We have picked up Robbie and Andrew in Bonifacio. They flew in from Edinburgh via Paris and stepped onto the boat. Seamless. Until 11pm when the disco started right behind us 😱. Andrew trying to sleep on deck, a hot night and the boats bouncing in the water because the music was so loud and to cap it off – 💥 fireworks 🎇! So goodbye Bonifacio and we headed back around the south coast of Corsica to a beautiful bay – Chevanu. Sandy bottom, posedonia- the sea grass that grows and is spectacular viewed in clear water. Small fish everywhere, it’s a very nice place to spend the night. Tom owe sail back across to Sardegna and towards the Maddalenas. It’s going to be windy in the right direction so it should be a bit of a ride!

We had a few hours sailing and it was action packed particularly as we entered the channel between the main island and the Maddalena channel. It is like a freeway or Sydney harbour on a Saturday afternoon with all yachts racing. We have decided to rename Dream Yacht Charter Nightmare Yacht Charter as it seems that they have no idea of the rules of the water and we are having to keep a lookout in every direction. It’s a bit stressful actually. But we get a safe anchorage opposite the town of Maddalena. The marina and town quay are all full and in fact anchoring is nicer – we get to swim, it’s much quieter and cooler. We take the dinghy into the town quay – simple.

A few weeks ago we meet Roberta and Alessandro- they sail from Tropea and we have been bumping into them along the way. Finally we get to the same anchorage in Golfo Aranci and we can catch up with them. It’s very nice – I have been practicing my Italian and they have been practicing their English. They laughed out loud at Roger’s “one-a smalla cona” – Roger’s attempt to order an ice cream cone!

Into Olbia we go. We are heading into the marina as Robbie and Andrew are flying out tomorrow morning to Rome to connect through to Melbourne. they have a 6 am flight and to our dismay there is not a single taxi or transfer to be had to get them to the airport which is so close it has been suggested that they walk there!

It is seriously busy everywhere. It is the long weekend of Ferragosto and it is the climatic frenzy of Italians on holiday and the weather as it turns out.

We solved the airport problem by hiring a car and I drove them – and – plane on time, transfer done – phew!

The weather is reaching its summer peak. Everyday we expect rain and there have been a few drops but nothing serious. It feels oppressive in the late afternoon and the humidity is up at 95%. The barometer is dropping and we need to make some decisions about how we return to Rome. The choice is to sail across to Ponza and then head north to Rome or sail north to Porto Vecchio, Elba, Giglio and then south to Rome.

We choose to head to Porto Vecchio on Corsica. The barometer is still dropping but no ‘bad’ weather is forecast. Nothing extreme.

Next leg is north east to Elba. We are going to go to the north side to Marciana Marina. It’s a beautiful village with quite a big protected harbour. We will anchor there.

We had a great, fast sail. It took us 11hours with maximum speed of 9.5kns. Sails reefed it was fun – it’s very physical work sailing like that. Even holding the wheel is strenuous.

So nice to get to MM and anchor, have a swim. There are lots of boats anchored in the harbour and we get the dinghy in the water and into town we go. Well by the time we got back maybe 2 hours later everything had changed. Bad weather was obviously on its way and staying on anchor in this place was not an option. Boats were heaving and dragging and falling on top of each other. We pulled up anchor and hot footed it around the coast to Portoferraio where we knew the big harbour would be safe. Thank goodness we did because what unfolded was catastrophic.

But on the west coast of Corsica it was so much worse. Boats smashed and broken. Winds of 95 knots. Unexpected and not advised by the Weather Bureau but it was a cyclone. We spent 3 days in the harbour waiting for the weather to clear along with about 300 other yachts. Locals said they had never seen so many boats in the harbour.

The weather has cleared and we are going to go to Porto Azzurro on the east side of Elba. Elba is a stunningly green, mountainous island with so many little coves and bays. Porto Azzurro is Super Yacht territory. It’s Saturday night and there will be a concert in the Piazza. From July through to mid September on all these Islands there is music or art or theatre at least 3 times a week. The Islands run these summer festivals and showcase local and international artists. In Portoferraio it was Jose Carreras and in Porto Azzurro it is a Pink Floyd experience with an English band. We are anchored right outside the harbour and can have dinner on board and listen to one of my long time favourite band’s music.

On to Giglio – what a gorgeous island. The scene of the Costa Concordia disaster.

22 Aug This entry was published on August 22, 2022 at 10:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.