Who Needs A Yacht?

Instead, Rent a Motorboat Off Italy's Tuscan Coast

They say you don't really see a country until you see it from the water. For aspiring boat owners like my husband and me, nothing could be more true.

And in Italy, making that happen is a lot easier than, and not as wildly expensive as, you might think.

Perhaps the best day of our July visit to Italy was when we rented a little motorboat at Porto Ercole, a pastel port town on the Tuscan promontory of Argentario, a popular summer getaway for rich Italians with big boats. It's a favorite with Romans, since it's less than three hours away by car. You can also get there by train and then a short bus or taxi ride.

Just one day on the clear, cool waters of the Tuscan Mediterranean was enough to convince us that the beautiful Italians sunning and swimming off their luxury yachts around us had summer completely figured out.

Okay, our boat was a heckuva lot smaller. But at least we had one. And it went fast. And we were swimming along the same glorious coastline as the well-to-do.

Boats for rent by the day ( barche a noleggio) are often available in port towns like Porto Ercole up and down the Italian peninsula. With just your American driver's license, you can rent a motorboat with an engine of up to 40 horsepower. Anything more powerful requires a boating license. We didn't have one of those, but our boat-- an inflatable 15-foot speedboat called a gommone -- seemed plenty fast.

Usually this kind of boat holds five people, so we ended up renting two because there were six of us: me and my husband, our two teenage sons and two of their friends from Arlington who had come to Italy with us. Because we rented a pair, I bargained the cute young Italian guy renting boats to about $100 apiece, down from $125. Gas was an additional $60. At more than $6 a gallon, gas is expensive in Italy. But still, that didn't seem too bad for two boats -- and a magical day for six people.

Before we set off, we bought a picnic lunch in town, picking up fresh pizza bianca (white pizza) and crusty rolls at the bakery down by the port, and prosciutto and mozzarella for sandwiches on board. We brought fresh tomatoes, peaches and apricots and plenty of big bottles of cold water and fizzy drinks. Our last stop was for ice at the fishmonger on the port, to keep everything cool.

We clambered unsteadily onto the two boats, our 19-year-old taking the helm of one with me and his girlfriend as his boating companions, and my husband taking control of the other, with our younger son and his friend on board. Pottering slowly out of the quaint little port, we admired the yachts anchored along the quays and then the majestic view of the pink, yellow and orange town of Porto Ercole, which cascaded down into the harbor. The promontory of Argentario comes to a peak at its center, and the hills sit big and green behind the bougainvillea-laden town. The view of Porto Ercole as you leave in a boat must be what they mean when they talk about seeing a country from the water.

Once we got out of the port and onto the open sea, the boys wanted to see how fast the boats would go. And they didn't disappoint.

"Faster, faster," the boys yelled, laughing, as my older son and my husband pushed forward on the accelerators. My son's girlfriend squealed as the front of our boat pounded up and down on the waves.

We zipped along at top speed along the rugged coastline with everyone taking his or her turn at the wheel. It wasn't that scary to drive, because there's nothing to hit, only the big sea splayed out before you. We passed a few cozy coves along the way, where the clear water turned a shimmering green, because it was shallower. Big Italian boats were anchored in the most inviting spots, but there was plenty of room to anchor anywhere that took your fancy.