The dinghy robbery left us with a sour taste on our mouths (I am not sure that translates well, but you all know the feeling, right?). We decided to sail on to Venice where we thought we would have a better chance to replace the dinghy and outboard.

In order to get things delivered, one needs to have an address to deliver too. We had no choice but to break our “no marinas” policy and arrange for one in Venice. We booked Marina Fiorita in Treporti, one of the outer islands of the Laguna Veneta. At 120 € per night, we were going to stay just long enough to collect the replacements. (And do some shopping, have lots of showers, and do the laundry)

Por Dos’s cockpit became business headquarters for the organization of the dinghy and outboard replacements. Our route motor sailing up the Italian Adriatic coast was dictated both by weather and the need to close with the coast every now and then to get good internet and phone connections. We really liked our dinghy set up, so there was not even a thought on upgrading; we just wanted a replacement. We found a Walker Bay distributor in Milan that had the same dinghy model in stock (except with PVC tubes instead of Hyperlon, a minor detail at this point) and could deliver in few days. A Honda dealer near Venice also had our Honda 20HP short shaft outboard and could deliver quickly. How lucky can one be!

What’s more we could pay online for the outboard using PayPal and then do a money transfer from Spain for the dinghy. You can usually use a credit card to buy online here in Europe, but almost never over the phone. Most small businesses seem to work with bank transfers - a little difficult with most of our accounts in the US. Fortunately family in Spain with European bank accounts were able to help. We do have a Spanish bank account, but trying to do a transfer quickly online or over the phone was too challenging.

It took us 3 days of boring motor sailing up the coast. By the time we got to Marina Fiorita in Venice, the outboard had already been delivered. The dinghy arrived next day; the dealer from Milan brought it himself on the top of his car, and then pumped it up and made sure it was OK. All in all, it was a very positive experience - we had a new dinghy and outboard delivered within 5 days of them being stolen! What’s more our insurance will cover about 75% of the new replacement cost. They would have covered more, except we had an agreed value policy on the dinghy (and boat) and I [Mark] hadn’t updated the value since we bought the original dinghy.

While we were in the marina, we asked for a mechanic to check an oil leak in our starboard engine. He fixed the leak, but thought our fresh water pump was making funny noises and would be better to replace it. We ordered what we thought was the right pump to be delivered the following week.

So after a busy two days in Marina Fiorita, now with a dinghy so we could get ashore from an anchorage, we motored a couple of miles along the canals to anchor in front of the island of Burano, from where we could visit Venice and relax while waiting for the water pump (and a washing machine). Burano is a beautiful little island filled with houses painted in different bright colours, famous for its lace, and on the Venetian Vaporetto route ( the water equivalent of the Metro, T or Underground).