Cala Galera our Base for a Tuscan Tour

Fortunately for us, the weather was stable for the last week of October and we listened to the three day forecasts and decided the Southwest 3-4 forecast on the 30th was perfect for our 58 mile sail to Cala Galera marina on Monte Argentario, almost exactly south east from Elba and therefore a good beam reach was to be ours. We were looking forward to a good sail and though we didn't quite manage our 0600 set off time we were under way 20 minutes later into a glassy bay reflecting the beautiful surroundings.  Being early we knew that the breeze was unlikely to get started for a while but when it did finally put in an appearance, it was on the nose! Another yacht also left Portoferraio and a few ferries, including the hydrofoil were already ploughing back and forth to Piombino.

After our terrible experience with the lobsterpots on the way in we were quite vigilant on our departure. The glittering surface of the water from the steadily rising sun made it difficult to see so we ended up "tacking" in effect so we could avoid staring into it. Nearly five hours after setting off we finally hauled up the main but had to keep the engine on. This helped our speed a bit but we were already calculating that we would only just make it to Cala Galera in daylight. Our spirits lifted a bit when the island of Giglio materialised out of the haze on the horizon and then too, we made out Monte Argentario. A beautiful shiny swordfish entertained us with a jumping display for almost a minute. It jumped almost twenty times I should think, but not being "into" fish we don't know why.

Another relief from the monotony of motoring was a fleet of fishing boats. It was interesting to watch them setting their trawling nets but it forced us off course for a while. We then spied a yacht in the distance and thought it was sailing towards us. I kept half an eye on it and then realised it was going round in circles, rather erratically. I got Chris to watch too and we were quite certain that it was not sailing a course. We thought maybe we should check it out although there had been no distress call on the VHF. We changed course again, the circling yacht getting closer and then peered through the binoculars. There were plenty of people on board and we figured they were on some sort of "learn to sail course" and were taking turns to helm for a man over board practice or something. Relieved of our duty to help out fellow yachtsmen we headed back on course, not delayed any further.

Our impressions of Monte Argentario were rather mixed. I described it as "spectacular" in my log entry but Chris thought it looked "bleak". He decided later that it wasn't a fair description because he was feeling a bit cold and tired and that had influenced his description! The last few miles did seem extraordinarily long and the sun dropped behind the hills bringing dusk even more quickly, it seemed. The numerous castles dotted around the rocky isthmus conjured images of marauding pirates but we were too tired to dream for long. Finally the masts in the marina came into sight and we nosed our way round the enormous protective breakwater. An ormeggatori greeted us with a "good evening" in English and I replied with "Buon Giorno" which amused him greatly because I should have said Buona Sera! Silly me. He helped us berth bows to on the visitors pontoon, which was almost full with local boats and we checked in. After a well-earned dinner we had an early night. Exploration would have to wait until the next day.

The plan was for Mike and Jean, Chris' parents, to stay in a nearby hotel and we would explore Tuscany together, like we had when they came to El Puerto last year. The problem was that there were no hotels within easy reach of the marina, particularly considering we would want to walk in the evenings. The road to Porto Ercole, where a few hotels were still open this late in the season, had no footpath and we wanted to stay in the marina rather than the old port because it offers much better shelter. There was nothing for it but to suggest that they stay on the boat. The plus side to this arrangement was that instead of paying for a hotel, Jean and Mike offered to pay for a hire car for the week, something we had planned to get for a couple of days.  This worked out well. Chris had to cycle to Orbetello to get the little green Punto from a local hire company. Luckily, the girl who served him turned out to be English so it wasn't difficult. We were then able to collect Jean and Mike from the train station and it gave us the freedom to venture into areas of Tuscany that would not have been convenient or possible by train. Siena, San Gimignano and Pitigliano were are main visits inland but we also pottered around locally.

From Talamone, a small coastal town a little north of here, we followed a trail in part of the Maremma National Park. It was only 4 km so it said on the leaflet we had, but we could not manage to translate the details, which were only in Italian. The 4km turned out to take in a steep rocky descent by the coast, having steadily trailed uphill through pretty woodland, observing a deer and some lovely autumnal leaves and berries. Jean isn't terribly keen on heights and I have become more apprehensive in my old age! We made it though, and felt good about it once we were safely back down and sitting in the car!

Over the weekend the marina came to life and the bars opened up. Mike and Jean treated us to breakfast on the Sunday morning in Bilbo's, pastries, cappuccini, marmalade or custard filled croissants...mmmmmmm. We also ate out in Orbetello on the last lunchtime with them. We had been looking forward to pizzas at a Trattoria recommended by the hire car lady. It turned out that they only do pizzas in the evenings so I had some delicious seafood gnocchi and the others all had the roast beef, fresh tomato sauce and chips! Yummy all the same.

Our plan after Mike and Jean's departure was to spend a few more days in Cala Galera to recover :-) and then sail on down to Civitavecchia and then on to Ostia, a new marina near Rome. We ventured out on our trusty bikes after the car had been returned. Monte Argentario is joined to the mainland by two naturally formed sandy spits, as well as a Roman causeway to Orbetello, and the one nearest to us is a cycle path, providing 6 km of tree shaded tranquillity. We saw only two other people, one jogging and the other a park official. No doubt it is much busier in the summer, with all the camping and caravan sites around the area. We disturbed a couple of deer, who kept their distance from us but didn't flee and there was a constant twittering from the trees. A real treat compared to the hustle and bustle of visiting the popular towns and cities.

Our plans to move on were put on hold for a while, because some fierce depressions settled in and the weather became quite appalling, very windy, sand filled rain and cloud. Yuk. We watched some mad Italians go out racing on the Sunday. The sea was pretty rough and the rain became torrential! While they were out of the marina they were probably safe enough but when they returned the northeasterly wind was quite vicious and mooring was tricky to say the least. Fortunately the yacht club was organised and had two dinghies helping the yachts manoeuvre. One yacht succeeded in getting blown broadside on to three yachts moored beside us but it missed La Premiere!

We found a shortcut, around the bottom of an old Spanish castle, to the Co-op in Porto Ercole and on our walks there we pass through Cala Galera's boatyard. They have a travel lift for the smaller yachts but they seem to specialise in hauling out the huge motor yachts. We have never seen anything quite like their method for doing so. Somehow the massive yachts are balanced on wooden sledges, propped up precariously by oddments of wood. These are then winched into the yard and manouvered around in all sorts of ways, one of the most bizarre techniques used was to use a forklift truck to 'nudge' (ram might be closer to the truth) the sledge as it was being winched. Judging from the number of yachts sitting happily under their plastic cocoons for the winter the method is tried and trusted but we are grateful that La Premiere has so far been hauled out using more modern methods.