When the port you want to visit is so exclusive that there is no public parking there's only one way in - take the boat...
on the way, buildings old and new hug what little sea-level land is available neath the 1000ft Ligurian hills...
harbours, quays and moorings have been created using every inch of shore for the huge number of leaisure boats...
which increase in size the closer to the resort made famous by the super rich, actors, artists and film stars starting in the 50s when the likes of Rex Harrison became a resident there...
on approach, the port itself seems hidden from the outside world...
but as you draw closer there are a few clues as to its status in the 'must visit by luxury yacht'...
before the natural harbour begins to open up...
and the classic Italian architecture sets an almost magical scene...
amongst the dozens of moored leisure craft are old and new examples of the traditional double-ended boats found all the way along the Mediterranean coast...
along with a handful of fishing vessels...
the narrow quayside is home to a number of fishermen's stores...
for the small fleet...
which includes a handful sporting the traditional hull design...
on moorings...
the boats work a variety of lines and nets...
and, as it's the Med, the mesh sizes are small...
along with pots used to catch octopus...
there may even have been a Cornish miner responsible for this fishermen's store carved out of the rock - many of the railways and funicular railway projects in Italy were run by Cornish engineers, notably Robert Trewella from Ludgvan...
the setting might be idyllic...
but today's catch has been limited by time with only 1000 hooks shot as an impending late blow in the day caused the skipper to fish closer to the shore than he would normally have liked.....
for a few squid...
and bream, some of today's salted anchovies bait remained unused.........
but every fish was stunning in appearance so hopefully, given the exclusive nature of many restaurants and hotels here the prices for the guys are high enough to compensate for the slack fishing...
asking what other bait was used produced a surprising response - frozen mackerel from that ship, the Cornelius Vrolijk that is entitled to 23% (by weight) of the entire UK fish quota...
at the end of the day with the light fading...
there was just enough time to make a quick oil sketch of the fabled fishing port...
that continues to draw so many visitors...
though even those with bottomless pockets, though they might have multi-million pound boats...
like the Lucky Lady, ROE and Phoenix 2 are every bit as limited as visiting motorists are with quayside mooring berths at a premium...
as can be seen in the wake of the visit...
where yet another yacht, Tranquility has dropped anchor a few leagues off the fabled resort. Boats this size are nearing 1 million a week to charter.
