We have only just a few days left now of this year's journey of the Mediterranean.
Although we have been in Fiumicino for over a month now we have had a great time, it has been a good place to relax on our final destination for this year. We have got to know the area pretty well now and to help us get even further a field we decided to treat ourselves to two new aluminum folding bikes, as our old ones were just wearing out too fast and were not really robust enough for the amount of use we were giving them!
We have been swimming a lot as the beach isn't far away and the sea temperature has been lovely and warm.
Duet was lifted out of the water yesterday (Thursday) always a relief when she's safe and sound on dry land again and ready for the winter.
Today we have been giving her a really good clean and getting rid of all the yellowing that has occurred on the sides, all looking good again now.
We are off to visit Rome for the day on Monday, (it's just got to be done).
A few more jobs to do before we leave here on 24th September and head for the UK, we are very much looking forward to seeing all our family and friends again as we have been away now for 5 months. We are only home for 2 weeks then off to sunny Sharm again until 20th December then back home for Christmas this year as Eric has his first grandchild ( A boy) due early December and we want to see him for his first Christmas.
We have just enjoyed a gorgeous piece of very fresh swordfish that we bought from the local fish shop on the quay, this was washed down with a bottle of Muscat, our favorite tipple which we bought with us from France before we left Balaruc in April, just one bottle left, this has to be drunk before we leave, oh well just have to have it tomorrow I suppose!
We plan to come back to Duet at the end of next April and the destination is Malta. This time Eric will want some volunteers ?? This is to help crew Duet, as I wasn't too keen this year with the Med weather conditions.
We have had a very memorable second year of our adventure/retirement! That's it for this year!
Eric and Gill signing off

Finally we have arrived in Rome, this is where we plan to stay for the next month until we get lifted ashore, the last trip was quite eventful, seeing a pod of large dolphins and actually getting the screecher out ( for a short time ) before we went back to motor sailing, which seems to be the standard in the Med !
Although Gill is elated at reaching Rome , I am a bit sad that this years adventure is over, but I am happy to have Gill back to her normal self and not on edge all the time and watching every new forecast for any sign of strong winds !
We have met some Brits from Lymington that are sailing a Najad 44 , having a mid season rest in a cheap tie up ( around 100 Euros a week inc electric and water ) also easy access to Rome City and Airport, the planes are a little annoying at times but we are getting used to it !
The supermarkets are well stocked and reasonable, coffee is less than a Euro and the beaches are not far away ! ( so life is OK, back on the bikes again like last summer in the French Canals )

IF ANY OF OUR FRIENDS READING THIS FANCY A LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY FOR A FEW DAYS/WEEK IN ROME ON DUET PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP ( before 18th September due to lifting out )

We left Cala Di Galera at 6:30 after spending a noisy night on anchor ( due to the local beach playing garage music until 3am ! ) had a great motor sail in fairly calm conditions all day. Anchoring behind the breakwater just outside of Santa Marinella Marina in 5m of water . When the local ribs moved at 18:00 we moved further in shore to guarantee us a calm nights sleep, guess what music again , this time more pleasant and it all stopped at around midnight ! So we got a good nights sleep.

After staying on the lovely Island of Elba for nearly a month we thought it was time to move on towards Fiumincino, Rome, which is approx. 120 miles away and is where our Winter storage is for Duet. After checking the forecasts we left our anchorage (where we were growing barnacles as Duet hadn't been moved for 2 weeks) and thought this would be perfect as the wind was going to be about 15 knots coming from behind us to help us along. After a couple of hours the wind increased as usual to 23 knots and the swell became huge, Eric tells me that he had one of the best sails of his life surfing on 3 to 4 metre waves doing up to 10 knots at times (that's incredible as the boat is well waited down). I decided that a glass of wine would calm my nerves and this also sent me to sleep which was the easiest solution for Eric as he had to concentrate on sailing the boat safely and not worrying about me crying and panicking. We arrived at our next destination 9 hours later just before it got dark and anchored on a very sheltered beach, what a relief, with a sandy bottom and excellent holding which gave us a sounds nights sleep even in strong off shore winds as we have grown very confident with the Rocna anchor we have, what a great investment! We thought after yesterdays long voyage and trauma for me (Gill) we would have a day off from sailing and explore the fabulous place surroundings of where we are. The town/village is very quaint and we treated ourselves to a lovely seafood salad lunch with a nice glass of Italian vino

After spending a week in Porto Azzurro (which we really like), we decided while the weather allowed us we would move around Elba to another bay called Marina De Campo, this bay is on the other coast with not so much shelter, but is ok for a night and then we will move back to Porto Azzurro in the morning as it has very good shelter there, until we are ready to move on towards our final destination this season in Rome.
The gelato's in Porto Azzurro are amazing, so we thought we had better try some in another part of the Island (one of the reasons to come here), they are even better! We have decided that although the French have got some fantastic cheeses and bread, the Italian's have definitely got the ice creams licked!!

We are now anchored in Porto Azzurro on the East Coast of Elba, just about 10 miles from the Italian mainland, we seem to have everything here, free sheltered achorage, very nice charming Italian town, nice clean beach, cheaper cost of living than Corsica .
Yesterday we walked to a town we could see on the hill , it took us 40 minutes uphill on the roadside, the long sweaty walk in 30 degree was worth it with stunning view of the whole of Elba !! We ordered two glasses of ice cool local Elba white wine which was accompanied by a free plate full of Anti-Pasta, we just sat in this lovely bar with incredible views down to the south of the island and azure seas ! Bliss !!