Tuesday 26t
h July 2016
Last view of Ajaccio.
Off again, going north towards Calvi. We have set our destination to Anse de San Pellegrino, although the wind is SW and may not be suitable to stay the night if too strong.
Monthly Archives: July 2016
Visiting Ajaccio
Understandably, Ian was a bit worried about Mr X being left in harbour and the winds still being quite strong so we went back early afternoon, just in time. The storm has caught up with us finally and with rain and thunder… we spent the afternoon catching up with the late night and by late afternoon, the storm having disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, we went and explored Ajaccio for a few hours. Nice place on a sunny Sunday evening… We decided that we would come back and explore more on Monday.
Heading to Ajaccio
Friday 22nd
July
Heading to Ajaccio and very excited to be meeting with Cecile this weekend after some years. Still no wind to speak off and we have it on the nose, hence nos sails up.
Foredeck hand…in the pockets!
On our way up to the west coast of Corsica
Th
ursday 21st July
We set off the next morning under motor, with little wind and what little there is, is on the nose. Going around the south point of Corsica, weaving amongst the islands and islets with Italian sounding names (Ratino, Poraggia, Cavallo, Lavezzi) we are back into civilisation. Plenty of sailing and motor boats, from small fishing craft to big ferries and tankers, to avoid. And by the way, anyone knows why the biggest and swankiest boats we come across are all registered in the UK?
Crossing to Corsica
Tuesday 19th July 2016
This is the day we are setting off from Fiumicino, direction Corsica. We planned to get away early but Othello, our upholster, was late in delivering and making the last adjustments to the cover of the bimini, so we left around 11am. Hopefully we should be there in 30 hours.
Leaving Fiumicino tomorrow
We are about to leave our favourite boat yard and it is going to be hard to go. Everyone has been so nice and helpful over the last few weeks and without the team here we would not have been ready in time.
Special thanks to Emiliano for all his supporting comments and sound advice (liked the fact that he referred to wind steering gear as a “he”, that tickled me). Francesca for her cheery assistance. Ram for keeping an eye on us after dark and not minding that we used the shower straight after he cleaned it! As for Giuliana, who took us shopping today, so we had a full larder for our onward voyage, that was so very kind. Not forgetting all the guys who have done work on the boat…we never got introduced properly… grazzie mille and Ciao folks.
Heading to Corsica…
Shake down sail
Wednesday 6th July
Finally, after a week of frantic preparations, we sailed out of the river to the open sea. Slow start in the morning, we are waiting for the upholsterer to deliver the last missing cushions….just as well really, Lili arrived last night and we want to go through all the safety briefing before we set off. Weather is beautiful, Lili is in her swimsuit and off we went northward in very little wind. Getting back to sea is a joy, the lack of wind at the start makes it easier to set all the sails before it pipes up late morning as it usually does. We are aiming for Riva Traiano, 28 miles from Fumicino. Managed to get 5.7 knots in 12 knots of wind! Lili is extremely good helm. We got there in about 7 hours which gave us plenty time to explore the marina and have a leisurely dinner on board.
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Waiting for Lili
Lili is on her way this evening and I think we are ready for a sail. Ship is looking good. We have spent the last few days testing all the systems and hopefully we should be able to go tomorrow. We have been looking at the chart and there are a few island north which we would be able to reach in a day’s sail. Depending on the wind.
Looking forward to be on the water and having a good time with L.
Finally living on board
Arrived finally. We both need a bit of R&R after the last month, sunshine and downtime is helping. But we are still managing to tidy and sort the boat out between snoozettes. So we have fitted most of the security/safety stuff, and I have been busy with sewing new covers for the cockpit cushions… By hand would you believe… quite pleased with the outcome, sewing was never my strong point.
I am also dabbling, somewhat unsuccessfully so far, with fitting mosquito nets on all the hatches. I will need to persever. Trying to make a home… Filled the (limited) space with cushions much to Ian’s distress!