry for Friday 10 May 2013:
From: Le Vignole (depart 11:00) Towards: Chioggia (arrive 17:45) via Portosecco (arrive 15:15, depart 16:15)

Tides
▲ 1220 0.8m
▼ 1710 0.4m
▲ 2305 0.9m
▼ 0600 0.0m

Baro: 1011.5 hPa
Wind: 3 kn gusting to 10 kn
Temps: Low 16° High 20°
Rel humidity: 83%
Forecast partly sunny AM, then mostly cloudy. 65% chance of showers from 17:00. 90% chance of showers from 20:00

Engine hours: 554.5 - 559.9
Water: 3/8 -> 4/4 (filled up in Vignole)
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

Paris -> Chioggia

We're up at 06:00 to finish packing. There's the usual last minute panic to get everything together, make sure everything is turned off, windows are shut, etc. Check bus times and we're off. It's going to be a long day of travelling. I would have preferred to take an overnight train to Venice, but they were sold out. A direct flight to Venice would have been easier, but any suitable time was terribly expensive. So we are flying to Bologna, taking the train to Padova, and then a bus to Chioggia. I found this TripAdvisor post to be very useful for planning this.

The Air France coach is supposed to go every half hour and there is one sitting there when we arrive, but for some reason the driver says he'll be going in 35 minutes. Much discussion follows and finally he announces that we'll be going in 15 minutes.

Everything is going fine until we approach CDG airport. Traffic is getting heavier, the driver is switching lanes trying to pick the one that moves fastest. The closer we get to the airport, the slower we go. When we finally arrive at Terminal 2, things are completely jammed up. Despite the driver's honking and lane-changing, we slow to a crawl. I've never seen it like this at the airport, ever. And check-in for our flight will be closing soon. Minutes go by like hours. I'm thinking about what we will do when we miss our flight. Could we get a later flight? If we did, where would we stay tonight? We have to be at the charter base before 18:00 for the handover. No boat, no bed.

Finally we arrive at Terminal 2F. We get off the coach and run for the shuttle bus to Terminal 2G. Luckily there is a bus just about to leave. We hop on, and after the short ride to 2G we rush in to find a ticket machine and print off our boarding passes. Then we queue to check in our bags. Air France staff are there looking for passengers to Cologne. Bologne? "No, Cologne". But check-in for Bologne closes in 2 minutes! "No problem, don't worry". Then a few minutes later: "Any passengers for Bologne?". Yes! "Please follow me". We rush through with a group of others who were probably also stuck in the traffic jam.

We arrive at the departure gate out of breath. Board plane and find our seats. Hurry to sit down and get strapped in. Five minutes later and they still haven't closed the doors. Crew mulling about. Pilot gets off plane and goes into the terminal. Comes back and announces that we are delayed due to late passengers and a computer problem. We wait. And wait some more. Finally the missing passengers arrive. We take off, and make up most of the lost time during the flight.

We land in Bologna, collect our luggage, and get the BLQ coach to Bologna Centrale train station. The coach passes through the centre of Bologna, and as usual the colonnades are covered with graffiti. Not one that doesn't have some graffiti on it. Interesting? Not. Artistic? Not. It's been like this for at least twenty years now, every time I've gone through Bologna. Please, do something about this. In Paris they have a number that you can call and they will come and remove the graffiti. Of course the real answer is to arrest the people who do this, or their parents. I hate graffiti. Especially on historic buildings.

We get a panini and bottled water at the train station. The water bottles have these squeeze/squirt valve things on the end where you spray water into your mouth. I must be getting old. We buy tickets on the Frecciargento to Padova from a machine. The ticket booths are gone, ticket agents unemployed or retired? We make the mistake of specifying which seats we want, and so we get the desired seats but they are not together. The machine doesn't have an option of "together" even though we are buying three tickets, two adults and one child.

