Up the Tiber

We only had a 24 hour weather window before strong southerly winds were forecast so we decided to do an overnight passage from Elba to Rome rather than break the journey in Giglio on the way. We kept ourselves busy fishing. The waters were literally teeming with tuna jumping all around us. Despite having five lines trailing behind us with a variety of lures we failed miserably in securing our evening meal. We were later informed by a seemingly knowledgeable local that leaping fish doesn't necessarily indicate a feeding frenzy but very often quite the opposite...

Busy Ostia Lido beach

Fiumicino fishing fleet 

Our final destination was to be a berth up the Fiumicino canal beyond two bridges. Unfortunately the bridges don't rise every day and typically we were due to arrive on a non lifting one which meant we had to find an alternative berth for the night. We opted for the large marina in Ostia, Porto di Roma, and were tied up in our berth by 7.30am ready for a good breakfast. Despite a lack of sleep the four of us then went for a stroll along the waterfront. Ostia, not far from Rome, is an uninspiring residential area and is home to the capital's beach. Needless to say it was a heaving mass of bodies, sunbeds and umbrellas. On our way back to the boat we spied a rather tempting wine bar at the end of our pontoon. They served up a delicious spread of Tuscan meats and cheeses which was washed down with some delicious chilled rose wine. We were soon all ready for a snooze.

View up the canal to the road bridge

Ponte 2 Giugno road bridge rising

Julie leading the way "under" the pedestrian bridge

Ride of a Lifetime is moved alongside the wall

We were up early again the following morning as we had a bridge to catch! We motored up the coast for three miles past the Fiumicino river and into the canal. The first bridge we had to negotiate was a pedestrian bridge which was due to open at 9am. There was quite a strong current flowing out of the canal and we've heard that with strong onshore winds entry can be a bit hairy. Thankfully conditions were favourable and there were soon a few boats milling around. Bang on time the pedestrian bridge opened up for us. We then had to negotiate the Ponte 2 Giugno, a road bridge which literally went straight up in the air with a maximum headroom of 22 mts. Having negotiated both bridges we then looked for our boatyard, Constellation Nautica, on the north bank of the river. We soon spied Piero who helped us tie up alongside a motor boat. It is a no frills friendly boatyard which also offers alongside river moorings for a reasonable price as well as a shower and washing machine!

Ride of a Lifetime now without neighbours

A tile advertising the popular GePaGi restaurant delicacy

Fiumicino is a small town in the province of Rome most well known for its international airport. It is also a lively fishing port. Safely tied up we all went for a stroll before stopping for a well earned lunch in one of the many canal side fish restaurants. We couldn't resist trying the popular local delicacy of Fritto di calamari al cartoccio, fried fresh squid with half a lemon wrapped in a brown paper cone. Delicious. Sadly our crew Rob and Julie had to leave for the airport the next morning. Time for us to explore more of Rome.

Fiumicino waterfront