Hi from Tapestry,
Finally, this morning, Saturday, May 13, we pushed off from the dock at
Fumincino and slipped into the current as Tapestry and Triumph headed out the
canal back into the sparkling Med. It was a sunny departure. We struggled to
hold the boats in place as the current pushed us toward the bridge, but it
opened on time and we slid past the incoming yachts without trouble and then
past the fishing boats into the sea.
One thing I will never forget about Michele and Constellation Nautica is the
water meters. He gave each of us a water meter when we checked in. It was
brass with a glass faceplate and it had a big yellow washer attached to it with
a piece of string. We were carefully instructed to attach the meter to the tap
every time we used water, and to be sure to use the washer between the tap and
the meter. We could then attach our hose and fill our tanks, wash down,
whatever. Papu kept an eye on the meters and if one was dripping before it went
into the meter, he would call our attention to it. Obviously water was
expensive.
We wanted to check out before we cleared customs, but we had to detach our
electric and turn in our water meter before the bill could be tabulated, Anna
insisted. "And Kosh" she added, by 1 p.m. "Kosh" I
wondered what kosh was. It didn't take long to figure it out. We had to pay in
cash. So we went to several A.T.M's and got a pile of cash. After we had
filled our two 60 gallon tanks and washed and completely rinsed the boat, we
went to the office for the bad news. It turns out we had used a grand total of
3 Euros, about four dollars, worth of water since we had arrived in April. Of
course the bill which included charges for storage for the winter, painting and
waxing the hull was much larger. We went into Michele's office and counted out
the bills on his desk until everyone was satisfied.
Customs was next. Even though we came from Italy and are going to another
port in Italy, we had to deal with Italian customs. The first day Julie and I
went through the heavy fence, past the armed guard into the Coast Guard office.
There we turned in our passports to get visitor passes which we attached to our
shirts. Then we stood in front of a window and began the paperwork. We filled
out one short form in duplicate which was taken to a desk. Men and women in
crisply pressed uniforms walked back and fourth behind the glass and avoided eye
contact with us. They stamped papers and stapled them and talked in hushed
tones, but they never looked at us. Finally, a woman came to the window and
explained that our arrival date was incorrect. When that was fixed we waited
longer. After an hour and a half they told us we would have to come back the
next day to get our final clearance. Finally on Friday they cleared us out.
This time it was only a 20 minute wait.
We had our helm seat re-upholstered while we were in Fumincino and the back
rest required some special foam. It had been promised on Wednesday, but when
the foam was not available locally they put it off 'til Monday. "Not
possible." I insisted. "We leave on Saturday." When they
finally got this bit of information sorted out, there was a great uproar in the
shop. They would get it to us by Friday. On Thursday evening the phone rang.
"Your seat was ready and you would have to pick it up by 8." I had
ice cubes in my glass and was about to enjoy a cocktail, but instead I hiked off
to the upholstery shop. The lady's daughter was there and she said she meant
that the seat would be ready by 8, and as it was only seven, it wasn't ready
yet, but I could pick it up in the morning. Whatever. I came back on Friday
and picked up the seat back.
Julie and Eileen had recently discovered a new grocery store about a mile and
a half out of town. It is called Eurospin and groceries are really cheap there.
For each of the last few days we have taken our "cart" and walked to
the store, loaded up on provisions, loaded them onto the two wheeled cart and
hauled them back to the yard. Each trip takes about an hour and a half, but now
we are pretty well provisioned as we head south.
Tonight we are anchored 30 miles south of Fumincino at Anzio. This town is
Nero's birthplace and also the place where U.S. and Allied forces engaged in
very difficult battle in W.W. II. There is an Allied and an American cemetery
here. The harbor is crowded with fishing and sailboats and so we are anchored
in the bay. We won't go ashore, but will get an early start tomorrow for the
Island of Ponza. We motored most of the way here in light winds under sunny
skies. Finally, we are off on this year's adventure. All the best, Hank and
Julie