Sun 2 Sep and Mon 3 Sep – La Spezia, and gas

The last two days summed up? Utterly fruitless. We had two things to do; laundry and fill up the gas bottles. Sounds pretty simple, right? Google revealed a trip to La Spazia was on the cards as there weren’t any facilities in the village, and we identified two places which were open on a Sunday. Just after lunch (half of which I dropped on the floor – an omen for sure) I was rummaging around in the forepeak locker in search of a big bag into which we could pack our washing. I found one, tucked right at the back and as I pulled it out I saw it was covered in green fluffy mould. 🙁  I knew what that meant straightaway; everything else around it would be mouldy too. We pulled it all out and wiped the whole lot down with vinegary water. An hour or so later we dinghy’d ashore and walked towards the bus, Tom carrying a big sailing bag full of washing, and me towing our old-lady shopping cart with the two gas bottled in it. As we were walking we spotted a laundrette, nice to know but we’d already found one in town so we didn’t stop by.

As we got to the bus stop, there was a bus! No sooner had the doors closed however we realised it was going the wrong way. Luckily it was only a 15 minute detour to Porto Venere (where we’d been anchored previously) so we sat tight. 45 minutes later we were in town, and to cut a long story short, the laundrette was closed, and the hardware store (whose website claimed they’d re-fill our gas bottles) said a firm, no. Dejected we had dinner and went home.

Monday

Mildly frustrated at having wasted an entire day yesterday, today was to be our day. We did a workout on the boat, until the rain set in and had us scuttling inside. Next up was a visit to the laundrette we’d walked past yesterday (and shunned) so dressed in waterproofs we took the dingy to shore in the pouring rain. Whilst waiting for the wash we joined the savvy navvy crew on a conference call; bit of an unorthodox location but it worked!

With the washing back on the boat we grabbed the gas bottles and once more went back into La Spezia on the bus ready for Round II. Our first port of call was the chandler at the marina, they’re usually pretty helpful. On seeing our gas bottles however the assistant said she couldn’t take them. Why? Basically because they’re a Spanish brand – even though materially they’re an exact replica of “Camping Gas”, the only difference being they’re a darker shade of blue. Not wanting to be without gas (and living on sandwiches) we paid 95 EUR for a “proper” bottle and left the shop, now with three. We tried another two places across the other side of town just in case they’d have a leaner policy, but no.

Dejected for the second time in two days we decided to treat ourselves to a Chinese – we’d been craving one for ages! The place we found was utterly random. Massive, empty and where you’re given an iPad to order your food. The food was good, and I guess it saved us having to use our appalling Italian.