Departing Caorle, we continued west along Canale Commessera and Canale Revedoli. While underway, we received a text message from Le Boat personnel warning of a pending storm with 35-knot winds. We were told to hold-up somewhere safe and not make any transits the following day. We chose the small town of Cortellazzo, where we could wait out the storm. The impending storm was an excellent reminder to pad the itinerary with extra days for unexpected events.

Waiting out the Storm in Cortellazzo

Before reaching our destination, we needed to pass through a bridge that was only open to boats during certain hours of the day (8 a.m. to Noon and 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.). We arrived for the later bridge opening; a blast of the horn alerted the bridge attendant to open the bridge.

Next, came a lock at Revedoli, which like many others, remains open for boats to pass. Locks along the canals are quite narrow, requiring careful maneuvering so as not to scrape the sides of the boat or damage the stern. The bow thruster is a great help when maneuvering in tight spaces. Speaking of tight spaces, when we arrived at Marina Cortellazzo, we found one moorage space left which barely fit the width of our boat, with no room to spare. As a team, we successfully backed the boat into the space and tied-off the stern and bow lines to the poles, front and aft. Wedged in tight, the boat wouldn’t be going anywhere during the storm.

Cortellazzo is a small hamlet or village at the mouth of the Piave River with a quiet beach. However, when the storm arrived, large swells crashed onto the beach, and standing waves were present at the river bar entrance from the Adriatic.

Click to read the full article on llcruise2018.blogspot.com.