Log book

Going out of the Gulf of La Spezia, the very last extremity is the Bocca di Magra harbour, where the first danger is opening your mouth in wonder seeing the spectacle of the Apuan Alps and the river mouth: the mountains, the river, the harbour ... a marvel! Being outside the Gulf, this harbour is more exposed than the others to winds, and in particular sirocco and south-southeast winds can create problems, but in any case it is easy to identify when you draw near the coast and the communication channel is 8.

The manager of the harbour, Gianni Scaletti, gives Patrizio and Mattia all harbour information: Bocca di Magra can take boats up to 30 metres long, there are 250 boat places, 20 of which for transit, the draught is 3 metres to 3 and a half metres bearing in mind the river bottom. The harbour is equipped for waste disposal, there is wifi and you can also connect to the official site to have a glance directly at your own boat from home. During the winter too the harbour ensures safe mooring despite exposure to the winds: if there is a strong sirocco it is sheltered by the “wave rail” barrier. Stopping here costs €390 a year per linear metre including VAT for boats up to 6 metres, €550 from 6 to 9 metres and €162 from 9 to 30 metres; the daily cost of transit is €4 per linear metre.

Then the village is immediately adjacent to the harbour, a true gateway to the discovery of the territory. In the 1950s-1960s Bocca di Magra was a favourite destination of many writers – like Vittorio Serena, Marguerite Duras, Eugene Montale, Luigi Einaudi, Cesare Pavese and Elio Vittorini – who made it an oasis of intellectuals!

The harbour today does a lot to stimulate yachters to tour the hinterland: for its customers it organizes frequent trips to the marble quarries, or to the nearby town of Sarzana, or even up the river. It also makes bicycles and electric golf cars available so you can move around easily and in an ecological way, for instance reaching ... the nearby sandy beach, which is fully equipped! Yes, because navigators too surely have the right to sprawl out on a deckchair sometimes, don’t they?!

If you should think of going up the river Magra, remember that in a raft you can go about 3 km, while sailboats can go as far as the bridge, always keeping to the left. Surely it is worth trying, so as to enjoy the panorama and the meeting with the rich fauna of the mouth!

Recapitulating:

• Access times: continuous
• Bottom: at the quay from 2 to 4 metres
• Maximum length: 30 metres
• Side wind: III quadrant
• Seabed: sandy
• Prohibitions: forbidden to anchor in the harbour
• Radio: Vhf channel 8

The harbour provides the following services:

• Financial services - ATM
• Maritime bureaucratic services
• Fishing articles
• Sea rescue
• Short-stay car park
• Long-stay car park
• Post
• Broker services
• Catering services
• Pharmacy
• Assistance for disabled people
• Services for animals