Stuck in St Pierre – Martinique

Posted on 18th March 201719th March 2017 by Manuela

We have been pinned down for 5 days in St Pierre, Martinique. The weather forecast was for moderately strong winds when we left Fort de France on the 7th March so we decided to move up to St Pierre 10 miles further up the coast, ready for the crossing to Dominica next day. The anchorage was very busy and we probably had one of the worse night with winds howling relentlessly. The next morning forecast was not much better, but we thought we would tempt crossing the channel. We had watched boats going up and we were prepared for a rough crossing but when we reached the top of Martinique the sea rally worsened. By this stage we had been soaked and buffeted by the wind for 2 hours. We had watched a boat going full speed ahead and noticed that they seemed to come back our way. It turned out to be Pepper (Hattie & Phil) and they emphatically suggested that this was no time to be out there with gusts up to 35 knots and waves of 3 metres, They had crossed the Atlantic 2 handed so were no scaredy cats and I was quite relieved that we followed them in and retraced our steps back to St Pierre. The weather was bad for 4 days, it rained and rained and rained all day. But we made the most of it, more exploring….

First port of call in Spain – Blanes

Posted on 10th September 201610th September 2016 by Manuela

Passage to Blanes Spain Aug 16

So we left Port Camargue on the 26^th Aug 16, aiming to do a long passage to Valencia (approx180 miles – 3 days if the winds were favourable). In the event, with no wind we had to motor for most of the day and night which was not so pleasant.

Passage to Cartagena – Spain

Posted on 10th September 201610th September 2016 by Manuela

4^th September

We are off this morning, aiming to reach Cartagena, we are meeting Richie on the 7^th and Hallahala on the 8^th and we are a good 160 miles away.

Leaving Port Camargue- France

Posted on 25th August 201625th August 2016 by Manuela

Leaving Port Camargue

That’s it, we have had nearly 3 weeks in France and it is time to continue the journey. It has been great to see and catch up with family and friends over the last few weeks. We have had a ball and loads of nice food and wine.

Tomorrow we leave Port Camargue. Nice huge marina but very welcoming and secure, we were able to leave the boat for a few days to visit family without any issues. The facilities are good and you can get free bicycle which was useful to go to the Grau du Roi (a lovely little port), all on the sea front . There are beaches but they are packed and the sand is not great, you also have to walk for miles to reach swimming depth. Plenty of shops both in Port Camargue and the Grau du Roi and the fruits and veg are excellent, so is the bread and cheese and the rose wine. Ian has been able to spend some time in the chandlers, looking for bits and pieces and he has had a few days to fix stuff, so he is happy. And he was absolutely ecstatic when he met Jayne and Graeme from Southampton, on Scarlett, moored on the same pontoon as us. Finally, after 2 months, he could converse with strangers without having to think and translate… Scarlett is coming from Spain and bound for Italy so we were able to share experiences over aperitif.

We are aiming to reach Valencia in 3 to 4 days depending on the wind or the engine, cutting across the Golf du Lion. Well that is the plan anyway…

Garagnanis onboard

Posted on 24th August 201624th August 2016 by Manuela

All on board – The Garagnanis

The cruising Garagnanis

We needed to get fuel and water before we set off any further. Carole was arriving on the Monday 8^th August, so we had the afternoon and a night to recover from the lack of sleep. The rade of Toulon is not especially pretty, it is one of the biggest French naval base and it is littered with huge war ships of various shape and size.

L’ile Rousse- Corsica

Posted on 24th August 201624th August 2016 by Manuela

Ile Rousse – Corsica

This will probably be our last stop in Corsica. We need to be in France in less than a week. This sounds a nice place for our last taste of Corsica. We were planning to stay for 2 nights with a day spent exploring the town, in the event strong wind kept us there a while longer.

Heading to Calvi

Posted on 28th July 201628th July 2016 by Manuela

Tuesday 26^th 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.

Heading to Ajaccio

Posted on 28th July 201628th July 2016 by Manuela

Friday 22^nd Foredeck hand (in the pockets) 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

Posted on 28th July 201628th July 2016 by Manuela

Th Ile Lavezzi-South Corsica ursday 21^st 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

Posted on 28th July 201628th July 2016 by Manuela

Bye bye Fiumicino

Tuesday 19^th 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.