More of Elba

With southerly winds forecast we slowly made our way to the north of Elba. We had hoped to stop in a bay on our way round but unfortunately the residual northerly swell as well as continual ferry wash made our chosen anchorages untenable. We therefore continued on to Portoferraio and dropped the hook in the large bay opposite the harbour. We dinghied ashore south of the ferry port to an abandoned slipway which brought us rather conveniently right in front of a large Coop supermarket. 

Portoferraio anchorage

Biodola bay

Viticcio bay

Storm approaching Viticcio bay

Having stocked up we continued west the following morning and anchored in Biodola bay. A lovely sandy anchorage but you couldn't see the beach for people and sun beds. With very strong southerly winds forecast the next morning we moved north to Viticcio bay which appeared a lot more sheltered. It was a popular anchorage and we decided to stay the night. The following day the clouds increased, the sky darkened and we were suddenly in the middle of a huge lightning storm. Hail stones the size of grapes descended from above and the winds increased from all directions. A French yacht anchored close to us had obviously misjudged its swinging circle and suddenly it was trying to mount our stern. We screamed and shouted and banged our boat hook on its bow. We could not make ourselves heard above the hail and thunder. Finally the French crew appeared on deck and let out more chain. The storm passed over and an apologetic Frenchman volunteered to have a look under our boat to see if the rudder was damaged. It was marked but no damage but unfortunately his chain took a chunk out of our transom. 

Approaching Portoferraio harbour

Rob and Julie arriving - not on the yacht!

One of the many ferries we had to dodge in the dinghy

A couple of friends were coming to stay the next day so we motored back to the anchorage in Portoferraio. The next morning we moved over to the harbour to fill up with diesel and water and then dinghied ashore to wait for their ferry to arrive. The winds were still blowing from the south so we had to stay on the north of the island. We had a lovely couple of days back in Viticcio and discovered a great little beachside bar where we had sundowners. Unfortunately on the second night strong westerly winds were expected so we had to up anchor and sail back round to Portoferriao. Rob and Julie had spotted some nice little eateries in the back streets of town so we decided to have dinner ashore. Our earlier dinghy landing spot was now frequented by several youths and having had our dinghy stolen the year before we decided to make for the harbour instead. This involved a mad dash across the ferry port in choppy seas with a 3.5 hp engine and ferries constantly coming and going. We made it albeit with very wet backsides! Returning to the boat was even more of an adventure. The storms which we thought had passed over returned with a vengeance. Thunder, lightning and torrential rain enveloped us just as we were getting in the dinghy. We had no choice but to press on. Having had a lovely meal, four very drowned rats eventually clambered aboard Ride of a Lifetime. The strong westerly winds continued to blow the following day and we had a great sail round to Porto Azzurro and our last night on Elba before setting off for our passage to Rome.

Portoferraio harbour

Some of Elba

The forecasted winds didn't materialise so we ended up motorsailing most of the way from Porto Vecchio to the Tuscan island of Elba only managing to sail for the last four hours. We expected an uneventful night passage but ended up playing dodgems with ferries. One clearly didn't see us and we saw his red and green navigation lights heading straight for us until he was about a mile away when thankfully he made a drastic alteration of course.

Laconella bay

Marina di Campo

Marina di Campo

Portoferraio

Portoferraio

Portoferraio

Marina di Campo

We dropped anchor in a small bay on the southern corner of Golfo de Stella. For the next week we bay hopped west along the south coast of Elba enjoying some really hot weather with little wind and calm seas. It's a lovely green island with beautiful beaches and clear blue water. We finally arrived in Marina di Campo and anchored off the busy beach. Not sure what it is with the Italians with their regimented and colour coded sun umbrellas occupying every square inch of beach. Most of the bays are buoyed off with swimming and watersports areas and we've already been told off for anchoring within 300 mts of the shoreline. Marina di Campo is a pretty holiday town with a small fishing harbour. It proved a useful base with banks, post office and a good supermarket at hand. We took a bus across the island to Portoferraio and wandered into the picturesque historic centre. Napoleon was exiled here in 1814. We made our way up some steep steps to Villa dei Mulini, perched on the bastions between the defensive forts, his home for only nine months. Museum wise it was a bit disappointing but it was a nice house with a lovely garden affording wonderful views across the bay.

Villa dei Mulini

View from Villa dei Mulini

Portoferraio harbour

Porto Azzurro

With southerly winds forecast we moved on round to Porto Azzurro and anchored in Cala Mola. We dinghied round to the picturesque harbour and went in search of bars showing the England v Uruguay world cup match. Having missed the first one due to a violent thunderstorm and torrential rain we were determined to see the all important second game. We enjoyed the cocktails but not the match!

Porto Azzurro

Approaching Porto Azzurro

and across to Corsica

Arriving in Port de Rondinara

Tunisian textiles for sale!

With gale force winds forecast for later in the day we got up at 5.30 to make an early start across the Bonifacio Straits. We had a fast and bumpy crossing but were soon in the lee of the Lavezzi islands and we enjoyed a nice flat sail for the rest of the way to Port de Rondinara, south eastern Corsica, a stunning bay where we dropped the anchor in crystal clear water. We enjoyed swimming and snorkelling and even managed to make a start at removing the barnacles and wireworm that had attached themselves to our hull over the winter. Next stop was Porto Vecchio harbour situated at the southern end of a wonderful bay. We anchored east of the commercial harbour and dinghied over to the marina. We walked up to the old Genoese walled town on the hilltop which was frequented by the beautiful  "in crowd" enjoying the exclusive shops. It is often dubbed the Corsican St Tropez. We even spied some of the beautiful handwoven Tunisian textiles for sale at over five times the price they were in Monastir! On our way back down we found a huge supermarket just north of the marina and stocked up with some French treats.

At anchor in Port de Rondinara

Porto Vecchio haute ville from the anchorage

We planned on sailing up to Elba next but were delayed for a couple days waiting for some favourable winds. Instead we motored up to the top of the bay and spent a night at Baie de Stagnolo before returning south to the harbour. Thanks to a Brit popping over in his dinghy to say hello we discovered that in France most marinas and harbours offer a free 4 hour berth, quai d'accueil, for provisioning, taking on water etc. We checked with the marina and yes they confirmed that we could come in anytime between 10am and 3pm. The day before leaving for Elba we took advantage of the free berth, filled up with water, did some more shopping and even had a proper shower!

Porto Vecchio bay from the haute ville