Posted 29 June 2013

We would like to add our THUMBS UP recommendation for Cantiere Nautico Albula, Fumincino Canal.  Max the Manager was a great help. He speaks excellent English.

Cantiere Nautico Albula, Fumincino City, Italy  (ROME)

Tel: +039 335-605-3197

[email protected]

41 46.246 N       012 14.498 E

The Marina/boatyard is a no frills place. No shore side facilities other than Electrical hook-up and non-potable water dockside. Potable water is available by arrangement. The facility is clean and neat with a friendly mix of local boating families working on their boats and a few foreign yachty’s. Berthing costs were 15 € per day for an 11.5 mtr sailing yacht in June 2013.

The town of Fumincino has a number of chandleries, sail makers and tradespeople available for boat work. Local provisioning was excellent with multiple supermarkets and local produce markets. Nice bulk wine shop in town.

We spent about 3 weeks there and felt that our boat was very secure tied alongside.  Rafting up may be required.  We also did a quick haul out and bottom paint. I believe maximum lift is 12 tons.

Bridge opening schedule

Monday-Thursday-Friday: at 0630 & 2000

Saturday: at 0800 & 2000

Sunday: at 0900, 1400 & 2000

NO bridge opening Tuesday or Wednesday!

Bridge height is 21 meter as per Max.

For travel into Rome City, we found the local Fumincino Bus (orange) @ 1 €  to the Parco Leonardo train Station and then to the Rome city station of your choice (1.50 to 2.60 €).  The Cotral Bus (blue) runs to the Fumincino/Roma Airport regularly.

Tom Walton

SY Half Moon (USA)

Posted 22 June 2011

We just arrived at Fiumicino and after navigating the vagaries of the web and guidebooks, thought we’d post a little update/clarification for those that might follow.

There are two waterways to dock for Rome – the Canal to the North in Fiumicino, and the River at Lido di Ostia a little further south. Both run parallel to each other, and both will require a bus ride at least to get into Rome. The canal is closer to the airport than the river. I don’t know much about the river area, but a quick cycle past some of the river marinas show they are very much better equipped for stays aboard.

By the time we reached Rome our budget was already well shot, so we were looking for an inexpensive stay and chose to forfeit luxury. We stayed in the canal. So here is what you need to know if you make the same choices.

Fiumicino Canal Bridges

There are two bridges, a lift (bascule) footbridge and a vertical-lift road bridge. The bridge opening times were hard for us to find, and seem to change each year – so don’t rely on any guidebook you have. After searching on google for “Fiumicino Ponte Pedonale” (the footbridge), I did find a Nautico link and here are the times for 2011 – which we verified on arrival. I was not able to find a local contact number for future validation, but any of the marinas/yards should be able to advise.

Mon/Wed/Fri @ 6:30am and 8pm

Sat @ 8am and 8pm

Sun @ 9am, 2pm, 8pm

None on Tuesday or Thursday * NONE *

The canal sides up to and between the bridges are full of local fishing/workboats that are active daily – it’s hard to know where you might tie up and wait for a bridge opening. Also, even if there is space (i.e. the fleet was out at sea), any onshore wind can really churn up the waters and have any boat bashing heavily into the walls – we didn’t want to get close to even tie up when we arrived in relative calm winds. The Marina, being off the canal, is much more sheltered and the yards after the bridges also seem much calmer.

Fiumicino Canal Marinas

Despite emails ahead of time, none of the canal marinas replied to us about availability and prices and they don’t seem to have websites either. It is probably best to call ahead – a chance to practice your Italian.

Darsena Traiano

The small Marina on the South side of the Canal (Darsena Traiano), just by the entrance from the sea and before the bridges, seems very full. So if you want to stay here, I’d be sure you have a reservation. It’s very convenient for the beach, and restaurants and the main shopping areas of Fiumicino. If you managed to stay here you will not have to worry about bridge opening times. Another report said there were only two visitor docks.

Finding each marina/yard within the canal is difficult (at least it was for us). You will no doubt be arriving with the bridge openings (very early in the morning, or late evening) and there are no signs at many of the yards to help you determine one rickety dock from the next. We were chased off one wall by workmen when we temporarily stopped to see if we could find any signs from land. There are also lots of nasty looking dogs patrolling some of the yards, and they bark and growl if you get close. Given all that – it would be useful to get a GPS coordinate, or a good verbal description of your marina/yard of choice.

Cantiere Nautico Albula

After recommendations via Noonsite (mainly based on price) we stayed at CANTIERE NAUTICO ALBULA – 335-605-3197 – 41° 46.254 N, 012° 14.481 E. Note it has no toilets/showers/laundry/wifi/fuel services Just the dock/power and non-potable water. Potable water can be delivered/provided if needed.

This marina was recommended by a previous sailor on Noonsite and we found the explanation of the location a little confusing – so just to clarify – it is after both the Footbridge AND the Road bridge, on the North side of the canal. There is a wooden fixed platform dock running alongside the length of the canal and boats are tied up to 3 deep. (They also haul out with a crane and slings and do work on boats as needed). In June 2011 for our 10.5m boat we paid $20 a day, monthly discounts available, but not weekly. Max was indeed the go-to man as his English was excellent, but everyone was friendly and helpful and seemed to speak English more than well enough to help.

Getting Around

From the canal, it is a 45-minute walk to the airport (often without sidewalks and busy traffic). There are buses, but I didn’t check out the details and times. I’m advised all buses require a ticket to be purchased before you board (readily purchased from Tabac(s)).

To get into Rome you can use the COTRAL bus into Magliana Metro, and from there you can take the Metro. Alternatively, you can take a bus to Ostia Lido (worth a visit anyway) and the train into Rome.

There is a tourist office open until around 2 pm in town (North of the canal, on via Orbetello), along with a grocery store and the usual shops and markets. Fiumicino is not as well equipped as Ostia. The areas for docking on the canal are not so pleasant, and walking around at night alone would definitely feel uncomfortable, but the town area seems nice enough.

Aside – When Italians use the word Marina, it just means of the sea/coastal and may well be nothing to do with boats. Along with the name of the town, we find using the words Cantiere or Cantiere Nautico (Shipyard) when searching for marinas on-line generally yielded results.

Maryanne

SV Footrprint

Gemini 105Mc