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...