So it is motoring all day again. The forecast for the night is suitable for us to go and anchor off Porticcio which is a calm weather anchorage, in the little baie facing Ajaccio. The view is fantastic, Ajaccio is spread across the hills in front of us. The baie of Porticcio is small and beautiful. Small beaches, a few villas and pine trees you can smell from the boat. And only 3 other boats anchored. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and the sea is so calm, flat and clear that all we want to do is dive in. It’s just perfect. And the sea planes came to fill up just in the baie, Ian gets excited about this piece of machinery and how it works.
Later, when the sun is lower, we get the dinghy out and tried our new outboard.
We have a rechargeable electric outboard (Torqueedo) and it’s brilliant; light, ecological, quiet (make as much noise as my electric toothbrush!), no need for petrol or oil. So we gave it a good try and it is powerful too.
Cecile has been held up so we will see her tomorrow. We spend the evening watching the weather change in the baie of Ajaccio. By darkness the clouds are putting up a impressive show of lighting circling around us and the wind is up, but no rain and the storm is so far out that we can’t hear any thunder. The sky is illuminated outlining mountains and the Sanguinaires islands at the entrance of the baie of Ajaccio. Spectacular!
We pitched and rolled a bit during the night but by morning the baie is calm for a little while, enough time to have a swim, until midday when the wind and the waves makes it not so comfortable to stay and more to the point, all the other (French) boats are now leaving so we figured that it may not be so safe for us to stay there either. A quick motor across the baie puts us in the safety of the harbour. Unfortunately, both the vieux port and the newer Port Charles Ornano are full, so we anchor just outside, in the shelter of the ferry. Cecile came and picked us up and we had a great evening on shore in her beautiful house on the hill with Laura and Philippe, talking late into the night around a meal of Corsican specialities. And the wine was fantastic.
