Lots of Miles

Since our last blog update we have covered nearly 600nm through the Southern Central Med Area, from Corsica to Sardinia then Tunisia and Pantelleria before arriving in Sicily. Some pretty mixed weather along the way with winds over 40knts at times and a fair amount of motor sailing also.

We left the lovely sheltered anchorage at Rondinara, Corsica after the winds and seas had died down with the intention of visiting the Corsican Island of Lavezzi but when we got there the main anchorage was completely full and the other couple of possible anchorages were too rough to be any use. After a quick chat with Awake we decided to carry on south back to Porto Pozzo, Sardinia.

We met up with Jenny and Tito again, this time with Jenny’s mum Joan, sister Alice and friends Mark and Julia all staying with them so we had a lovely few days with them all including a day out on Nimrod for them all.  A bit of a challenge getting Nimrod to the pontoon, we were literally sliding through the mud, and another challenge getting Joan aboard, but everything went smoothly and we had a lovely day out.

Many thanks to everyone for including us in your plans as well as some lovely food from Tito’s kitchen and some lovely meals at local restaurants.

Sunset In Porto Pozzo	Sailing Through the Maddalenas

We decided we needed to start making some progress south towards Sicily where we plan to spend the winter.  The forecast was fairly calm for the next couple of days before picking up from the NW that we hoped would send us down the East coast of Sardinia.  Our first stop after leaving Porto Pozzo and sailing through the islands of the Maddalenas was Porto Chervo, reputedly one of the most expensive harbours in the Med, fortunately it is still possible to anchor for free and admire the superyachts from afar. There was the Rolex / Swan Yachts Regatta taking place also so there was an influx of luxurious Swan sailing yachts to add to the glitz and glamour. We watched Dilbar coming in to her berth, she is 100m long and is owned by a Russian Industrialist and is the 22nd largest privately owned yacht in the world, very impressive.

Dilbar in Porto Chervo, only 100m !!	Calm Anchorage, Brandinchi

From the excesses of Porto Chervo we had a gentle motor around the corner to the beautiful bay of Brandinchi with only a few small RIB’s for company in the crystal clear waters. You can see our anchor chain lying on the sand in 5m of water.

The next couple of days we had strong winds forecast from the NW that we hoped would get us down to the SE corner of Sardinia fairly quickly. The first day the wind was more SW and W blowing up to 40knts so we had a pretty boisterous 50nm day down to Arbatax, where we anchored in the sheltered bay of Porto Frailis.  Next day the wind was nearer the NW that was forecast so we had a more comfortable day with the wind off the starboard quarter and following seas to send us on our way to Cape Carbonara. The wind died for the last 10nm, contrary to the forecast until we rounded the Cape to head towards Vilasimus when it decided to blow again at over 35knts on the nose!!  We changed our plan and headed for the shelter of Point Molentis a couple of miles away but offering much better shelter.

Anchor Chain in 5m of Water	Hitch-hiker En-route to Tunisia

We had a bit of a rest for a couple of days until the forecast looked good for us to make the crossing to Kelibia, Tunisia.  The only reason for heading to Tunisia was to fill up with diesel, we can take over 800ltrs if we use all our spare containers as well as the fuel tanks and the 58 euro cents price meant a saving of well over 1000 euros compared to Italian prices. The 160nm crossing to Tunisia took us 30hrs with the light winds meaning we motorsailed most of the way.

The harbour at Kelibia is a very busy fishing port with little room for yachts and we were rafted alongside a French trimaran who were very friendly and helpful.  Customs and Police procedures are long winded with officials asking for money and alcohol, but we politely declined and the officials finished their jobs. Everyone else we met in Tunisia was helpful and friendly especially the man on the diesel pump. It is obviously a very poor country but it is also very dirty with rubbish strewn everywhere and the harbour waters covered in a film of oil.

We only stayed one night that cost the huge sum of 4 euros before motorsailing the 50nm to the Italian Island of Pantelleria to anchor in the outer harbour.  We planned to spend a couple of days around the island but the anchorages we tried were all fairly deep with rocky bottoms and a high likelihood of getting our anchor or chain jammed amongst the rocks. In the end the forecast looked fairly promising so we set off for the 150nm crossing to the SE corner of Sicily at about 1900hrs.  Most of the crossing was fairly comfortable with light wind and sea behind us meaning more motorsailing overnight until the wind picked up the next morning and we sailed most of the rest of the way to Porto Palo with some frantic reductions of sail for the last couple of hours as the wind picked up to nearly 40knts again!!

Kelibia Harbour, Tunisia	Siracusa Street Market

From Porto Palo we headed up the East coast 30nm to the delightful anchorage and harbour of Siracusa where we have been for a week. I will let Sue tell you all about it.

Park Area, Grand Harbour, Siracusa	Roman Ruins and Town Centre

Hi all Sue here

Like Chris said we have covered a lot of miles since the last blog and definitely some boisterous ones!!

