Ciao Cari…
We enjoyed a
week or so of great weather and had the place to ourselves… where is
everyone??! Finally we headed across the
straits of Bonifacio and anchored up on Corsica. Molto carino but somehow more controlled and
park-like than Sardegna… fabuloso walking though… ahhh the French do like a
nice walk and it does make a pleasant change not to have to tip toe through the
spazzatura!
The snow on the mountains is adding to a slight chill in the air but that doesn’t stop us taking the odd dip and parts of the island remind us of Kaikoura… mountains to the sea…
There are
certainly some lovely bays on the east coast of the island and we seem to have
just the right conditions to enjoy them but soon we have to avail ourselves of
some of the marinas and the prices come as a bit of a shock but we have to get
beer (oh and water) somewhere! Maybe
they will use the money to dredge some of the entrances… we squeaked into a few
and saw a great groove in a sandbar created by “Moody Blue” when they attempted
to plough into one in front of us… nice work guys… we followed your track and
never touched J. Turns out the Corsica Rally was underway,
starting from the marina so we put our petrol heads on and viewed the array of
vehicles as the revved and paraded… pretty cool!
The weather
is now becoming a bit more changeable and so we seek refuge is a couple of the
bigger harbours… Portoferraio was our favourite. Lovely town and the harbour is a really
happening spot… luckily the anchorage is good too! We have discovered Birra dell’elba… un eccellente birrificio artigianale! We try track down the
brewery in Rio Marina and end up on a dilapadated pontoon with taffled ropes
and various bits of chain dotted about... ruin my back trying to pull up one
line with about two metres of three inch chain wrapped around it... we tidy the
place up a bit and end up staying per gratis... the brewery has moved up the
hill we are told but luckily the pizzeria is an outlet for them and we have a
great night tasting the range and eating pizza in great surroundings... a nice
end to our time on Elba... onwards to Giglio...
Yes I know I
have been a bit slack on updating the blog but it has been quite a rolly couple
of months and not contusive at all to long periods on the computer! (Avevamo
anche mal di mare a volte!)
Where to
begin?… c’era una volta…
So we set
sail for the season on April 1st (didn’t prove to be an inauspicious
date thankfully!) and headed north for Corsica.
Northern Sardinia and the Maddalenas were as meraviglioso as ever. (Only just left and can’t wait to come back!)
We enjoyed a
week or so of great weather and had the place to ourselves… where is
everyone??! Finally we headed across the
straits of Bonifacio and anchored up on Corsica. Molto carino but somehow more controlled and
park-like than Sardegna… fabuloso walking though… ahhh the French do like a
nice walk and it does make a pleasant change not to have to tip toe through the
spazzatura! The snow on the mountains is adding to a slight chill in the air but that doesn’t stop us taking the odd dip and parts of the island remind us of Kaikoura… mountains to the sea…
There are
certainly some lovely bays on the east coast of the island and we seem to have
just the right conditions to enjoy them but soon we have to avail ourselves of
some of the marinas and the prices come as a bit of a shock but we have to get
beer (oh and water) somewhere! Maybe
they will use the money to dredge some of the entrances… we squeaked into a few
and saw a great groove in a sandbar created by “Moody Blue” when they attempted
to plough into one in front of us… nice work guys… we followed your track and
never touched J. Turns out the Corsica Rally was underway,
starting from the marina so we put our petrol heads on and viewed the array of
vehicles as the revved and paraded… pretty cool!
The towns on
Corse are also a little twee-er than we are used to with overtones of theme
park… enjoyable but not as friendly as their façades might suggest. Somehow the people seem a bit more “grown up”
here than the Sardi, and certainly not as smiley and laidback. (Personally I think they could do with loosening
up a bit.) As it is early season most
things are closed or being vamped up for the summer, so not much nightlife to
speak of and Murray’s quest for the beach bar sundowner comes to nothing each
night… poverino! Our favourite town was
Bastia - a bit scruffy yes, but a friendlier than the rest, less developed and
buzzing with activity. (At the risk of
raising Murray ire dare I say it reminded me of Olbia?!) The harbour was really lovely too (despite
the chewed off lazy lines!) and you felt part of the action but unfortunately
this did come at some cost so we decided to move on to Elba before the Italian
prices got hiked up too. Still not many
people out and about… come on sailors… “where the bloody hell are you??!”
We enjoyed a
great sail across to Elba… an every point of sail job and wind strengths of
whoa to go… Elba looks very barren in comparison with Sardegna and Corsica and
the folding and faulting of the rocks is incredibile… again there are some good
anchorages if a little rolly at times and stupendo walking… Bramble is in her
element and loving the hunting… what she finds to hunt we don’t always know but
the odd tartaruga was discovered… unbelievable we see tortoises for sale in a
pet shop at 150€ a go… maybe some money to be made here??! Nice to be speaking italiano again and
everyone is really friendly which helps.
 |
| Well you never know where a tartaruga might be hiding??! |
As an aside
we are tracking a 4.4m long great white al momento. Lydia was tagged on the other side of the
world and is now on her way to pup in the Med they think… you go girl… now that
would be something to see!
Another
aside… 6000 more pizza makers are needed in Italy and an Australian wins best
pizza in the world… who would have thought that??!
The weather
is now becoming a bit more changeable and so we seek refuge is a couple of the
bigger harbours… Portoferraio was our favourite. Lovely town and the harbour is a really
happening spot… luckily the anchorage is good too! We have discovered Birra dell’elba… un eccellente birrificio artigianale! We try track down the
brewery in Rio Marina and end up on a dilapadated pontoon with taffled ropes
and various bits of chain dotted about... ruin my back trying to pull up one
line with about two metres of three inch chain wrapped around it... we tidy the
place up a bit and end up staying per gratis... the brewery has moved up the
hill we are told but luckily the pizzeria is an outlet for them and we have a
great night tasting the range and eating pizza in great surroundings... a nice
end to our time on Elba... onwards to Giglio...  |
| Awesome!! |
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