Im Herbst 09 an der Ligurischen Küste


Story by Roshan
Pictures by all




We somehow managed to leave at 3 o'clock,
honestly i was surprised that we did on time, but as long
as things were going on schedule. The wheather was brilliant,
almost like summer vacations. Well the first
leg of our journey was by Jörn's VW bus,
from Freiburg over Switzerland and then to Genova, Italy.



Although we drove over the Alps,
it was really unfortunate that we did during the night.
Anyway, we reached Genova at around mid night.
"One Eye" had the keys in the ignition and we knew exactly where
the yatch was going to be. We went and stacked the provisions
and hit the town in search for food and drinks.



We were scheduled to leave at noon,
but by some miracle we were delayed because the boat company
lost the papers of the yatch.
After a lot of searching we decided to leave on another smaller yatch, "Luise..."
She was not bad but a little cramped at first but as the journey went on it was'nt all that bad.
A typical Italian beginning to an Italian vacation, we set sail about 3 hours behind schedule.



With the sun high in the sky and no wind behind our sails,
we set sail with the motor running at max.
The best part of this trip was that we did not have any schedules to keep
and no destination in mind, no deadlines, no schedules and no stress.



The Skipper was a little under the wheather because of the good weather i guess.
So as soon as we were out of the harbour we decided do make a ceremonial offering
to the Gods of the Sea, Poseidon and Neptune.
The first glass of Disaronno was thrown overboard in the name of the Gods.
One big mistake that we would realise later was,
we did not make an offering to The God of the 4 Winds, Aelous.



The lack of wind did not dampen anyones spirits,
there was just the right amount of Sun and it was'nt too
warm, perfect weather, for a motorboat.



We chugged along for the rest of the day at a pretty decent pace.
It was really quiet but then suddenly, I noticed that achim was up to something.
He went below deck for a few minutes and the next thing i know
that he comes up in a neoprine costume and without saying anything jumps overboard.
Typical way for him to start swimming. well that had all of us in splits for a while
until Jorg came to the back of the boat
and did a back flip into the water.
It was really a shame that all of us did not get into the water, but....



Once we decided to dock for the night we were near Porto Fino,
so we went into the harbour, but unfortunately for us the harbour was already closed
and there was no way we could dock there. So we decided to do the next best thing,
dock at Rapallo wich was about an hour away.



Achim stayed back on the yatch as he was the chef for the evening
but the rest of us went to a little cafe near the harbour
and got ourselves something to drink, which was very refreshing indeed.



We set off in the morning again,
after spending the nights in one of the most expensive harbours i have ever been in.
The journey started off with Jork wanting to stop at some port for coffee. So we decided that we
would stop somewhere around noon for some coffee.
We had already hit out first problem with a light
that had burnt out on the mast and we decided that we had to fix it during the day.



When it was about noon, and decided to stop somewhere for coffee we found a small tourist town,
Sestri Levante, that was really close to out position.
So we docked in Sestri Levante and went into the town in search of a cafe.
It was a beautiful little town that had the look of a place which was used to many visitors.
We found a nice cafe just off the beach and sat down for a drink.
On the way back to the ship Roshan and
Achim wandered off and returned with a bottle of the local wine, "Pussy".



We set off again with no particular destination in mind.
The sea was oily and so after a while we decided
to kill the engine and drift for a while.
It was really pleasant as the waves were virtualy non existant.
Just about then Matthias said that he wanted to go for a swim
and Bettina said that she would join him.
It was a really beautiful afternoon.



After Matthias and Bettina were done swimming we started up the motor
and were on the move again and with sun beginning his downward journey
it was time to fix the light on the mast.
It was Jörg who said that he would like to go up and fix the light.
It was really funny to watch him up there, and i think that he was a
little scared, but he did the job well
and then we were all set to sail through the night (not that we were but...).



With the sun setting quickly we had to dock soon,
and Vanazza was not far away so Jurn said that we should anchor in Vanazza.
It was a really beautiful town with only one street for the tourists
and a really beautiful harbour.



Well we had done a lot on this day and Achim said that we should open the bottle of wine
that we bought in Sestri Levante.
Pussy actually tasted like pee-pee. We were really fortunate that we had some other wine with
us on the boat. After a while in Typical Indian fashion Roshan said
that he was going to go to bed and decided that he was going to sleep on land
even after a lot of us told him that it would be really cold,
but a man wants what a man wants.
The really funny part was that an old Italian lady went up to him
when he was sleeping to check if he was okay
when we told her he was with us then she said that he must be feeling cold
and went away.
A lot of other people thought he was a drunk from the town or was dead.



I went below deck for a while
and when i came back then i found a lady sitting with the rest of the crew chatting away.
After listening to the conversation i was able to put together that she, Franchesca, was
Swiss-Italian and she was here because she was to sell her house which was in Vernazza.
How and when she came on the boat I still dont know.



The next morning it was time for us to head back to Genova.
It was a good day but we could see clouds in the distance.
Sometime during the afternoon suddenly Isi said that she thought there was enough wind to sail.
Everybody was excited and the skipper ordered that the motor be turned off and we sail.
It was a glorius two hours with a pretty strong wind,
but the wind died just as suddenly as it came to life.



Well here i just want to say that throughout our journey it was very rare
that we actually got to see our skipper.
It was not untill that we were way into the journey
that we realised what kept him so busy all the time



It was smooth sailing for most of the day on a really calm sea.
We had soup for lunch made while we were on the move.
We wanted to cover a most of the distance
that we had done in two days on that particular day.



As evening came we decided that we were going to stop in Camogli
for the night and it was another good two hours to Camogli.
On the previous day Jörg and Isi had been hoiste up the mast and today Matthias
and Roshan were scheduled to go up. First it was Matthias' turn and then was Roshans.
But then Roshan decided to stay up on the second level till we set anchor at the harbout.
It would have bees something for
the people to see a man on the mast of the shipwhen it came into harbour.



Camogli was a beautiful town and it was Halloween.
A lot of children walking the streets all dressed up asking for treats.
Wll i must say that Jörn and Roshan did have their fun by scaring a few children on
the streets by making faces and noises at them.



At Camogli we had our last drink together as Jörg was going to leave the crew
the next morning as he had to get back to work sooner than the others.



We saw Jörg off at about ten thirty and set sail for Genova.
Iw would take us about two hours to get there
but we took a little more time.
Finally we anchored Louise in Genova and got off the yatch.



I should say that even though we did not do a lot of sailing it was a really good vaccation.
We visited a lot of really beautiful places and had a lot of fun in the process.
I guess more than anything the point of this holiday was to break the routine
of everyday life so that we could relax and rejuvinate ourselves.
After returning Louise to the charter it was a long drive back home
and before i knew it i was back at work as if it was all one long dream...