We had a really lovely time back in Porto Pozzo with Jenny, Tito, family and friends. Jenny’s mum Joan has been our most mature sailor on board, at the age of 93 she is amazing and we had a great day out sailing on Nimrod. She is definitely the kind of person who never says never and I hope she has fond memories of her day with us on Nimrod. It was sad to leave them all but Sicily was calling.

Porto Chervo  and the superyachts were very impressive but a bit too ostentatious for me. We didn’t dare sit down and have a drink anywhere!! I much prefer the small towns and bays with the crystal clear waters.

The plan was to do a long crossing to Tunisia then a short hop to Pantelleria and a short hop to Sicily but it didn’t work out like that. We were in a rolly anchorage in Pantellerie and Chris wasn’t happy with the holding so at 7pm he decided we needed to move, I had the tea in the oven but agreed it could wait and we would move. It was when he said the move wasn’t just along the coast but  to Sicily and not the short hop as planned but 150 miles to get us to the South Coast owing to weather forecast for next few days that my face dropped!! It turned out for the best though and we even caught two Tuna on the way. I don’t know if I would want to go back to Tunisia after our experience of Kelibia but we have spoken to people since and they said it’s a very interesting place to visit if you go into the big Marinas. Like Chris said it seems to be a very poor country but I think they need to get their customs men and marina police sorted out or it will put boats off visiting.

We are now in Siracusa and there are more British boats here than we have seen all year, there are also Canadian, American, Dutch and Swedish, all heading to Ragusa for winter. It looks like it will be a very social winter again!! Siracusa is a beautiful town and if they had a safe marina it would be a good place to winter. The daily fish and vegetable market is amazing and really good value, 2kg peaches for 1 euro and 6 limes 50 cents. The big supermarkets are all within walking distance as well and a good laundry where they do a big load of washing for 3 euros, who needs yellow buckets!! The only downside is the water is not very nice for swimming as lots of boats in and out so my laps have had to go on hold for now!! We will head into Ragusa Marina on Monday 1st October to register and have a major clean up on the boat before we head back to Siracusa to meet our friends Jean and John middle of October for two more weeks sailing. Then it will be Marina life until next year. Apart from Chris having to sail me across to Malta in November to catch my flight home.

Travels Around Sardinia and Corsica

We are sitting Port De Rondinara on the SE corner of Corsica and it has been raining just about non-stop for the last 12hrs with thunder and lightning crashing all around us – however this is about the first really bad day we have had all summer so we shouldn’t complain too much.  It also means we have a good chance to tell you all what we have been up to for the last month, we didn’t realise it was quite so long since our last blog post!!!

We finally managed to leave Porto Conte after Caroline and Kathryn’s visit and nearly three weeks of doing very little around the bay.  We sailed and motored North up the West side of Sardinia in light winds and calm seas and picked our way through the Fornelli Passage between Isola Asinara and Isola Piana on the NW tip, a shallow rock strewn area with a fairly narrow passage of only around 3m deep. Fortunately the conditions were calm and the transit beacons on the shore were easy to pick out and follow through the channel.  We rounded Isla Piana and anchored in beautiful, clear turquoise waters in the Pelosa Passage, a good sandy bottom in only 2 – 4m of water. It was very busy when we got there in late afternoon but around 6pm the wind picked up and the clouds rolled across and everybody seemed to go home, the anchorage emptied from about 50 boats to less than 10 in about 30 mins.

Strange Rock Formations, Sardinia	Turquoise Waters, Near Asinara

We had a relaxing couple of days before heading the huge distance of 2nm around to Stintino to do some shopping. We anchored outside the harbour in good shelter in about 3m with yet another sandy sea bed to bury the anchor in before we took the dinghy into the jam packed harbour to find the shops. Just a small supermarket and a couple of fruit and veg shops but enough for basic supplies to keep us going.

Next was a downwind spinnaker run from Stintino to Capo Testa at the very North of Sardinia, however we did not have quite enough wind to make the 30nm before dark so we resorted to a bit of motorsailing with the spinnaker to get us into the anchorage at Baia Reparata about 7pm.  Another well sheltered bay with good holding as long as you picked a nice sandy spot amongst the weed, fairly busy with around a dozen boats but still plenty of room.

Spinnaker Sailing to Capo Testa	Reparata Anchorage, Capo Testa, Sardinia

Next stop was to be Santa Teresa just a few miles East and we anchored under the cliffs at the entrance to the inlet but it was pretty uncomfortable with swell from passing ferries and RIB’s so after a brief lunch stop we headed a few more miles to the long inlet of Porto Pozzo.  Th bottom is muddy and weedy and shallow at the head of the inlet and we managed to get our anchor well set on the second attempt, however another UK boat tried at least 5 times to set their CQR before giving up and picking up a mooring.  It looked like a nice place to anchor until around 5pm when it turned into the M25 on a Friday as all the Italian RIB’s and dayboats returned to their marina berths at full speed, there must have been over a hundred in the space of an hour or so rocking us to and fro in their wakes.  Fortunately by 7pm calm was restored and tranquillity returned for the night until they all headed out again the next morning!!!

