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