4/3/2024 Porto Santo Stefano, Italy
Woke to gray skies and calm winds. With a planned departure
of 1100 we decided to replace our second butane tank at the chandlery we found
close by. The boat was ready to go, all be it lighter by about 400 pounds. We
departed as planed with the skies clearing and the wind building from the
south. We unfurled the main and jib for a perfect reach to Giglio, an island
about 10 miles out. There is a wine maker in Tuscany that grows grapes on this
island and makes a unique wine. The winery is not open yet, but maybe on our
return trip.
We motored into the anchorage about 1400 and looked for a
place to drop the hook. The app said there was a great anchorage here below the
villa on the hill, but we could not find anything less than 40m. We went
further south, but no good places to anchor and the wind was blowing 30 beyond
the lee of the island. We went back to the first anchorage and Suzette coaxed us
in close and we found 10m of water over sand. Sounding the area, it turned out
to be a small plateau of sand at 10m that quickly went deep on the sides. We
dropped the hook and settled in for the night.
The anchorage was surrounded by rock rising straight up. On the cliff above there was a very beautiful villa with a finely manicure landscape around it. The wind was steady from the east and we did not move from our position. There was an annoying slappy wave that was tormenting the hull, I managed to sleep, but the admiral did not.
4/4/2024 Unnamed anchorage, Isle di Giglio, Italy
The sun was up and bright, the wind a steady 15 from the
south and we were ready to head north to Elba. We set up the code zero for a downwind
sail. We were underway by 0830 and quickly unfurled the main and code zero for
an 8-knot sail along the rum line. About 0930 we saw a Guardia di Firenze boat behind
us and sure enough he wanted to pull us over and check our documents. He
offered to come along side and have us deposit our passport and boat documents
in a crab net on the end of a long pole as we both bobbed and heaved doing 8
knots in a 3-foot swell. We refused and told him it was unsafe. He was not
going away and requested that we stop. We furled in the sails, turned on the
engine and retrieved our documents. He approached again with the unsteady net
and we dropped our documents in the net here in the middle of the sea.
We bobbed for a bit and then put the boat in gear to move
into a better orientation and head slowly to our destination thinking they
would follow or quickly catch up when they were ready. They did neither so we
turned around headed back to them. After about an hour they came over to us,
passed our documents, 2 pieces of paper and a pen in the net. We signed the
papers and sent one copy and the pen back in the net. They were all smiles and
waved good bye.
By now the wind was dyeing and we were losing our namaste so we motored north to Elba with light wind and seas behind us. We rounded the NE corner of the island and headed into the anchorage. There was plenty of sand in 8m of clear water and high hills around us. It was open to the sea to the west so we felt all of the ferry traffic in and out of Portoferraio. We settled the boat, cleaned ourselves up and enjoyed basking in the sun. Before long we noticed another sail boat heading our way so we got dressed as they dropped anchor in front of us. Much to our surprise, several of the boat crew jumped in the water for a long swim. The water was 17.2 C! The wind was light and the water calm, except for the ferry wake, but they stopped around 2000. The night was calm, clear and full of stars with no moon nor city lights, beautiful.
4/5/2024 Cala Mandriola, Isle di Elba, Italy
The skies were gray with high clouds, but the sun burned
them off by mid-morning. Cabin temperature in the morning was 61 F. The breeze
was light from the SE and the water was calm until that first ferry around
0600. Departed at about 1030 for Capraia, Capraia Isola. I had anticipated a
downwind sail in 15 knots of breeze, but the wind never went over 8 knots and
then it clocked to the NE at 5 knots, motor boat ride.
Arriving at the harbor the wind remained light and there was
no swell. It took 3 tries to get the anchor to hold in 10m over sand and grass.
We were taking a chance being on grass, but there were no great sandy spots.
Here in Italy, you are required to anchor no closer than 200m on the mainland
and no closer than 100m in other areas. If you disturb the sea grass, they can
fine you. A German flagged boat sailed in and snagged the unused mooring line
by accident, but he decided to go with it. By night fall there were a total of
6 sailboats in the anchorage and no one seem to be worried about the sea grass.
We launched the dinghy and rowed ashore for a walk. We had
not stretched our legs on land for several days. There was a well-marked trail
up to the village and the ancient watch tower. The island was once inhabited by
the Romans where they grew grapes and produced wine. There were the remnants of
the stone wine press and catch basin in the rocks at the top of the hill. The watch
tower had been turned into a library, but it was not open. Further up was the
original fort dating back to the 13th century. The Island later
became a prison, the old prison is still here, but we did not find it.
We made a circuit around the harbor by dinghy on the way back to the boat. Very rocky in the shallows, but no fish, just sea urchins. A ferry did come in, but only one.
