So armed with our new anchor we set sail to catch up with our new ( OK second hand anchor ) we set sail to catch up with our surrogate parents, Ron and Julie who had decided to brave the sea that we chickened out on… This gave us a bit of a longish sail to a very swish marina at Varazze, but the day was warm the wind was kind, life is good… and much to Stella’s delight the Italians send out very handsome, ( apparently according to Stella “hunks” is the better description)… They tucked us up nicely next to Ron and Julie, and we had a pleasant, but expensive night… Italy is a VERY VERY beautiful place, but the marinas are the most expensive we have come across so far…. Between 35 and 50ish Euros a night… the only good thing is that the half boats don’t get any discount, and they pay the same as us “proper “ Two hullers”…. ( FYI in the UK and some of France Cats pay a 50% extra charge cos we are a bit fatter the half boats  )
Next day we decided to move, the plan was to get to Santa Margaritta unfortunately the wind didn’t work for Tarian, we can’t get into the wind as well as Ron’s long keel, ( or maybe he is just a better sailor….no, no maybe about it he IS a better sailor than us  )… so whilst Ron and Julie crashed their way to windward, we went for the comfy option and diverted in Genoa…according to our almanac we were on target for another expensive night in a marina, but as we came in I spied a load of masts tucked away behind a large container port… “let’s see if we can find a berth there” I said…. “will there be any hunks to take our lines” Stella asked… “I don’t know but it might be less than 50 euros”….. Well for the first time in the trip Stella gave in, and we made our way over to the Yachts… found an empty berth and managed to get tied up hunk free! … this clearly was not a swanky marina, but any port in a storm… (did u see what I did there?)… we made our way to see if we could find the Captianaira … we found instead Angello…. He told us it wasn’t a marina but a yacht club, and it would fine to stay…”How much?” I asked….”Nothing”…… I assumed this was a mistake, my Italian is not yet quite as honed as my French…. “Sorry Angello….. HOW MUCH PER NIGHT…. “ I asked in my best waving arms about and gestating lots… Italian ( OK OK English spoken slow and loud ) “ I know what you said “ replied Angello in his very good English….” Lets go and see the boss to check… oh and by the way, plug in to the Electric and water…. No charge  )… He took us to the boss, and he said it was fine to stay for a few days, and confirmed no charge.
As is our normal routine we took Mitsi for a stroll… when we came back to the boat there was a man standing outside Tarian…. Ah I thought it was too good to be true…. “are you Mr Stuart” he asked… “ Yes that’s me… we will be on our way first thing tomorrow… Angello said that would be OK”…. “ NO NO NO “ says Antonio… ( who it turns out is one of the senior guys in the club)…”you must stay and come to lunch with me tomorrow at the club.” We were a bit shocked, but true to his word Antonio brought lunch for Stella and me at the club, a lovely Pasta and Pesto starter, followed by a Steak and chips!!! “Have you been to Genoa before” asked Antonio… “No if its OK to stay for an extra day we plan to get the buss in”….. “NO NO NO I will take you in my car to show you the sites!” he says, and true to his word he takes all three of us in his brand new car with 600K’s on the clock for a tour… I only mention the fact that it was a new car because he let Mitisi sit in the back with Stella, and we both felt bad at the amount of hair she left on he brand new seats….
Anyhow we stayed for a total of 3 days, we did go into town ourselves and had a good look around… it’s a splendid city, and well worth a visit…. We left not wanting to out stay our welcome, but I think the guys would have let us stay longer…. We will defiantly go back on our return trip….
Not only did Antonio send us a couple of pictures of us in Genoa, but sent us the cartoon clip of himself singing us a tune for our next visit!

I have to say we were both really touched by the kindness these guys showed us… This trip has shown us time and time again that people are really nice, it is sometimes quite humbling when strangers go out of there way to help us out…. Especially Angello and Antonio are two of the nicest people we have met so far!!!