Sardinia

Sardinia

The sail up to Sardinia was light and on the nose again. We left at 0700 and motor-sailed till 2330 that night then started sailing. The wind and swell built and the night was testing with constant reefing and trimming going on, switching from outboard sheeting to inboard and back again. We made good time though and knocked off the 200 mile journey in 27 hrs averaging 7.1 knots getting into Porto Corrallo in time for Coffee Time(1030, on the boat)

From there we went up to Porto Frallis, which was a beautiful spot with clear water, good anchor holding and Restaurants/Bars on the beach.

We stayed there a couple of days as it had a great relaxed feel to it, with a Holiday park on the shore as well.

We called in at Cala Gonone, mainly because the boat needed Fuel, and we were the only Yacht there in amongst all the little Fishing boats and a couple of Launches.

On the way up the coast we called in at a Marine Reserve where there was supposed to be no Anchoring, but blow me down, there would have been at least 50 boats off all shapes and sizes anchored in there, so thought, well when in Rome so to speak and stopped there for Lunch and a swim.

The further north we went up Sardinia, the dearer everything became and one night anchored out of a Marina(as the cost was a prohibitive 185 euro a night in there for Falshator) we went to dinner at the dockside and were released of some well earned Euros but the food was exceptional. This was at Porto di Cugana, which is a fairly exclusive area.

It was here that I had a wee mishap trying to idle up the estuary to get past the no anchoring zone (where a lot of boats were anchored!) The chartplotter and Pilot book showed 4.5 metres and I was watching the depth guage while idling up past a boat. The alarm which is set at 3.5 metres went off which wasn’t unusual and then we went from 3.2 meters to 1.8 in a matter of two meters and got a wee bit stuck.

I had both Shelly and Sharna out on the end of the swung out Boom and a fellow yachties tender hooked up to the top of the Mast via the Gennaker Halyard to pull Falshator over so that we could motor back off the Mud. Yep, it happens. Lesson learnt-don’t trust the chartplotter or Pilot Books, especially in tidal Estuaries where the bottom is constantly shifting!

On the way up from Sardinia to Corsica half way across the gap we crossed paths with a boat flying a Kiwi Flag and called them up on the VHF. John and Robin Coombridge had been up here sailing the Med for 7 years. They had finally decided to head back towards New Zealand and we might catch up with them before the Atlantic Crossing this November.

Corsica

We approached Corsica from Bonificio where from the sea you can see the seas work at play. The houses that once sat proud on the Water front had been slowly undermined and I doubt whether any one would be foolish enough to live in them now, as they are perched precariously above the water, about to fall in due to massive erosion under them.

We made it to Campomoro where there were a lot of Yachts anchored for the night.  It was the deepest we had anchored in at 25 meters, but a safe anchorage.

We went ashore in the morning and had Croissants and Coffee for Breakfast, well we are in France now!

We stayed in the Marina at Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica, (they pride themselves on their independence) where Napoleon Bonaparte was born and there was a lot of history there. It was a nice place to wander around and having Dinner in one of the many Restaurants on the Waterfront there was a lesson in French Lifestyle, with lots of Young Families out for the night and it had a real community feel to it.

This little fishing boat was parked close to us, not a bad little cruiser/trawler

We headed up the coast and stayed at Calvi, another nice spot with all sorts happening on the waterfront.

The last couple of nights on Corsica were spent in an anchorage around the corner from Calvi where it was packed with boats and people on the small beach with the proverbial Beach Bar that we just had to try out.

Cannes

The sail up to Cannes was a mixed bag again with 26 knots to start with and the last 5 hours motoring as there was no wind. But once again, made good time and did it in 13 hrs, averaging 7.6 knots.

We have just got into the Marina at Port de Cannes and had a look around. Cannes is amazing and after the initial Sight seeing tour on the Road train, we are looking forward to checking it out proper.