4/6/2024 Capraia, Capraia Isola, Italy
Suzette exclaimed that “this is the calmest night ever at
anchor!” It was a perfect night. The sun was already peeking out from the
clouds. We were ready for a sail to Corsica. This has been our goal since we
were last here in the Med in November. There was a foot race on shore where we
were uniquely poised to see the start and the hill climb and the finish. Though
we did not stay for the finish.
The wind was steady from the south at 15 to 18 making for a close reach across the channel. We set the main and jib with a reef and enjoyed 7 to 8 knots of boat speed directly to our planed anchorage at the very NE tip of Corsica. Arriving at the anchorage the water was a beautiful turquoise over sand as we dropped the hook in about 3.5m of water and easily set the anchor. The wind stayed steady all afternoon as we surveyed our surroundings. There were a few people playing on the beach and hikers on the trail. I am not certain, but I think I saw a cow meandering by the beach just behind the dune. The fields that surrounded this bay look like they could be pastures for grazing. Just south of us was a Genoese lookout tower that was half eaten away by the sea. I wanted to dinghy over to investigate, but the wind was discouraging my deployment of the dinghy. The wind did settle overnight making for a quiet night, but about 3 the boat did some obnoxious rolling; I am guessing that a ferry had passed by.
4/7/2024 Punto Vecchio, FR
Up with the building wind and rising sun. By 0800 we were
pulling anchor and heading south for Bastia. With 10 – 12 knots of wind on our
nose and a slight swell from the south we motored along the coast. The island
is amazing shades of green with forests and fields. Villages dot the hill sides
and towns punctuate the shore. Occasionally there are beautiful water front
Villas making you wonder who owns them. The fields appear to be planted with
various crops and possibly grapes for wine on the terraces. In between are
groves of olives and roads lined with cypress trees. The back drop is a high
craggy mountain range. The foreground is deep blue sea.
We arrived at the marina in Bastia at 1030, with no answer
to yesterday’s email request for a birth and no answer on the VHF we headed in
to see if anyone flagged us down. This was a very small marina in the old city.
There was a German flagged Swan getting ready to leave the dock. The captain
was up on deck to greet us. He indicated that there were no marineros, capitainari
in France, and that they stayed the previous night with no questions asked.
They graciously helped us tie up to the quay, it was dead calm so there were no
fire drills. It turns out they were based in Scarlino where we spent the
winter.
The German boat went on its way and we settled in, first
washing the 4 days’ worth of salt off the boat, then washing ourselves to
become presentable. We had some lunch and then walked to the train station.
They have a “Little Train” that runs from Bastia to Ajuccio on the SW coast
that I wanted to ride. It dates back to the late 1800s, but it does not run in
low season. We noted the regular train schedule and went on our way. The rest
of the afternoon was spent walking the town, up to the Terranouva, the walled
old city, several simple churches and unexpected views out to sea. The main
plaza in the walled city was built over a huge cistern so that, in the event of
a siege they would not run out of water.
Walking the shopping/eating area there were a couple bars with people and music spilling out on the streets, very fun. We stopped in this gourmet food and wine shop and marveled at the delicious offerings. When we walked down a short stone walled corridor, we discovered the wine cave as an automatic sliding door opened and the cool air of the cave rushed out. The cave was a room about 6m x 6m with a low ceiling supported by ancient logs and filled with wine. The proprietor helped us select a local Corsican wine, a grape I had not heard of, Niellucciu. He likened it to a Sangiovese grape. We bought pasta, sesame oil and some other seasoning sauces to put in the pantry.
Back at the harbor quay we grabbed at seat on the patio at a
bar called Wha?. Suzette had a limoncello Spritzer and I had a Corsican beir, Serena.
Evidently beir is more popular than wine here on the island. It was very
entertaining to watch the locals and families as they strolled the quay. Before
the sun slipped below the surrounding buildings we headed back to the boat for
Corsican pasta and wine. We made plans to take the train to Ajaccio, Napoleon’s
birth place, and spend the night. This to me was a bit risky as we had not
checked in with the marina as yet and we would leave before the office was
supposed to open. Though the sign said they were supposed to be open over the
weekend so who knows. I did send them all my documents by email and explained
our whereabouts. We packed our bag and enjoyed a quiet night’s rest in the
Marina.
Dinner, lots of Corsican goodies
4/8/2024 Bastia, Vioux Port, France
Up with an alarm clock at 0615, we are not accustomed to
setting an alarm. We had our coffee on board, then walked to the train station.
Two one-way tickets to Ajaccio, 43 euros. The train was comfortable with a
table between us and electrical plugs for our devices. The train left on time
for the 3-hour 40-minute ride to the southwest corner of the island. This took
us up over the mountains, 2000m elevation, and we enjoyed some of the most
beautiful scenery yet. Monte Christo is the highest peak at over 8000’; it
still had snow on it. There is a ski resort there, but it closed in March.
