8000 years of mystery and history

Anchored off Taravo beach, Porto Pollo

We sailed south down to the Gulf of Valinco and dropped anchor off Taravo beach, a long swathe of white sand, just around the headland from the village of Porto Pollo. It was a short dinghy ride to the beach and a stroll through an olive grove to town so a lovely convenient spot to base ourselves for a few days. 

   

Taravo anchorage

Getting some shade under a 2000 year old olive tree, Filitosa

We wanted to visit the extraordinary megalithic site

Filitosa

 of Filitosa so went ashore in search of some wheels. We were in luck, though unfortunately the wheels were of the pedal variety rather than motorised. Neither of us had been on a bike for about ten years so it was with some trepidation we set off on our big adventure inland armed with a map and all sorts of ambitious itineraries suggested by our helpful bike hire proprietor. It was a pleasant 45 minute ride up the fertile Taravo river valley but we were very happy to arrive at Filitosa and get our breath back. We spent a magical couple of hours wandering around

Filitosa

this very atmospheric site where Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures left their sculpted megaliths and constructions peculiar to the island of Corsica. Filitosa comprises a magnificent array of prehistoric statue menhirs (Fr: long stones) with the hard granite carved into human forms for reasons that are not entirely known. The site was originally occupied 8000 years ago (3000 years before the first pyramids were built) and the carvings created about 4000 years ago. Refreshed after a drink and our picnic lunch we got back on our bikes and made the dubious decision to continue north on a scenic circuit suggested by our trusted bike hire shop. Big mistake. 35 km later we could hardly walk and had very sore bottoms.

Filitosa

      

                                                             Spot the faces!
 

Baie de Cupabia

Our beach bar paillote

With an easterly wind forecast we decided to pop round the corner to the wonderful Baie de Cupabia. Having just been sent some very envy making photos from a fellow sailor who had just arrived in Fiji (having wintered in Tunisia with us the previous year!) we were happy to find our very own turquoise paradise for a couple of days. We enjoyed a lovely coastal walk as well as a well earned midday drink at the beach paillote. Despite a lack of wind we were suddenly woken at dawn with a huge rock and rolly westerly swell. We had no choice but to up anchor and move round to the shelter of Campomoro. We treated ourselves to a delicious lunch of Moule-frites ashore and dozed in the cockpit in the afternoon. With strong northerly winds forecast it was time to move yet again and we made our way back across the gulf to Taravo beach. We enjoyed a fabulous walk along the windswept sands and watched the waves crashing ashore.

        

                                                          Baie de Cupabia

Early morning back at Taravo beach

Our time in Corsica was coming to an end. Some serious weather systems were drawing in and we decided it would be a good idea to cross the Bonifacio Straits sooner rather than later. We moved south aided by some strong westerly winds and found shelter in Anse de Roccapina. Sadly there was no time to hang around and enjoy this delightful spot. With even stronger winds forecast we upped anchor the following morning and had a cracking sail across the Straits to Sardinian waters.

Taravo beach

The hills are alive...

Baie de Crovani

Gulf of Pero

With the forecast looking good we left Calvi and turned left down the rugged west coast of Corsica. We dropped anchor in the wild and deserted Baie de Crovani, a gentle ten mile sail away. The following morning we continued on down the spectacular coastline passing red granite cliffs that appear to dive down into the crystal clear waters. We carried on past the gulfs of Girolato and Porto as we had stopped there last year and went in search of pastures new. Our first and second choice bays didn't come up to scratch but third time lucky. We found a delightful spot tucked in on the northern side of the Gulf of Pero and stayed put for a few days. There are coastal paths everywhere in Corsica and we dinghied ashore and enjoyed a lovely walk to the restored 17th century Genoese tower perched on the end of the headland.

