Inheriting The Sea

In some families, it's a watch. In others, a coin collection or a trove of old masters. But for a few, the most prized heirloom is the boat they've spent a lifetime of summers sailing.

-  Michael Verdon

Marina Garghetti recalls many idyllic summer days aboard her family's Baglietto, Solimar, but one in particular from the early 1970s stands out. “The sea of Tigullio was teeming with tuna,” she says. “My sporty mum had equipped the boat for deep-sea fishing, even though it wasn't a fishing boat.” Garghetti, then in her early teens, and her two younger sisters headed out with their mum and the boat's captain, while her father, Franco, was stuck in the office in Milan.

The captain piloted toward an offshore fishing hole, so active the ocean's surface boiled with the tunas' feeding frenzy. “We caught fish after fish, Garghetti says. “The tuna leapt out of the water when they took the bait, and we fought and fought to pull them in. It was such a thrilling day.”

The mother and daughters landed so many tuna that seagulls followed them back to port, mistaking Solimar for a fishing trawler. At sunset, in a scene right out of a Fellini film, the family gave away the haul to local schools, restaurants and friends. “It was still a small seaside village then, she says, and we all knew each other.

Solimar has been a fixture in the Santa Margherita Ligure port outside Genoa since the 59ft vessel was delivered in 1973. The family took yearly summer-vacation cruises on the Mediterranean to Corsica, Sardinia, Elba and the Aeolian Islands. Garghetti, now in her 60s, recalls anchoring in coves, where the family slept onboard, visiting small fishing villages and enjoying sunsets all over Italy. “They were some of the happiest days of my life,” she says. They brought a sense of cohesion to our family.”

The Showerings' La Mouette at the end of the 2018 Riva Trophy race