We didn't see any larger boats anchored in the river, but we were assured that you can. Mudskipper had reported good holding. Lots of small boats were fishing, If you were going to be here for long, and leave your boat, a fore and aft mooring would probably be a sensible precaution. The river can run very fast here, especially in the winter.
Air draft has been seen as a big blocker to the Arno, because there were cables suspended across the river with more nets. These have been removed, and there is no air draft problem for at least 2.5nM into the river, making it much more accessible for cruising yachts.
The south bank is lined with small yards and private marinas. The pontoons are often pretty rickety, and some obviously wouldn't take a boat the size of Roaring Girl. We had rung Lega Navale, who had turned us away. Another yard waved us away too.
We had prebooked a space with Arnovecchio, and Sgr Orsini, who speaks good English put us in his travel hoist bay for four nights. We were alongside, for the first time since Port St Louis! Arnovecchio is primarily a yard, and the facilities are fairly basic but functional. Not very cheap at �'�40 a night for us. The bus-stop for Pisa is directly outside the gates, and the small town of Marina di Pisa is 20 minutes walk the other way.
We also came across another yard which would have been able to give us a space for wintering afloat, at �'�35 per metre per month. This is run by a German, Robert, who speaks excellent English and details can be found at www.green-ocean.de or (Italy) 327150 9609. They were very helpful in finding somewhere to get a small steel plate made (part of our ongoing arrangements for a stern anchor). We could not have wintered afloat at Arnovecchio, but Sgr Orsini quoted for storage ashore at �'�1560 for a 12m boat, plus liftout costs and tax. Arnovecchio can be reached on +39 -44 6260 0489 (you leave the 0 in for Italy) or via arnovecchio@gmail.com.
If you were spending much time here, it would be worth finding out where to get the work done; clearly there are lots of small yards doing all sorts of boat work, but it's a fairly opaque network to non-Italian speakers from the outside. But if you could get in, this would not be a bad place to choose, given the enormity of Italian prices everywhere you go. If you were going to be aboard very much, you would need some form of transport. For short visits, the buses are good, and there are supermarkets in Pisa and little ones (and a laundry) in Marina di Pisa.