Voyage in Italy: The Travels of the Sheena-Rosa

By John Brooke

Why do we travel? For the most part, we travel to arrive, but with the travels of the Sheena-Rosa, there is a fusion between travelling and arriving. Whether a few miles off-shore or harboured in a sheltered port, the experience is a continuum. From the sea, one observes the land, its contours and its mountains – a view that has little changed from the landscape our ancestors would have seen. Then as we draw nearer, the features on this landscape appear, and the influence of man becomes more and more apparent. We arrive on port and step onto the old stones, for the port is always the most ancient part of any coastal town. Our papers are checked and we are now part of this community. The curious walk along the quay. Sometimes they chat. And we are also curious to discover the hidden gems which exist throughout this timeless Italy. It is a mode of travel like none other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Sep 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781398413689

John Brooke

John Brooke became fascinated by criminality and police work listening to the courtroom stories and observations of his father, a long-serving judge. Although he lives in Montreal, John makes frequent trips to France for both pleasure and research. He earns a living as a freelance writer and translator, and has also worked as a film and video editor as well as directed four films on modern dance. His poetry and short stories have been widely published and in 1998 his story "The Finer Points of Apples" won him the Journey Prize. Brooke's first Inspector Aliette Nouvelle mystery, The Voice of Aliette Nouvelle, was published in 1999, followed by All Pure Souls in 2001. He took a break from Aliette with the publication of his novel Last Days of Montreal in 2004, but returned with her in 2011 with Stifling Folds of Love, The Unknown Masterpiece in 2012, and Walls of a Mind in 2013, which was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best Crime Novel Award.

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About the Author

John Brooke started to sail as a boy on the south coast of England, making his first channel crossing in his Halcion 23 in the early 1970s.

Whilst doctor to the Island of Shapinsay, one of the Orkney Islands, he sailed between the islands of the Orkney archipelago with his wife, Sheena, co-author of this book and their children.

Since moving to France more than twenty years ago, they have explored the south coast of France, made the crossing to Corsica and discovered a little of the coast of Italy.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Jean-Marie Finot, naval architect and designer of the Sheena-Rosa and many fine boats which have provided safe and enjoyable sailing to crews around the world.

Copyright Information ©

John Brooke and Sheena Brooke (2021)

The right of John Brooke and Sheena Brooke to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by the authors in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, experiences, and words are the author’s alone.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398413672 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398413689 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge with gratitude, the exceptionally high level of support and assistance given by the Italian port authorities throughout their voyage.

Front cover – ‘The view from Porto Venere’ pastel by Sheena Brooke.

Other Books by John Brooke

The Physiological Basis of Immediate Care Medicine

Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1999

Monotheisme, La Voie vers le Désequilibre et le Conflit

Editions Persée, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2009

Monotheism, The Route to Disharmony, Divisions and Conflict

Austin Macauley Publishers. London, Cambridge, New York, Sharjah, 2018

The North Cape. A Journey by Motorbike.

Austin Macauley Publishers. London, Cambridge, New York, Sharjah, 2020

Seven Months in Rural Chad

Austin Macauley Publishers. London, Cambridge, New York, Sharjah, 2020

Contributor to the Following Book

Principles and Practice of Trauma Nursing

Edited by Rose Ann O’Shea

Elsevier Churchill Livingston, UK, 2005

Map showing Area of the Coasts of France and Italy Cruised by Sheena-Rosa,

April–August 2019

Preface

To meander along the coast of Italy at one’s own pace was the purpose of this voyage.

During a long working life, holidays of necessity had been of short duration. Now retired, that precious commodity called ‘time’ was for the first time available. Yet, I took note of friends and colleagues who continued to holiday in their former pattern, taking short and often expensive holidays from their retirement routine.

We had already broken the habit of taking short holidays; criss-crossing Europe from Scandinavia to Sicily and from Prague to the Atlantic coast of France on our BMW GS 1200 motorcycle at our own pace, frequently using our small tent as accommodation.

Moving from a tent to a boat in order to pursue our travels was to relocate to a different level of comfort and space. Although small by the standards of modern-day cruising boats, the Sheena-Rosa – a Beneteau 25.7S – had berths for five persons and was exceptionally well equipped. For two persons, one felt in the lap of luxury.

Our plan for this voyage had an ambition which was little different from that of the day sailor who sails from his own port to which he returns later in the afternoon. Rather than returning to the same port, we simply moved to the next one or two along the coast.