The train takes about an hour to get to Padova. As we leave the station, we hear piano music, and see this guy playing a grand piano plopped in the middle of the square outside the station. We stop to listen for a minute, but then he finishes and we have a bus to catch. We aren't exactly sure where to get the bus from, and there are many buses in front of the station so I go to the booth and ask. The man tells me that the bus for Chioggia is behind, over there. We wander off behind (to the left of the station as you exit) and don't see any buses for Chioggia. Finally we realize that it is _way_ behind and _way_ over there. There is a little booth where we buy our tickets, and the bus comes a few minutes later. It takes about an hour to get to Chioggia, and we're not really sure where to get off to go to Isola dell'Unione where the boats are. I ask the bus driver and he says we can either get off in Chioggia or the last stop in Sottomarina. We get off in Sottomarina and find the bridge across to Isola dell'Unione. I had printed off some aerial photos from Google Maps prior to departure, and they turn out to be very useful.

Rendezvous Fantasia base, Chioggia

The RVF base is alongside the road bridge that leads between Sottomarina and Chioggia, and I'm a bit worried about the noise from the road, as we'll be spending the first night here on the boat. Chioggia is a buzzing, bustling place with a large fishing fleet. It's a working town rather than a tourist town. It has a mixture of canals and roads, so it makes a great transition from land to the sea.

As soon as we step onto the pontoon, we are greeted by a friendly young lady who takes us to our boat. She asks if we prefer to speak English or French and we leave the choice up to her. "Grado" is a Pénichette 1020 FB, a 33 foot fly bridge canal boat. Administrative details are quickly dealt with, then she shows us the boat and spends a lot of time discussing possible itineraries. She tells us about navigation marks in the lagoon. There are "Meda" - single piles that mark the edges of smaller channels. "Briccola" - three piles tied together at the top, they mark the edges of larger channels. "Dama" - three angled piles together with a fourth higher central one, they mark the entrance to a channel. Each briccola is numbered, and the black-on-white number faces into the channel. If you can't see the number, you're on the wrong side!

She also highlights some "go" and "no go" areas on our chart with green and red felt pens. Unfortunately she marks the Grand Canal in Venice in red. I start wondering about how much the fine might be for going up there... Murano also gets a big red X through it. She tells us that our planned itinerary should be quite easy to achieve, and just in case we have an extra day we could do a bit of the Sile river up towards Treviso. And here's me thinking I've already planned too much. But I can imagine that some people like to cover a lot of ground. We on the other hand don't want to be spending too much time on the boat when there is so much to see ashore! After this a young gentleman comes to explain the technical aspects of the boat. I'm sorry I didn't get their names, they were both very friendly and efficient.

These boats can be hired without any kind of boating licence or qualification, but it's clearly an advantage to have a bit of experience. Expecially since the lagoon has a tidal range of about one meter and strong currents. Not to mention the boat traffic. The young man takes us out for a quick spin and we return to the pontoon to tie up for the night. Tomorrow we'll be off on our own! We rush into town to get some food supplies before the shops close. I pick up a jar of marmelatta di limone that looks interesting, even though I'm not a big marmalade fan. Eileen finds a jar of pheasant pasta sauce. Back to the boat, then off to dinner. We had asked for restaurant recommendations and the young lady suggested a place called El Fontego. At last we can start to relax and enjoy our holiday!

We find the restaurant and after waiting a bit they prepare a table for us outside. It's obviously a popular place. We order pizzas and wine. There is a group of Italians with a large dog at the table to our left, and a group of French with a small poodle across from us. There are dog-introductions, sniffing, etc., then separation back to their respective tables. The large dog then barks whenever he sees another dog passing (which is quite often). And he has the loudest, meanest sounding, scariest bark I've ever heard. I nearly jump out of my seat every time. Laura thought he was cute and wanted to pet him. It's true that he wasn't mean or ugly looking. Maybe his bark was worse than his bite?

There are a few mosquitoes around so we try to cover as much skin as possible, Laura pulling her socks over her pant legs. The pizza is very good, we finish with gelato, then back to the boat and fall into bed. We didn't notice any road noise, and a good sleep was had by all.