Corsica

From the anchorage at Porto Vecchio, we could see the stone buildings of the old town on top of the hill above the port. Once the storm had passed, we went ashore and with the morning heat already building took the small electric minibus up the hill.

From the top there are views over the marina, anchorage and countryside with (previously malaria infested) salt marshes.

We walked through the ancient gates to the 16th-century Genoese citadel. Inside the fortified walls of the Bastion de France are narrow paved streets and a main square, Place de la République, lined with shops, bars and restaurants.

Everywhere was very quiet when we first arrived, however, we came across the Saint Jean Baptiste church, where there was standing room only. It became obvious where everyone spent their Sunday morning.

After the church service had finished, the town came alive, previously empty seats outside the cafes and bars were filled and market stalls were suddenly buzzing with people looking for a bargain.

We joined the crowds in the square for a coffee and tasted the local delicacies, migliaccioli, a small pancake made with goats cheese which they were cooking on a hot plate outside the bakery (they weren’t very exciting!).

A walk back down the hill took us to the marina, where we cooled down with an ice cream before returning to Ziggy.

We got back just in time as more strong wind and stormy weather was on its way so we quickly prepared to leave. It was already blowing 25 kts as we lifted the anchor and it was due to get much stronger as it blows down the hills and through the valley.

We left the bay and continued north to again try to outrun the storm. The top blue dot is Porto Vecchio and we headed towards the green dot. We arrived at Golfo de Pinarellu where the forecast was more favourable with better shelter and less wind. It was very busy in the anchorage, everyone had the same idea, but we managed to find a nice sandy area to drop the anchor in clear water.

During the night, the wind continued gusting 20-25 kts, a large boat had anchored closer than we would have liked and although the anchor was holding, we decided to take it in turns through the night to keep watch. Not ideal, but we wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway with the worry of either us, or someone else dragging. There was a colourful sunset and sun rise to watch.

In the morning, just as we were starting to relax from the night watches, a passing thunder storm blew straight in to the bay bringing breaking waves and strong winds. Paul put his swimming goggles on to try to see through the heavy rain and hailstones! It blew at over 30 knots for nearly and hour but luckily by now the anchor was well set, at least Ziggy had a good jet wash.

Following this, the sun came out, but unfortunately, it left behind a big swell so we lifted the anchor and returned to Porto Vecchio which would be more sheltered again. There were more black clouds and light rain around but this blew over and the sea flattened, a rainbow appeared in the sky as we dropped our anchor.

With much calmer weather we had a couple of good nights sleep before our next passage which would be 85 nm.

On the morning of the passage we lifted the anchor before sunrise and motored out of the bay under a starry sky. There were some storm clouds still around, but in the bay the water was dead flat calm and there was no wind or rain. As the sun rose, the wind picked up and the sails were hoisted. We managed to maintain a good speed to keep ahead of the storms which we could see developing behind us.

We changed our French flag for the Italian one and headed towards the island of Elba, just a few miles off the coast of mainland Italy. After 14 hours, we dropped our anchor at Golfo di Campo on the south side of the island.

The water here is very clear with a sandy seabed and it’s not surprising that the coast is lined with beautiful beaches. Each section of beach along the water front is managed by different concessions and distinguished by their own colour of regimental rows of beach chairs and sun shades, which all get very busy.

We made the most of some Italian hospitality, with a designated dinghy dock to leave Ed and Fred, and visited the small town. As it is a popular beach resort, it caters for tourists with souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants, we even passed an amusement arcade which we haven’t come across previously in Italy.

We had a nice couple of days here enjoying clear sky’s and calm weather at last.