A month later, more of the same! What a mushroom season around here!

 It is now November in Istria and we continue visiting our numerous mushroom spots in turn, first for the interesting walks in the very nice forests, and then for the incredible recipes that we are eating everyday based on all sorts of mushrooms. This time, we have been exploring the are around the airport of Pula, just a few kilometres from home...  

And we found another untouched spot, probably too close to the city for having attracted the mushroom lovers looking for unexplored forests, as there is a fierce competition for foraging...

End of sailing season, September 2024, start of the mushroom season, October 2024!

Back to the blog for an update! The sailing season is over for us this year, after 570 nautical miles around Pula. This is not much compared to previous seasons, and can be explained by the number of friends and visitors we had over the summer, with whom we tended to sail locally, relatively bad weather in June and September, and a lot of work on top of that!   

Anyway, we are Mediterranean sailors now, used to the tricks of mooring in any port under any conditions, even if we still miss the Baltic!

A weekend in Brijuni

Even though our house is located just along the coast to Brijuni National Park, we never stopped there because of the "unrealistic prices" for a night in the Brijuni marina, namely 270€ per night for a boat like Belisama.

Belisama in Brijuni Harbour

Yet, with a full load of people on board, like 8 of us with nephews and grand nephews on board, it made sense since the boat mooring cost includes the 35€ entrance to the National Park.  

So we went in...

Back to exploring Venice, June/July 2024

We had accumulated a lot of photos from our explorations in Venice, but didn't have the time to process them. Now that we have a little more time, I've decided to show you a few of the aspects of the city that fascinated us.

Gondolas and squeraroli

Venice's gondolas continue to be handcrafted by the "squeraroli", the craftsmen who own “squeri”, the small shipyards still present in Venice's historic center.

Squero di San Trovaso in Dorsoduro

Pula to Cres Island, 7-11 July 2024

The Polesana Marina where resides Belisama is very close to the Pula arena, one of the best preserved Roman Arena in the world. Any visit to Pula starts with a tour of the Arena, and if you are lucky, you can attend to operas and concert during summer months, alternating with gladiator fights. 

Pula arena

Not to be missed! But more is to be seen along the coast...

Back to Pula, 25-26 June 2024

After almost three weeks wandering around the North Western coast of Italian Adriatic I was left with the task of bringing back Belisama from Rimini to Pula. Seventy-five miles, all together, so not such a big deal. Except that the weather forecast was most unclear...

Out of Rimini marina, waiting on anchor for a favourable weather window...

In theory, it is a a simple task to plan a cruise given the performance of the weather forecast nowadays. Except that they still have problems to take into account the very low scale coastal effects!

To Rimini, 22-24 June 2024

On 22 June, with no wind, we left our marina in Cesenatico at 10am, as our place was already reserved for the next boat. So we anchored in the outer harbour for lunch and then, benefiting from a nascent sea breeze, we set sail for Rimini, our final Italian stopover in these three weeks of Italian sailing. On the way, we're sailing with a traditional Trabaccolo under standing lug sail (the sail is always on the same side of the mast when tacking or gybing), which is making good speed under sail.

Trabaccolo, the traditional trade ship of the Adriatic under standing lug sail

We were going 4 knots under mains sail and genoa with 4 m/s side winds, and he was not giving-up to us!

A day in San Marino, 23 June

Belisama is safely in the Marina of Rimini and we take advantage of one non-sunny day to explore the countryside around, and in particular, the Republic of San Marino, 10 km away from Rimini. It is the fifth smallest country in the world (61 sq km). It claims to be the world's oldest republic, founded on September 3, 301 AD, by a Christian stonemason named Marinus. 

View of the Republic of San Marino and watchtower 1 from watchtower 2

But a day in San Marino is worth the visit as it has a lot to offer...

Sirocco in Cervia and Cesenatico, 20 & 21 June

Both Cervia and Cesenatico, a few miles apart on the Adriatic coast south of Ravenna have in common to be fully devoted to fisheries. We are currently experiencing sirocco wind, bringing Sahara sand and resulting in a hazy weather, very hot and humid! 

Trabaccolo traditional coastal trade boats in the Leonardo Da Vinci Cesenatico canal

These two towns offer an authentic experience of life on the Adriatic coast, a little off the tourist trail. We are no longer in touristy Venice or pre-medieval Ravenna, but in an Italy of busy fishermen, with a brilliant past and a present not less. It's refreshing to stroll through the historic centres at aperitif time, when the day doesn't start until after 5pm! So we sail the few miles between the tourist ports at the hottest time of the day, arriving around 3pm, when it is end of siesta time in the marinas, and leaving around 5pm to visit the towns. Perfect timing.

