Meeting up with Cruisers

Some of our family were enjoying a luxury cruise around the Mediterranean on a big fancy cruise ship, so we decided to take our ‘luxury’ small sailing boat, to meet up with them. They were due to dock in Piombino on the Tuscan coast of Italy, just a few miles from Elba.

We lifted our anchor and set off to Piombino. There was 15 kts of wind from behind, with just the Genoa flying, we had a good downwind sail along the south coast of Elba. There was a lot of industrial heritage remaining on the cliffs with mining clearly being big business on the island before the arrival of tourism.

Yet more storms were forecast, and as we planned to leave Ziggy alone for the day, we booked into a shiny new marina on the outskirts of town. The following day we set off early, but soon realised that the lovely new marina still only had a very dusty and bumpy track connecting it to town. Finding a taxi willing to collect us proved a challenge, but eventually somebody agreed, albeit at a rather eye watering fee.

We had arranged to meet the cruisers by the ancient gateway to the city, where, with 15 of us, we managed to take over a small cafe for refreshments before exploring the town.

Piombino is a seaside town with a busy port and a historic centre set within massive medieval city walls.

The gate of St. Antonino, (the Torrione) was the city’s ancient land port. It was built in 1212 and is the oldest monument still standing in Piombino. The adjoining Rivellino, a massive semicircular reinforcement, was added in 1447 to enhance its defences against artillery. Originally, there was a moat around it with a single opening and drawbridge.

Today, it had a different use with a small craft market set up inside selling hand made jewellery, accessories and various other trinkets.

We walked through the small town which had a busy Main Street with cafes and restaurants and quieter narrow side streets.

We came across a small piazza, which claims to be the smallest in the world, Piazza Padella, just four meters wide by six meters long.

Eleven large scale bronze statues of very voluptuous ladies have been installed throughout the historic centre. This exhibition is in memory of Franco Mauro Franchi, a Livorno born sculptor who passed away in November 2024.

At the other end of the Main Street is the Torre dell’Orologio and adjacent Palazzo Comunale (town hall). The Tower dates back to 1598, with the clock and bronze bell added early 17th century.

Through the archway, from the cliff top, you have panoramic views of the ocean, Elba and the Tuscan Archipelago. Behind is the ancient harbour.

We walked down the hill to the sea for a cooling swim.

At the end of the day, the cruisers returned to their ship and we went back to Ziggy in the marina to await the thunderstorms. We have had so many storms over the past few weeks, it’s sometimes hard to believe it’s the middle of summer!

We had arranged for our granddaughter to arrive onboard the following week so we needed to make our way further up the coast to Pisa where we would meet up with her. But first we just had time to go back to Elba for a few days to research potential locations to bring our VIP over the following weeks.

With a lively sail at 7 kts, we soon arrived at Elba and anchored on the east side in Spiaggio di Terranera, surrounded by red rocky hills covered with greenery. It was very busy with small motor boats when we arrived but these all left at the end of the day, leaving just a few boats overnight.

After a peaceful night, we lifted the anchor, which came up covered in red sand, and motored around to the next bay, Porto Azzurro. Here we found there was lots of space and good shelter just outside the harbour.

We went ashore in the evening where there is a pretty little town with a big square, plenty of restaurants, gelato cafes, souvenir shops, a small beach and crucially a dedicated dinghy dock. So it all looks promising for a return visit with our granddaughter.

With a favourable wind blowing, it was time to continue north. We left just as the sun was starting to show its face, and headed 50 miles to Livorno (Leghorn) where there is a transito dock. Fortunately, when we arrived there was plenty of space available on the dock where we were able to moor for free.

Being in the busy port, we had views of the cruise ships and many ferries coming back and forth. There was also a painting on the old grain store wall celebrating Modigliani who was born and raised in Livorno.

It was extremely hot being moored in town so we waited a couple of hours until the sun went down before venturing out. We walked around the town and along the canals of ‘New Venice’ but it hadn’t cooled down at all. Luckily, we managed to find a small craft beer bar in the back streets, which enjoyed a slight breeze, so we stopped for important refreshments.

The ‘new’ castle (Fortezza Nuova), stands in the centre of town, although it is not particularly new having been built 1590-1605. We went inside and walked around the gardens, there was a festival being held with music, food, drink and lots of people. A great way to bring an ancient monument back to life for the local families.

We had already seen the much older medieval castle (Fortezza Vecchia) when we arrived, which is situated close to the port.

After a one night stop here our next destination was Pisa. It was only a further 10 miles, but with no wind, we had to motor all the way. We had booked a mooring in a boatyard along the river Arno. As we approached the river entrance you could see the different colours in the water, there was a clear line between the blue of the sea and brown water of the river.

We continued slowly up the river, carefully watching the depth as we passed fishing huts, many with huge nets out. There were also some smarter riverside houses, a few fish restaurants and plenty of wildlife, including deer, horses and camels!

We arrived at the boatyard and tied up to the rather rickety old wooden pontoon. We planned to get the bus into Pisa the following morning to meet our guests at the airport.