The Road to Venice

Chioggia, Italy

We decided to travel up the East coast of Italy because we wanted to take Berkeley East to Venice. It was a good decision, as we had many great experiences there. With just a few miles to go, we stopped in Fano, Ravenna and Chioggia before cruising up the inland sea to Venezia.

Fano was listed in the cruising guide as an Italian summer retreat with miles of beaches. It was exactly that, and since it was officially summer, there were many Italians there on holiday. But Fano also had a charming town with a very local feel. It was the first place that we had seen people (everyone) riding bicycles. Maybe it was because the town was flat, unlike the hill towns we had seen on the southern part of the coast. We liked Fano so much that we actually looked into putting BE there for the winter.

Anyone who follows World Heritage sites knows about Ravenna. It is famous for its mosaics. We were impressed with the large modern marina, we were impressed with the nice little town up the hill, we were blown away by the mosaics. They really were amazing. We can’t imagine what it took to make such beautiful masterpieces, and maintaining them today must be equally exhausting.

A very wise woman once told us that any docking you can walk away from is a good docking. We try to remember that advice on the rare occasion that things don’t go quite according to plan. When we arrived in Chioggia we were met by a sailor from the marina, he took our bow lines to tie them onto the pylon and then led us into the marina. It was a tight entrance to an even tighter berth. The wind was up, and while our bow lines were nicely tied to the pylons, they were tied so nicely that we could not get them free. We ended up with Berkeley East pinned to a pylon, all 34 tons of her. After much work, we got BE secure with no damage to any boats or people. Luckily, the huge thunder and lightening storm, and torrential downpour, didn’t begin until after we were settled and BE got a really good wash.

Once we recovered from our rough arrival in Chioggia, we discovered a great town with quaint canals, bicycles, scooters, local markets, everything we could want. It was a little Venice without the tourists. We loved it and spent several days exploring. When we did leave, we made up for our chaotic arrival with a perfect departure. Even people on the dock were clapping at how skillful we managed to move BE out of the slip.