We slipped out of Umag at about 8:30 just after the customs office opened. There were no problems with clearing out and we slipped off the quay quietly and without incident. The sea was flat calm and this was what was predicted for the rest of the day. We were resigned to a long day motoring.
About two miles out the wind and the swell from the Gulf of Trieste picked up quickly and we put the sails up and were on a broad reach in 15+ knots of wind. In these conditions we were making 7.5 knots easily (much more than we could make with the engine). This kept up for about three hourswe were pretty much on the same tack the whole time.
A couple of interesting things about this area are that, firstly, it is quite shallow - only about 20 meters deep the whole way. Secondly, even though the straight line distance is 56 miles, the coasts run in such an orientation that we could see land all the way.
The last half of the trip we motored over a sea that had become flat calm again.
We could see Venice from quite a long way off with the bell tower in St. Mark’s square being one of the most prominent landmarks. There is a long approach channel before you get into the canals proper. This is full of Italians in power boats zipping around wherever they want. Add to this tripper boats full of people heading out to the beaches of the Lido and then, as you get closer, the vaporetti (water buses) which drive fast and expect everyone to get out of their way (just like buses on land). It is, as you might say, a fairly fluid situation. Even Lori’s “Do you see that boat?” questions can’t quite keep up with the number of boats here!
The marina is well-located at the outside end of the main set of islands that make up Venice. The approach is a little shallow but fine. A guy meets us in a tender. He is one of those young Italian men who is clearly aware of just how cool he is. This is not a stereotype but so many of them can do it so well. It’s also a necessity because it is very clear that young Italian women wouldn’t give them the time of day if they weren’t. And that would be bad…..
As a preface to the next part, if you have been following along, you will know that there are a number of ways we can park. These are anchoring, grabbing a mooring buoy, coming alongside and stern-to mooring in a couple of variants. Well, there’s another one; one we haven’t ever done before. Guess which one we have to do here.
This is actually another variant of stern-to mooring that is pretty common in the western Mediterranean but not used in Greece, Croatia, Montenegro and all the other places we have been. In this model there are two wooden posts or pilings about 15-20 meters off the dock (we are 14 meters and a bit). They are spaced just wide enough to take a boat and the idea is that you slide smoothly between these pilings turning the boat as you go until your stern is at the dock and your bow is neatly between theposts at the front.
It may come as a surprise and a relief (as it was to us) that this is exactly how we did it. No mishaps, no angst just “Be cool, look cool”. Frankly, it would have been very difficult for just the two of us to have done this but Pam and Brian’s help made all the difference. Also, I think not having the time to worry about it was very helpful also. As a crew, we can be just a tad over-analytical at times.
We take a deep breath and realize that we are in Venice. For Lori and I this is the culmination of four and a half months of sailing and a couple more months of planning. True Colors has done a wonderful job. It all feels very satisfying. We have followed the Venetian trading routes backwards from Malta to here looking at all the evidence of their presence and marveling at how expansive was their reach. The Venetian buildings and towns we have seen have progressively become more common and more imposing and for the next few days we will see where it all started from.