A day in Ravenna, 19 June 2024

Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire from 402 to 476 AD. This transition period marked the Roman empire's adaptation to increasing pressures from Germanic tribes (Ostrogots) and internal strife. Under the rule of emperors like Honorius and later the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great, Ravenna became a center of political and military activity, basically the centre of the Western world. 

Theodora, wife of the Emperor Justinan I

We visited 5 of the 8 sites in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCOWorld Heritage list, all more interesting than one another.

Chioggia to Ravenna, 15-16 June 2024

To sail from Chioggia to Ravenna, we need to go around the Po delta, a 52 nm ride heading South-East for the first part, then South-West for the last part. Following the passage of a low-pressure system during our stay in Venice, we are currently experiencing a regime of solar winds alternating between land breezes in the morning and sea breezes in the afternoon. 

In order to take advantage of the best winds, we decide to set off at two in the morning, at the start of the land breeze, which should blow us easily to the south-east. And indeed the breeze picks up, between 8 and 10 m/s, and we are making between 8 and 9 knots downwind under spinnaker. We end up dropping the spinnaker as the boat becomes increasingly unstable as the land breeze builds. 

After gybing as we pass the Po delta, we continue south-west towards Ravenna. And that's when the genoa halyard breaks...

Chioggia, the Venice of the poor, 14 & 15 June

 Chioggia is located 25 km south of Venice, at the southern entrance of the Venice Lagoon. It was famous in the Middle Ages for the high quality of the salt it produced in large quantities. At that time, salt was the basis for preserving food and was so precious that it was considered currency. At the end of the 14th century, this led to the Chioggia War, in which Venice and Genoa fought for control of the town. Chioggia became a city controlled by Venice. 

It is really worth a stopover for visiting, and we happened to be there for the annual middle-age festival in the third weekend of June!

Anchoring at Poveglia, 13 June 2024

As we departed from San Giorgio marina after three days, we engaged in a few mile ride to Poveglia lazaretto, on our way to Ravenna. It took us 3 hours to sail against some current to reach the place. 

Belisama anchored by Poveglia Lazaretto

But we realised how much Poveglia Lazaretto is a significant place for epidemiologists!

Visiting Burano - Murano, 11 June

Safely moored at the San Giorgio Yatch Club marina, we decided to spend the day exploring the islands of Burano and Murano in the Venice Lagoon. By the way, Venice lagoon or laguna? In French, we make a difference. A "lagon" refers to tropical islands surrounded by coral reefs while a "lagune" refers to any kind of shallow water body separated from the sea by a sandy bar. So, in French Venice would have a "lagune" and not a "lagon". But English does not make a difference, so Venice is surrounded by a lagoon, and laguna in fact is a Spanish term.  

Belisama is the third mast from the right, with the windmill visible on her aft

Our day there confirmed that these two islands are a must visit for anyone visiting Venice...

To Venezia, 8-10 June

Here we are, finally, as we dreamed we would be one day, when we first visited the place in 2014! Well, It took 10 years, but at the time we were owning La Malouine, a brise de mer 31 based in Stockholm. So it could take that long!

Belisama in San Giorgio Maggiore Yatch Club Marina.

Finally, we made it with Belisama, an OVNI 445, but it still took 10 years from Stockholm :-). Now based in Pula, it took only 12 hours...

Departing tomorrow!

After a completely crazy year working as mad for the Middle=East WHO Office, we are finally departing tomorrow for Venice and an exploration of the northern Adriatic coast. It took a full week to replace the windows on the canopy after the Bora exploded them earlier in the year, Besides, the final days got devoted to slow cooking food and making sure we have enough provision of fermented goodies.

Fermented goodies

Ready to depart now!

Getting ready for the season, May 2024

After a year in the Mediterranean, Belisama experienced the high UV levels that led to the destruction of our tender by explosion! and the blowing of the main sail cover and the canopy during a severe episode of Bora winds (see specific post...).

Start of the 2024 season!

22nd February, water-borne again, en route from Marina Polesana, Pula, the new homeport of Belisama, to Marina Veruda, the largest marina in the area, and where the annual service of the hull can be done. First winter sailing, under still quiet Yugo (south) wind with temperatures around 10°C. Luckily, the sea is quiet. We struggle to reach 4 knots with engine running at 2200 rpm and heavy turbulences in our wake, indicating that something is holding us back in the water...

Let's see...