Our First Week

As you’ve realised we’re one week behind with our posts…..

Lack of WIFI connection was the reason, so now we take the opportunity to write about last week!

My brother André and his daughters Michèlle and Jacqueline arrived late afternoon last Sunday. After parking his car, unload it and got settled we finally clinked glasses and welcomed them on board Luna Azzurra!

According to their reaction they were very pleased with their accommodations and felt at home immediately.

That evening we ate out, unfortunately a bit too late, since we almost couldn’t find a table for five. But we were lucky in the end and enjoyed a nice dinner. Afterwards we did a bit of (window-) shopping and strolled around Loano and the promenade along the beach.

The next morning, while eating breakfast,  we decided to take the chance, sailing out, eastwards to Punto Crena. There we could swim and spend the night. No sooner said than done, after 11 a.m. everyone was ready and we left Marina di Loano.

Sadly, the wind was too poor to sail, but it didn’t dampen our high spirits nevertheless! After approx an hour we were settled, the anchor (our NEW Vulcan!) was in the water and so were the paddle boards.

Needless to say that all of us enjoyed the “cooling” water (27°C), by swimming and fooling around! Happy people altogether!

For dinner we made a ratatouille with couscous and sallad! Everyone loved it (unless they were lying ;o) and after a bit of chatting and another drink we were ready for bed!

The next day was about copy-paste! Sun, fun and laughs! Around 3 p.m. we were ready and slowly sailed back to Loano (without wind again….).

After five we were safely secured at our berth, had an aperitif, showered and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner – earlier than last time! Everyone was keen on pizza, so the menu was chosen in no time!

Afterwards a stroll into town again, an espresso, grappa and ice-cream and it was time to return to our boat…

On Wednesday, around lunch time, it was time to say good bye to my brother and kids! Patrik and I wanted to see San Remo and they had booked a hotel room in Diano Marina until Sunday. School would start again on Monday for the girls.

After they’d left we did a quick cleaning and washed the bedlinen etc. We planned to leave Loano on Thursday before lunch, spend the night anchoring in Diano Marina (maybe meet my brother again ;o) and then continue to San Remo.

And so we did, except that we haven’t met André and the girls again.

Unfortunately, Patrik – somehow – managed to lose the bench from our boat into the sea…. Damn!! We even turned around in then hope it would swim…. Well, it didn’t and after 20 minutes of searching we gave up and continued our journey. The mood had dropped a few degrees…..

The night outside Diano Marina was very bumpy and unsettling, though! Never ending swells made it almost impossible to sleep.

Off to San Remo the next day (Friday)! We even made our contribution to the environment and fished a big “Spiderman” balloon out of the sea! It got destroyed of course and would be thrown away, as soon as we would have the chance.

Patrik booked a mooring berth in Portosole for two nights, so instead of entering the marina already at lunch time, we dropped the anchor just outside the marina and went swimming and tried to cool down a bit.

Around five we entered the marina and were shown our berth. Missing the bench, we had to fiddle a bit with the gangway *grrrrrr*

We soon discovered that the showers and toilets were too far away, so we used our own on board!

Dinner we had in town, after exploring a bit of it. And what a lovely dinner we had – it was simply fantastic, both the food and the service. It’s called “Vela d’Oro” and we warmly recommend it!

The next day was simply planned to play tourists. Taking pictures, do some shopping, have a bite to eat…. you know “goditi la vita”, as the Italians say!

The second evening we ate on board Luna Azzurra and stayed there. Pleased with our time in San Remo and our vacation so far!