Capraia, Italy It looked like the Caribbean, a small rugged island, clear turquoise water. But it was Italy, Capraia, a tiny island that doesn’t thrive on tourism, but thrives on nature instead. We pulled into the island’s only real anchorage, looking for the 15-foot depth that our cruising guide promised, but found 90, 60, 40 […]
Tuscany, Italy We’ve known Chris and Donna forever; Chris was one of Larry’s college roommates. Sometime in the mid 1980’s we began taking trips together. It all started with a Thanksgiving escape to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. By the end of our time there, we had planned a vacation for the next year to Cozumel. […]
Tuscany, Italy After a while at anchor, we decided it was time for a road trip through Tuscany. We parked Berkeley East and acquired a nifty little Fiat Panda for the journey. The Fiat Panda is a very popular car in Italy, those who aren’t driving Ferraris, seem to be driving Pandas, so we felt […]
Cinque Terre, Italy A visit to the Cinque Terre (Five Lands) prompted us to ask this question. Are we cruisers, or are we tourists? The Cinque Terre area was named for five tiny Italian villages wedged into a series of coves between sheer cliffs. It became a Unesco World Heritage site, and was praised by […]
15 June 2011 | Santa Margherita / Portofino Italy On just our fourth stop in Italy, we had already found a place that we could call home – Santa Margherita Liguere. Actually, two places, we think we could live in Portofino as well. Both are stunningly beautiful towns. Santa Margherita is a beach town, while […]
La Grazie, Italy We found that Le Grazie was a great anchorage to leave Berkeley East and do some day trips. It was large, calm, and scenic, and there were four other American boats anchored there who had scoop on the area. It is rare that we see one other American boat, let alone four, […]
Genova, Italy As cruisers, we walk a lot. Whenever we land in a port, we don’t have a car at our disposal, so we walk until we find what we are looking for, be it a marine store, a restaurant, a bus, or a train. We are used to walking, but when we landed in […]
Italian Riviera Boun giorno! Boun giorno! That is what we heard as we sailed Berkeley East into San Remo, Italy. A portly man came running out on the dock, arms wide open, welcoming us to his marina. He said several sentences in Italian – “Welcome to Italy! Your yacht is so beautiful! We are so happy […]
Monte Carlo Monaco We were sitting quietly at the dock in Port Fontvieille, Monaco, when Berkeley East suddenly lurched back, thumping her stern on the dock. By the time we got on deck, the wind was gusting to more than 50 knots pushing our 31-ton boat onto the dock. The rain was coming down in […]
Villefrance, French Rivera Everyone is always asking what our favorite town, village or city is. It is an impossible question to answer because most of the places that we have been visiting are all special in some way, be it beauty, character, peacefulness, people, or one unique experience. But if we had to choose a […]