Calm Morning in Porto Pozzo	Lone Visitor in Porto Pozzo

Next day we had a surprise email from Jenny and Tito who live on the shore overlooking the anchorage, their boat was moored close to us and they had passed us while out for an evening sail, then Jenny had found our blog to email us an invite ashore. We stayed a few days in Porto Pozzo and Jenny and Tito took us to shops, supermarket and farmer’s market which was greatly appreciated, especially as they had been there for many years so knew all the places to go.

Lagoon at End of Porto Pozzo Inlet	Jenny and Tito in Bonifacio

We took Jenny and Tito with us to Bonifacio for their first experience of sailing on a catamaran in almost perfect conditions with 10knts of wind on the beam for most of the trip across the notorious Bonifacio Straits. The approach and entrance to Bonifacio is really stunning but it is absolutely hectic with boats seemingly coming and going at will, especially the local trip boats. We tied up in Calanque de la Catena using the lazy lines tied to the rocks on each side. We took the dinghy into the main harbour to do a bit of sightseeing and shopping as well as letting Jenny and Tito catch the ferry back to Santa Teresa.  There are some huge mega yachts in the harbour, the one behind us in the picture is 200ft long with 3 decks!!!

Just Admiring Our Next Boat!!!	Tizzano, SW Corsica

After the madness of Bonifacio harbour we escaped to Cala de Pragnano just over a mile West and much calmer especially after most boats headed home.  For the next week or so we headed slowly up the West coast as far as Propriano stopping in some lovely anchorages and passing many more as we sailed up the coast in the afternoon sea breezes.  This side of the Island is generally undeveloped outside the towns and villages with many places where you could have the beach and anchorage almost to yourself even in the madness of August.  We also saw many more catamarans than we have so far and one afternoon we had 8 other cats in sight out of 10 sailing boats we could see. Although there were lots of boats around we didn’t see very many UK flagged boats at all – no idea where all our fellow liveaboard cruisers are but they are not around Corsica in August.

From Propriano we turned back South to go and explore some of the East coast of Corsica, after a few hops down to Paragnano again we headed through the Bonifacio Straits and between the Islands on the SE corner. This time the Straits were a bit more boisterous as we tacked our way East in 20 – 25knts of wind before turning North for a great beam reach all the way up to San Ciprianu.  Yet another great anchorage where we sneaked into the SW corner to anchor in just over 2m of water with a clean sandy bottom.  We settled in for a couple of days after being joined by Erica and Francis on Awake and the wind picked up to 25 – 30knts for a day but we were nicely sheltered with our anchor well buried in the sand.

San Ciprianu Anchorage, SE Corsica	Perfect Shelter in Rondinara, SE Corsica

We ventured a bit further North to Pinarellu for a couple of days and then turned round to head South again, popping into Porto Vecchio for supplies and then landing in Port de Rondinara where we have tucked ourselves right in to the N corner to sit out the wind, rain and thunderstorms that are forecast for today (Tues).  At least the torrential rain means we have been able to top up the water tanks from our bimini roof water collection system, we have collected about 500 ltrs this morning so tanks, drums and buckets are all full to overflowing.

Morning Rainbow, Rondinara	And Gorgeous Sunset

Bonjour Sue ici

Well you will be pleased to know Dodgy dog is back sailing with us again with Francis and Erica on Awake. He hasn’t calmed down at all and is still completely mad with frequent fall ins from the dinghy!! He does make us all laugh though.

I’ve decided to now call my shopping list my wish list as I duly make it out ever hopeful and return with about half what’s on it if I’m lucky. We did however find a very large Supermarket in Porto Vecchio so we went with Francis and Erica in one dinghy to stock up. Erica and me were like two kids let loose in the sweety shop!! Forgetting we had only one dinghy between us we shopped abundantly with the men trailing in our wake. We all had to sit on the tubes of the dinghy going back to the boats with our feet dangling in the water to make room for all the shopping but it was worth it!!

It was so nice of Jenny and Tito to make contact with us as we got to see and sample some of the local foods and wine and see some of the surrounding countryside. We are aiming to catch up with them again when we cross back to Sardinia and hopefully purchase some of the local wine and cheeses.

Approaching Bonifacio was stunning, it looks like the white cliffs of Dover, with many buildings appearing to hang over the rocks. Unfortunately because it was so busy we only saw the Marina and the local Spar shop so aim to call there again on our way back to Sardinia to do some sightseeing.

Approach to Bonifacio	Bonifacio Houses on Edge of Cliffs

As Chris said we have seen very few British boats and the ones we have seen have been very large with paid crew on board. The anchorages have been beautiful with clear turquoise waters and although I’m not a very good swimmer have now built up to doing ten laps of our boat each morning. I don’t like straying too far from the boat in busy anchorages as you get the ribs and jet skis zooming in and out of the boats.

The thunderstorm started about midnight (Monday) and is still hovering around us now at 2 pm (Tuesday). It’s no good for the figure though as I have been baking to pass the time, Malteser biscuits and Nutty Meringue Pie. Sunny weather due to return tomorrow. I am also booking appointments for when I return home in November for two weeks, Hairdresser being the number one appointment!! I am really looking forward to seeing my granddaughter who starts school tomorrow, can’t believe how quick time passes.