Escaping Menton to the Italian Riviera

Arenzano from the harbour

So finally AMSA gave us our provisional Australian registration and we were off into the Ligurian Sea. It is part of the Mediterranean Sea which for reasons best known by someone has some 11 seas, the Ligurian is one of them. No on the move we set course for Imperia on our first fair dinkum passage, albeit only some 25nm (50km). As the weather is so frequently at this time of year it was a postcard day but lacking a lot of wind so we motored. for a while. We got to know what MED stands for: “Motor Every Day”. That said the wind did build eventually to a nice norwesterly of 8-12 kts. There was plenty to learn though, with changing countries, covid protocols, a new marina and ducking and weaving through fishing pots. Some were even generously marked with ice cream containers.

Squeezed in at Porto Imperia. There are Optis anywhere you go!

We were warmly welcomed at Porto Imperia di Maurizio by the maybe too enthusiastic marineros in their dinghies. The marina is quite sprawling and large so we were lead to our spot which looked suitable for an overweight monohull but hardly enough width for Cooinda with a new and cautious owner aboard. We got ourselves in with a bit of shoving from the dinghy “tugs” with not a tallyho paper to the adjacent boats. These manoeuvres are always fraught as inevitably you have an audience of salt encrusted yachties and in this case, a busy promenade of spectators all captivated by our arrival. Fortunately we lost no bark and little by little we were learning about our new pride and joy, her habits and behaviour.

When you change countries you normally check in with customs and immigration and signify you need clearing by flying the Q flag which is a solid yellow coloured pennant flown as your port side  pennant. In Italy, we as an Aussie flagged vessel were required to acquire a “constituto” which is like a permit or transit log and is generally issued by the border police part of the Carbineri. Not wanting to put up any black marks on our first trip out in a new country, I went on a futile search for customs, immigration, harbour master and border police. In what has become very familiar, attitude to this sort of thing is reasonably laissez faire, and I was assured by the very helpful marina staff that none of this was at all necessary and just go and relax and enjoy Imperia. Not feeling totally confident we embarked on a mission to do just that. Our search would have continue elsewhere for the elusive constituto. There were enough stories of people being fined by the Coast Guard in other ports for not having the correct paper work, to make that mission worthwhile.  

Southern Europeans love to promenade along the foreshores and Imperians are no different. The hub of the action in so many towns is the  port and Imperia has hosts of little bars, restaurants and ice cream vendors just there. After a couple of bevvies at a buzzing cocktail bar on the wharf, Il Chioschetto, we went for a walk around the town and along the foreshore. There is plenty here for the Italian beach goers with the place set up for the holiday crowds and every square inch of sand accounted for with a chair and umbrella. Dinner at a seafood restaurant Orneglio, was ok, not stunning, but Sandy did enjoy the Aperol Spritz there.

We set off the next morning for Arenzano, another 50 nm up the coast. New to the game it is hard without recommendations to know how often to stop, where is worthwhile to stop or how long to stay. For me FOMO is strong, I want to see it all,  which obviously is impractical so we chose next the well recommended Arenzano. The trip up was fine with an easterly tending south getting us along nicely. What a find! The harbour is small but recently upgraded and despite the shallow entrance it was perfect for us. After another terrific welcome, then it was off to explore this surprising town.

We headed past the aptly named Grand Hotel up the narrow shop lined streets past the impressive churches of the Sanctury of Jesus of Prague and Santi Nazario e Celso into the cooling and expansive gardens below what was a large mansion and now town and municipal building of Villa Negrotto di Cambioso.

Right away Arenzano looks a lot more upmarket and cared for than Imperia. The foreshore (lungomare) named after JFK has plenty of good vibe bars and restaurants both beach and town side. We lucked in straight away for dinner with one of the better meals in a couple of months.