Genoese tower

Gulfs of Pero and Sagone

Corte citadel from the lower town

Corte from the upper town

Having had our fill of chilling it was time to hit civilisation again and we sailed on down to Ajaccio managing to fit in a lunchtime stop on the way at the Iles Sanguinaires rocks. We made our way up to the northern end of Ajaccio harbour and anchored in the same, technically prohibited, place as last year. It is a very convenient spot and only a short dinghy ride ashore to town. We checked the forecast and with the promise of sun and little wind we left the boat and took the train up into the mountains to the heart of central Corsica. This year we opted for a

Place Paoli, Corte

longer ride up to Corte which briefly became the capital of Pascal Paoli's relatively short lived Corsican republic in 1755. Today it is still a nationalist stronghold and in 2005 the gendarmerie and tourist office were bombed. The setting is spectacular with the citadel perched on a craggy mountain top. It also attracts many hikers in the summer exploring the mountains and valleys and the surrounding National Park. We walked through the modern lower town passing Corsica's

Place Gaffory, Corte

 only University, originally founded by Pascal Paoli, and up some steep steps into the old town. We stopped for a coffee in Place Paoli in front of yet another statue of the "Father of the Nation". The town was buzzing with tourists and hikers. We followed the narrow cobbled streets up the hill through the centre of the upper town to the citadel, originally built in 1419. We then settled down to a delicious traditional lunch of roast pork stuffed with spicy sausage washed down with a carafe of the local wine. We had time for one last coffee in Place Paoli before catching our train back to Ajaccio.

Place Paoli

                                                              Corte shops
                                                             

Corte citadel

Fire fighting plane coming down for a drink

Back on the boat the weather deteriorated and we sat out a few wet and windy days along with a swarm of ferocious mosquitoes. We replaced some broken sail slides at the large chandlery in town, caught up with the laundry and did lots of shopping. We were happy to leave as soon as the weather cleared as we were covered head to toe in bites. We weighed anchor and popped into the marina to top up with diesel, water and gaz before continuing our journey south. 

                                                 Railway art, Ajaccio train station

Old routes, new places

Macinaggio

Maccinaggio anchorage at dawn

The east coast of Corsica above Porto Vecchio is relatively straight and not a great cruising ground so we decided to head directly up to Macinaggio, north of Bastia, in one long night passage. It appeared to be quite a popular plan as we passed a few yachts coming up and down the coast that night. We dropped anchor outside Macinaggio harbour late the following morning and dinghied ashore for a look round the old fishing village which has now turned to tourism for its income. We found a delightful little restaurant and treated ourselves to a delicious traditional Corsican lunch. With a good forecast we continued on our way at dawn the following morning around the notorious Cap Corse and on down to Saint Florent where we were due to meet our friends, Rob and Julie, in a couple of days.

Leaving Macinaggio

Saint Florent

French Foreign Legion in action

We had a fun week with them dodging the odd thunderstorm (or not), finding some new wild anchorages and even a hidden paillotte (beach restaurant/bar) which was closed due to the bad weather. Needless to say we soon persuaded them to produce a round of beers. We sailed on to Calvi and anchored off the pine fronted beach. We survived the long, bouncy dinghy ride ashore and had a wander round the impressive citadel before settling down to a lovely leisurely lunch. We stocked up with food and wine at the large supermarket and made our way back to the boat where we had fun watching the French Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment drop from the skies.

Calvi citadel

Lush

As usual the fishing lures were hard at work as we made our way back east again but still nothing biting. We found a lovely quiet anchorage for the night with only a couple of other yachts for company until much to our consternation we were joined by the very military looking 71 mt megayacht "Skat". This turned out to be owned by the philanthropic billionaire who developed Microsoft Office. Corsica is a bit of a magnet for super yachts and we also spotted the extraordinary looking 119 mt "A", designed by Philippe Starck and owned by a Russian oligarch, one of the largest private motor yachts in the world

Flying dinghy!

. In contrast we also came across the more modest yacht, "Lush", owned by Formula One's Eddie Jordan, as well as a very strange looking flying inflatable dinghy!

Skat

A

Ile Rousse

Bust of Pascal Paoli

It was soon time to return to Saint Florent and say our goodbyes to Rob and Julie. We stayed on for a few days catching up with chores like laundry, fixing yet another engine water leak (thankfully only a minor one this time) and filling the tanks with fresh water. Ship shape again we were ready for off and headed west in search of an Orange telephone shop to top up our data sim which had inconveniently expired. We dropped anchor off Ile Rousse and dinghied ashore. We spent a small fortune on a miserly 5gb which would hopefully see us through our time in Corsica if we were careful. Ile Rousse is a pleasant enough seaside town originally founded in 1758 by the nationalist leader Pascal Paoli. His bust stands proud in the large central square, Place Paoli. We stopped there for a while in the shade of hundred year old plane trees and watched the men play pétanque.

