Getting in the way.

Anzio is about 28 nautical miles from Fiumicino and after a couple of hours motoring the wind picked up sufficiently to sail the rest of the way. You can anchor close to the beach at Anzio and as a storm was coming in we did just that.

We had a strange experience here having ensured on my electronic chart that we were clear of the channel a Hydrofoil type of ferry decided to drive directly at us to tell / shout at us for being anchored out of the channel but maybe near it! In doing so he very nearly went aground. Still I did get to use my hooter which once you start blowing it, it is difficult to stop. I stayed where I was and watched many boats including the same ferry use the channel well clear of us. I can only assume his rice crispies were a little on the soft side that morning.

We did move later and anchored in two metres of water nearer the beach only to be replaced by an Italian yacht that clearly was in the, somewhat weird, channel. The coast guard approached him and politely asked him to leave. Being Italian he did argue with them but did leave a little later.

We paddled ashore and pulled our dinghy high up on the beach and left it next to a fence out of the way as we didn't want to offend anyone and went ashore.

Anzio despite being completely trashed during the allied landings here in 1944 ish turned out to be quite pleasant and we had a lovely stroll around before returning to the beach and finding that a summer school had set up and had tied a volleyball net to the fence where our tender was which was now inside the pitch. I am beginning to see a pattern emerging. We interrupted the game and retrieved the dinghy and rowed back to Hermy. 

We stayed anchored for two nights here but despite using the stern anchor to point us in to the waves the second night was a bit sleepless. Mrs K emerged from the bedroom and gave me a long hard stare that needed interpretation. Was it  glowing wonderment and admiration for her husband? Or was she trying to say something about how she was feeling about sailing and rocking boats? Nettuno marina was about a mile away so I took her there quickly after feeding her an avocado breakfast.

Nettuno was in fact even nicer than Anzio with its lovely walled village, fort and many nice shops. I could see Mrs K slowly mellowing being ashore, having a beer, a nice sandwich and she bought me two new 'T' shirts on the understanding that I had to throw two away. She even had some chocolate although she saw it as a slippery slope. She did add that that was a slippery slope that I was almost at the end of. Maybe two nights here.

As expected Nettuno has its own Saint in the form of a young, devout girl, Eleven year old Maria Gorretti.  But not as you might expect for being butchered and tortured by Diocletian back in the' let's rid the world of Christians' day. No this poor young girl was attacked by a lad her family were sharing a house with in 1902 and she fought off his attempts to rape her only to be stabbed 14 times. 

She lived for twenty hours in which time she forgave him. He got life but repented and after his release 27 years later became some kind of monk. He sought and received forgiveness from Maria's mum and attended Maria's canonization in Rome in 1950 with mum. Two Peruvian missionaries told us that the towns people collected together WWII munition cases melted them down and built a casket to commemorate her canonization. The church also had the hospital operating table she died on. The patron saint of chastity, rape victims and forgiveness. Quite a remit for an eleven year old!

Strangely though there is a washed up statuey' let's carry it down to the beach each year' story too. And it involves England and Ipswich. Hermy's old town. Our Lady of Graces or the English Lady or our Lady of Ipswich is a wooden statue dating back to about 1280ish. It was kept in a shrine in Lady Lane Ipswich and received many a visitor there. She once worked a miracle on a twelve year old girl curing her from having fits and expressing profanity. Mrs K says I need to visit this statue. Anyway that old King Henry VIII  didn't like shrines and Our Lady of Ipswich was sent to Chelsea for burning along with other statues. The theories are that she wasn't burnt but either sold (most likely) or was rescued by sailors who later sought refuge from a storm at Nettuno and gave the statue to the Italians for their help, or harbour fees. (least likely but most Italian) Anyway each year, in true Italian tradition, she is carted to the sea to carry out her sea calming duties. Well it's a day out. They seem pretty sure it's the same statue. Great stuff!

Because the Americans landed here and had taken many casualties during the Sicily campaign and the following Rome campaign they built a military cemetery here. They made a good job of it and it is kept immaculately. A very good visitors centre and a McDonalds just across the way.

Nearly 8000 souls.

Well its off South now to make for San Felice Circeo avoiding grumpy Hydrofoil drivers and a large and active firing range extending 10 miles out to sea. I hope the Hydrofoil driver doesn't have any military mates!