There were farm fields and pastures full of sheep, hill top towns and beautiful
flowing rivers in the valleys. We passed through many tunnels, one was 4000m in
length. The bridges over the rivers were fine old stone structures with
beautiful vaults supporting the rail bed. There were probably 40 stops along
the way as we gathered and dispersed the passengers. Some stops were simply a road
crossing and no station, others were ancient stations in small towns and a few
were modern structures in small cities.
As we approached Ajaccio we could look west out to sea and there were no islands on lands in sight. It is probably 200 miles west to the Beleric Islands and 150 miles north east to France. The city seemed fairly modern with a huge harbor full of pleasure boats and commercial ships. It was a 5-minute walk to our hotel, Le Dauphin, along the water front. We checked in and left our bags to go explore the city. This is the birth place of Napoleon so everything here revolves around the Bonapart family name. Having just read a book about the Bonaparts, there was lots of familiarity. First stop was his birthplace, a conservative apartment building in the old citadel with a peekaboo view of the sea. We stopped at a seaside café for lunch, the vegetables and seafood were fresh and delicious. We walked for hours taking in the old town, systematically walking every street. The weather was balmy and sunny, almost summer like.
We stopped at the hotel to access our room and freshen up for the evening. The room was on the fifth (arguably 6th) floor overlooking the harbor. It was a huge suite, but somewhat devoid of furniture. The living area had a sofa and a big screen TV set on a mental over the fireplace and one lamp. The bedroom had a queen bed and a small side shelf, but lots of closets.
Rested and refreshed we did some more exploring before
heading to a seafood restaurant, Le Lodge, overlooking the marina. I selected a
white Corsican wine from the same AOC we had enjoyed the previous night and it
was superb. The seafood was fresh and cooked to perfection. They were out of my
favorite desert, Crème Brulé, so we skipped desert. A long day, but a perfect
way to take in the island of Corsica.
4/9/2024 Ajaccio, Corsica, France
A leisurely morning as we readied for the day. The sky was
hazy and you could sense a change in the weather was coming. We stopped at a
little café and enjoyed a cappuccino and a latte. The Barista spoke English
well and seemed pleased to be able to practice on us. We walked to the train
station and snagged our same seats for the ride back to Bastia. I was pleased
to get an email from our generator people saying that they were working on the
generator and trying to diagnose the fault. Hopefully they can fix it in their
shop and it will not need to go back to Cummins.
It was a hazy day so the sun cast a different light on the
landscape, no less beautiful. After such a warm day yesterday we expected to
see a significant difference in the amount of snow in the mountains, but it
looked unchanged. Arriving back in Bastia I was anxious to check on my boat,
all was well. However, the reconstruction of the dock area was beginning to encroach
on our quay. We had to walk across the ruble that had been created from the
demolition of the paving. They were working with equipment all around us. Looks
like the Capitainerie Office is still closed, understandably, they were working
right up to his front door. Maybe this will stay will be a freebee!
We checked the boat, had a quick snack and headed off to the
big grocery store with our wagon and grocery bags for a major shopping trip.
The E. Lecleric was a serious grocery store that we had visited previously in
France, it was 1.8 km away, but worth it. We stocked up as we planned to be
underway and anchoring for the next week as we head south toward Sardinia. We
filled the wagon to the brim. Thankfully it was mostly downhill back to the
boat. By this time the construction workers had gone home for the day and the
job site was fairly well locked up, be we managed to find our way in and back
to the boat.
We had a new neighbor, an Italian flagged Jeanneau, Sun
Odyssey 380. No signs of life, but they were probably out for dinner. It was sprinkling
rain as we returned to the boat so we quickly unloaded and went below. Weather
man was calling for wind from the NE gusting to 18 overnight so we were well
prepared for the wind. We enjoyed dinner and early bed as last nights bed was
not so comfortable. Just as we hi the sheets the wind gusts started. They were
clearly over 20 knots hitting us on the starboard side. We double checked the
wind prediction and it remained unchanged from earlier. About 2300 we were
getting seriously blown. I got up and checked the anemometer, I saw gusts to 42
knots! The passerelle was being blown up in the air and we were putting a big
strain on the lines. When I sensed a lull, I put the passerelle down and went
on shore to add a second line from the port cleat to the bollard on the quay on
our starboard side. I quickly reeled the passerelle in and waited for the next
lull. Suzette came up from below to see what was going on. I told I was going
ashore to grab the sand line for the berth next to us and add a third hawser on
the bow to starboard. She protested, “you are not getting off this boat!” and I
responded “I already have and I will do it at the next lull.” She tended the
passerelle as I walked off and grabbed the sand line. Once back on the boat we
stowed the passerelle so it would not blow away and tied the third line to the
starboard bow cleat. The dinghy was on deck and getting blown so we resecure it
in place with extra line. With everything secured as well as possible we went
below, an hour-long effort, but I felt safer. The wind continued to howl as the
boat strained hard against her lines. I do not know if the wind subsided or I
simply could not stay awake any longer, I think I fell asleep about 0230.
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