Playing pétanque

Calvi citadel from the boardwalk

Horses cooling off in the sea, Calvi

The next day we motored round to Calvi where we were going to have to sit out some strong winds for a few days before we could continue our journey on down the west coast. During this time our relatively new outboard motor decided to play up. It was beyond our capabilities and we needed to find professional help. We were anchored a mile away from the harbour so rowing in strong winds was out of the question. Instead we rowed the dinghy the short distance to the beach and followed the footpath through the pine trees to town. Miraculously we found a man with a van in the harbour who turned out to be a mechanic. He told us to bring the boat to the quay that afternoon and he'd take a look. We left the outboard motor with him and returned to the anchorage wondering if we'd ever see it again. A couple of days later he phoned with the good news that all was fixed. Dodgy Tunisian petrol had blocked everything there was to block in the carburetor. Needless to say we promptly got rid of all our African petrol and filled our cans with the French variety instead. At last we were ready to set sail again.

Leaving Calvi

One Moor for the road

San Ciprianu

Genoese Tower

We had such a fast passage across to Corsica that we had to reduce sail to slow ourselves down and avoid arriving in the dark. We dropped anchor at dawn in the crystal clear waters of San Ciprianu bay just north of Porto Vecchio and stayed put for a few days. Having had a taster of Corsica last year we decided to return but this time spend a bit longer exploring this lovely island and its delightful anchorages. San Ciprianu is a stunning bay surrounded by sandy beaches but it is large and therefore crowded and noisy. We'd soon had enough of the jet bikes and water skiers zipping by and moved north to Anse de Cola, a much smaller bay which we shared with only a couple of other yachts and a beach of nudists! We ventured off the boat (fully dressed) to climb up to the Genoese tower perched on the next promontory which afforded stunning views back down to the boat as well as over to the bay of Pinarellu and another swathe of sand. Eventually we had to tear ourselves away from these idyllic anchorages and go in search of provisions, internet and most importantly, a Corsican flag.

Anse de Cola

Golfe de Pinarellu

Corsican flag

Corsica has had a turbulent past and has been the subject of many invasions. Pascal Paoli, Corsica's revolutionary leader between 1755 and 1769, established the Moor's head with white bandana as Corsica's official emblem. It is seen everywhere - on beer bottles, shops, official buildings and on the traditional flag. 1769 marked the end of Corsican independence and apart from a brief two year period under British rule it has remained part of the French republic to the present day. We therefore hoisted two courtesy flags with the Corsican Moor taking pride of place above the French flag.

Porto Novo

Porto Novo

Spot the bird!

We anchored next to Porto Vecchio marina and dinghied ashore. We managed to re-activate our last years data sim and filled our shopping trolley to the brim. Stocked up again we ventured south and found a couple of lovely wild anchorages in Porto Novo. Both were deserted with no bodies on the beach and not a building in sight. We explored the etang (lagoon) lying behind the large beach and put our bird watching skills to the test as we disturbed the abundant wild life in the reeds.

Porto Novo

Porto Novo

Porto Vecchio from a very windy anchorage

Our time in this lovely spot came to an end with a strong westerly wind forecast. Although there are plenty of safe sandy anchorages in this area we decided to head back to the glutinous mud and good shelter afforded by Porto Vecchio harbour. The strong Mistral blew for a few days and the anchorage was quite full the night the huge storm was due to pass over. We were alert for any yachts trying to anchor close to us and needless to say at dusk a French catamaran anchored right in front of us. We gesticulated to him in no uncertain terms that he had to move away from us which thankfully he did. We spent much of that night on deck keeping an eye as the wind strength crawled towards 50 knots. Suddenly we were aware of frantic shouting and torch lights waving around. The catamaran we had told to move away had dragged his anchor and had careered into a large Polish yacht lying not far from us. It did not stop there and was now heading towards the shore. The police and lifeboat came to the rescue and the catamaran was towed to safety and tied to a mid channel mooring. Thankfully we survived the night with no mishaps and by morning the wind abated. It was time to move on. We had friends arriving in a few days and we still had to get round the northern finger, Cap Corse, to meet them in St Florent on the north coast.

Porto Vecchio from a flat calm anchorage

Sunset over Porto Vecchio harbour