The Sheena Rosa was equipped and constructed for a level of sailing far beyond our planned objectives. But as plans and reality seldom coincide, we knew that we were sailing a boat which offered a reserve of security, should the unforeseen occur.

The seaworthiness of a boat is not related to its size. The Swedish Folk Boat – which has many circumnavigations of the globe and other long voyages to its credit and which is about to celebrate its 80th anniversary, measures the same length as the Sheena-Rosa. On the same subject of size, the boats designed for the ‘Mini-Transat’ race across the Atlantic by Jean-Marie Finot, the architect of the Sheena-Rosa, have a similar hull configuration to the Sheena Rosa, but are a mere 6.5 metres in length. The Overall length of the Sheena-Rosa is a little over 7.5 metres.

For two persons, making a voyage such as ours, there seemed little need for a boat of greater dimensions; not least for the reason that for a boat of our size, the cost of an overnight stay in port differed little from that of a small tent when travelling by motorcycle.

Also, our observations in the many ports which we had visited over the years had revealed that many of the elderly retired who had the financial means to purchase a larger boat, no longer possessed the physical strength or suppleness to sail their chosen boat with confidence.

Another point to take into consideration when evaluating the suitability of a particular sailing boat, is its windage, the surface area of the hull above the waterline. Sales brochures for boats, often vaunt the headroom available in the cabin. It may seem that vertical space in the cabin is an advantage, but the laws of physics suggest otherwise particularly when the wind increases, and one is in a tight corner.

For navigating along the coast, we had on board up to date charts as well as our GPS and maps of the land. In addition, we had the ‘Italian Waters Pilot’, a truly excellent work by Rod and Lucinda Heikell. With the Heikells’ book, plus our sea charts and maps of the land, we rapidly acquired an overview of the coast along which we were passing, Furthermore, by calculating our position by taking compass bearings from the high mountains and capes along the route, we familiarised ourselves with these landmarks which must have been used by our sea-borne ancestors since the time when man first took to the sea. In addition, this traditional method of coastal navigation is an adjunct to security should the complex electronic devices now used for navigation fail.

During our voyage, we travelled from port to port, always to be greeted by port staff who were friendly and efficient. They often met us in a small rubber boat known as a zodiac at the port entrance and led us to our place where their colleagues were waiting to secure our ropes. Immediately we were at the centre of a community, and in the midst of all the facilities than one might wish for: the cafés, shops, and restaurants and much else. We had arrived at the heart of the ageless civilisation that is Italy.

Chapter 1

Early Days

The route of the Sheena-Rosa from the Marina Baie des Anges at Villeneuve Loubet to Genoa.

7 April, 2019 was cold and grey. After a couple of weeks of living on board at our home port, the Port Marina Baie des Anges at Villeneuve Loubet, and with a weather forecast which seemed to present no particular problem, we released our mooring ropes. We wished ourselves well as we left the port for the open sea and turned in the direction of Italy.

All aspects of our boat and its engine had been fully checked and serviced; it was now up to us to use the ‘Sheena-Rosa’ for the purpose for which she had been designed.

Off Cagnes-Sur-Mer, 7 April, 2019.

Whilst in port, our view had been restricted by the high buildings which surround the marina, but once out at sea, the landscape of the Côte d’Azur revealed itself, and one understood why we had felt none too warm that morning. Even the low hills had a covering of snow, and as we looked north towards the Alps, there was yet more snow as far as the eye could see.

The Sheena-Rosa had been constructed by the firm Beneteau and delivered to us early in 2011. She was of the Class Beneteau First 25.7S, a sailing cruiser-racer measuring a little over 7.5 metres in length and powered by a 14 HP Yanmar diesel engine. She had been built to the design of the distinguished French naval architect, Jean-Marie Finot.

Many times, in our travels, we thanked in our thoughts this architect for the intelligence and elegance of his design: the boat’s low profile, the superb manoeuvrability associated with a well-balanced rigging and twin rudders which gave exceptional control in the limited space available in many ports.

The interior of our boat had also been planned with care in order to be practical, functional and pleasing to the eye. The two cabins were separated by a small private bathroom with washbasin and toilet, a cooking area and a large dining table. A chart table also provided all that was necessary for the type of cruise that we had planned.

The ‘Sheena-Rosa’

And what had we planned? Essentially a cruise along the coast of Italy, stopping when it took our fancy, or when the weather insisted that we