"...it was around the year thirteen-ninety, when with his ship armed, he set sail from Venice, his heart set on seeing the world, familiarizing himself with various customs, new languages and people so that he could better serve his own homeland..."

With these words, more than six hundred years ago, Nicol Zeno described the beginning of the great adventure that brought him to explore the cold northlands and the unknown shores to the west. At the dawn of the year 2000, 7 Roses bids farewell to the festive escort of all sorts of craft, as Venice fades off in her wake: the journey following the course of history has begun.

Beyond the breakwaters of the shore, the light mist that embraced the city becomes dense fog. 7 Roses sails in a veiled world, without reference points or confines. Once again it is our senses, the compass and the sounds of foghorns that guide us. For technical reasons our Radar, a gift from the city of Venice, will not be installed until our planned stop in Elba.

With the sails unfolded in this cold, light breeze, we advance silently, floating in the void. Night has frozen the layer of moisture on the deck, the wind is capricious and visibility under ten meters: from my vantage point at the prow I can barely make out the stern. Of the surrounding world, only indefinite sounds and the occasional wave created by a passing boat reach us. The hundred miles that separate us from the first starry sky slip away in almost complete solitude. Quiet, light and variable winds, pale sun and nights without a moon accompany 7 Roses (for 7 days) to Brindisi, the first stop of our long voyage.

In the sheltered port of Brindisi you can breathe in the history. The ancient Saracen port of call became in the nineteenth century the favorite stop for Venetian ships sailing toward lands in the southeast. Brindisi came to an agreement with Venice, offering a piece of land at Otranto, of great strategic and commercial importance, in exchange for peace and protection in 1199. The ships of la Serenissima made an irreplaceable port of call for the exchange and deposit of goods while keeping the Saracens at bay by their presence. The waters around the area of Otranto were also the first theater of war between the Venetians, their Genoese rivals and the Pisans, both of whom were also on the trail of commercial riches in the lands of the East. The strategic importance of Brindisi did not escape the notice of the Knights of the Order of the Temple who appeared to have an arsenal and a dockyard for their ships at this port. Traces of that very dockyard were uncovered just last year during restoration of an

There are many traces of the past and the temptation to follow them one by one is strong but the hold of the 7 Roses is full, the crew is rested and the northeast wind whispers a sweet melody. It's time to set sail.