11 November 2010; Civitavecchia, Italy.

I woke to a glorious sunrise over the mountains East of Civitavecchia, at the same time that the wind finally decided to subside. It still took awhile and much longer than forecast but by 10 am it was finally wind still. By that time the majority of our guests were on the way to Rome or other locations in the area for their tours or on own initiative. Civitavecchia has a very good train connection to Rome and from there to other places and also there is an adequate bus system. As a result we have guests and crew who armed with a handful of euro’s and a booklet “how to say it in Italian” venture out for themselves. A great way to really see the local life from nearby but dangerous if you forget the time or miss a connection. The ship only waits for Tours organized by the company and not for individual endeavors. If you go off by yourself it is very important to really err on the safe side and set your return time a bit earlier than the schedule would normally call for. Quite a few crew wandered off into the local town during their break in the afternoon. Just behind the entrance to the docks and the Michelangelo Fort that guards the port is a boulevard or esplanade with lots of little restaurants where the food is good and not expensive. Fish dishes and pizza’s abound and a full meal including wine, beer or bottled water normally does not cost more than 15 euros. So it is a favorite place for officers and crew to do something away from the ship and still be nearby.

I spent the morning dreaming up alternatives for the various ports that are coming as the inclement weather of yesterday created a bit of havoc with the regular weather patterns in the area. More bad weather is developing around the British Isles and there is always a chance that it will influence the high and low pressure systems lying over the Mediterranean basin. For tomorrow, Livorno, the weather looks very good at the moment. Very little wind and partly cloudy skies which will be good for the guests travelling to Pisa and Florence. However the weather can be so changeable here that you have to be prepared for everything and so I try to be as prepared as possible.

The South Breakwater of Civittavecchia. The old harbour wall has been extended a few times already but now the whole area is being built out. Alongside the Deutschland with the Costa Magica in the background.

With cruising in Europe becoming more and more popular, the ports are full every day in this area and especially Civitavecchia, being the entry port for Rome. When we arrived last night, the Grand Holiday and the Norwegian Jade were just departing and this morning the Costa Magica and the Deutschland joined us. Behind was the Athena (built as the Stockholm who collided with the Andrea Doria in the 1950’s) but she was in wet dock, getting spruced up. In high summer virtually every berth is occupied by cruise ships and that creates problems with parking the tour busses.

Hence the port has embarked on a program of widening the South breakwater where most cruise ships dock. At berth 12 and 13 the breakwater is widened by 500 meters by moving the breakwater face more into the sea. The on going construction has created a very peculiar phenomena. Steel pipes are being installed to support the new outer wall but they are not connected to the seafloor yet. Then, when there is a lot of swell running, as there is today, due to last nights storm, the sea water is pushed into pipes and comes spouting out at the top. Not unlike a water organ but then without the music. With about 25 pipes in a row the results were sometimes quite spectacular.

The “Rome Water Organ”, spouting each time the swell was getting under the pipes.

We sailed on time for a change. Most unusual for Civitavecchia; as the buses are always late in returning from Rome, due to the traffic on the roads near Rome. This time the buses were on time, the pilot was on time and so we sailed exactly on time out of the port. Ahead of us a ferry and the Costa Magica; a whole parade of cheerfully lit up passenger ships. The pilot left us while we were still inside the port and that makes it easier to start speeding up and give the stabelizers a bit of flow, before we come into the swell. Although a lot less there was still some left from the previous night. The pilot raced across to an incoming ferry which was hovering just at the port entrance.

Tonight we will follow the coast of Italy on a North Westerly course and that should bring us to the Livorno pilot station by 0600 in the morning. The weather looks good with only a minor local disturbance just east of Monte Carlo.