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The location

The “Circolo Velico Gino e Bebe de Andreis” sailing club lies at the west of the village of Monterosso al Mare, just below the mountain rising on the west side of Golfo delle Cinque Terre, in Liguria, in Italy, in Europe, in the world.

We are not playing with words, not really: the truth is that, while you stand in this little corner of the world and you look at the sun rising behind Vernazza, you look at the waves breaking ashore and the clouds travel high up across the sky, well, what happens then, is that you really become aware of belonging to a planet that is beautiful indeed.

The Club was founded in 1960 : it was imagined and then built by Mr. Gino De Andreis. Well, to be true only the first jetty was completed in 1960. Next came the second jetty and after that an array of additions and of inspiring thoughts and stories that may well sound like fairy tales. The wish of the founder was to gather together around the small harbour friends and family, during the long summers of those years, a wish arising from the firm belief that what makes life precious is sharing it with those whom you love. Gino De Andreis’s wife, Mrs. Bebe, made those thoughts come to life, and these thoughts still live today in the Club, which today is named after them.

You may find it difficult to believe all this because you are suspicious of fairy tales; we are not asking you to come and see it yourself, because you would not find what you are looking for. But, if you want to give it a try, then do come: just sit anywhere on the jetties, your legs dangling down the walls, the sea underneath, your eyes following the horizon, feeling the universe coming in.