Italy

Shortly after we sailed out of the port of Menton, we crossed the border with Italy. We stroked the French guest team and put it Italian. After just 12 miles we made ready for anduve Sanremo.

"Portosole, this is Heron, Heron" we dutifully called on the VHF as the bow aimed between the two pier guys.

«Hello Heron. This is Portosole. 'The receipt read immediately.

What on earth ?

In France, last year we had visited a dozen ports. Not once had we received an answer to our call. But here in Italy the answer was even in English. The conversation continued, and when we had answered a few questions, it sounded concluding from Portosole.

"OK. Look for the ormeggiatori. He will guide you to your berth »

We scouted around the harbor. At the end of a pontoon, a man waved at us. It had to be our worm beggator. We sailed to him and were greeted with a smiling «buono sera». We backed Heron into the square. When we were a few meters from the pontoon, the man pulled a hauling line out of the water so we could reach it with a boat hook. He then received our aft moorings, which he put in a ring before sending them back to us.

A sign with welcome to Italy or something similar was the only thing that was missing to make the reception absolutely perfect.

Sanremo is located in Liguria. It is one of the smallest of Italy's 20 regions. The coastline, called the Italian Riviera, runs from the French border in the west to La Spezia near Tuscany in the southeast. In the 1800th century, many wealthy Englishmen and artists settled in Liguria. Among others Charles Dickens, Lord Byron and Shelley. In the 1830s, HC Andersen also lived here. Specifically in the town of Sestri Levante, where an Andersen festival is held every year.

There are many ports on the barely 300 kilometer long stretch. A new port will be reached in a few hours. Perfect for 'daysailing'.

Sanremo was between the two world wars the home of the European jet set. In the harbor were a number of megayachts, but not nearly as many and large as in Antibes in France. On the whole, Sanremo seemed far less jet-set than the cities on the Côte d'Azur in France

Next stop was the city of Imperia.

In the long distance we could see the peninsula with the pastel-colored buildings with the great cathedral built in the 1700 century as the most prominent.

In 2007, a company in a consortium of private investors began to expand the port. An 800 meter long breakwater was built towards the Mediterranean. In continuation of the old port, a new one was built with room for 1.300 boats. As the financial crisis set in, demand for yachts plunged. There were problems with funding. The consortium went bankrupt and construction work stopped. 8 years after the bankruptcy, the port is still not finished. Most of the many pontoons lie desolate. Almost like a little ghostly.

But in the old port where we were given space, life was seemingly unaffected by the financial problems. Except that the municipality has taken over the administration and reduced the port tax significantly.

We stayed in Imperia for a few days.

Saw the cathedral, enjoyed the atmosphere in the harbor and the nice old town and got used to being in Italy.

After a couple of days we sailed to Loano.

During the operation, we found that there were problems with the electricity on board. We examined cables and connections. They all looked fine. A fault in the electrical installation of a boat can be dangerous and we called an electrician - Carlo, who advertised that he spoke English.

"It's your batteries" sounded prompt from Carlo when we showed him the problem.

«How old are they? " he asked? and stared at us when we responded that they were at 10. season.

"You need to replace them now," he concluded without hesitation.

… Hmmm.

We had expected the batteries to last for the season and had planned to use the winter to install lithium batteries. They are based on a new technology that offers a number of advantages over traditional lead batteries. Yet lithium batteries are very expensive. This is one of the reasons why it's not so common to use them on yachts.

"It may be good, but I do not want to be the first" is another reason that Carlo pointed out before installing a new battery bank of lead batteries the next day.

Also in Loano there is a new marina.

The marina was completed in 2014, is well-integrated with the nice old town, has exceptionally good protection in all wind directions and the most luxurious facilities we have seen in any port to date.

One afternoon we sat down in a small tourist train. The young driver led us at a fast pace up a steep and curved mountain road that passed through a few smaller villages. Nice to get inland and experience the mountain landscape and the clear clear mountain air.

The destination of the trip was Grotte di Toirano, which was "worth a visit" as stated in our Italian Waterways Pilot.

The caves, discovered as late as 1950 and 1960, revealed beautiful stalactite formations, skeletons of a bear species that became extinct 30.000 years ago, 12.000-year-old human footprints and handprints, and a small lake where, for inexplicable reasons, observed live fish.

"Shows its poverty towards the port", "Unsafe after dark" "A dirty harbor town"

We had heard very bad stories about Genoa and had planned to skip the city.

But the French couple on the neighboring boat were fond of Genoa and told they would go there next day. We decided to change our plans and to follow them the next morning.