Bocca di Magra

We stayed in La Spezia for another few days until Thursday 30^th October, mainly to stock up with provisions and to see “Don Giovanni” at La Spezia’s theatre.  This was a regional touring production, professional and clearly very heavily sponsored by the Region of Liguria, Savona District Council etc, etc.  The theatre is a well-restored little gem, I would guess from the late 1920s or early thirties, very Art Deco with plush seats and ochre paintwork.  The sort of place I could imagine the local fascist luminaries attending for big set piece performances.  In fact in my imagination we could have been back in Mussolini’s Italy as we sat through the worthy four-hour marathon.  The auditorium was only half-full, mainly of smartly dressed folks, many of whom were clearly bored by the proceedings, a combination, I suspect, of the local literati and local government officials issued with complimentary tickets to make up the numbers.  In the interval we all spilled out onto the theatre steps into the still warm October evening.  It was about 10.30pm and the town was quiet.  People stood in groups smoking and as the theatre had no bar many crowded into the small cafe over the road, which had clearly stayed open especially.

Next morning we set off for our winter berth in bright sunshine with no wind and flat calm seas.  Just as well as the entrance to the Magra is very shallow and a bit tricky to find.  We got across the bar of the river with about two and half metres of water under us and then motored slowly upstream.  The Magra looked even more beautiful in bright sunshine, some leaves are still on the trees here and at times you can pretend that it is still high summer.  We ran aground working our way across the river to the marina, but got off OK and made our way safely to our berth.

So here we are.  We’ve now spent two nights here and it is as restful as we suspected it would be, although there is more activity than we expected, with boats still coming and going making use of the currently fine weather.  We are now temporary members of the Yachting Club Foce Magra, a tax dodge I suspect by Maria/Giovanna and we are beginning to suss out the local characters, including a very aggressive little dog who tried to attack me when we walked back into the marina after a stroll to the nearby village.  Maria/Giovanna explained to Sue that the dog is a bitch abandoned by a visiting boat and adopted by the marina, partly because she is so aggressive and territorial no one has had the courage to kick her out – her nickname is “Gadafi”.

After the activity of the last four months we are now preparing to settle in for four of five months and watch the winter go by.  One of the things both Sue and I have discovered to our regret is that we are not as young as we used to be and that we need more rest.  Sue has troubles with her back and hip from time to time and I currently have a knee and elbow each held together by elastic bandages.  La Fulica is a bit tired too and needs some TLC, alarmingly the gas cooker has started to leak and the water pump is making odd noises and decides not to work from time to time.  The stern tube also needs some attention – but at my time of life what can you expect?  Overall, though we seem to have come through our travels so far fitter and stronger than when we started, but with a slightly more realistic understanding of our capacities and of La Fulica’s, which far exceed ours.

Now that we have stopped for a while these posts will probably decrease in frequency, though there are some interesting challenges ahead:

·       Will we ever find any shops near here or a bus to La Spezia?

·       Might we overcome Italian bureaucracy and get it together to buy, tax and insure a cheap car?

·       Will we end up moored in the middle of a field after the winter floods?

·       Will Sue befriend “Gadafi” (her winter project)?

·       Will I manage to get in and out of the marina with my ankles intact?

·       How should we address “Maria/Giovanna”?