Northern Sardinia, Maddalena Islands and Corsica

We now have Ann Louise on the boat with us and the weather is not co-operating.  The mistrale arrives during the night and we wake up to our first morning with her on board and howling wind.  Stuck in Palau for a couple of nights, which is a lovely town, is not what we planned.

AL amuses herself despite the mistrale!

Richard and AL take the ferry across to La Maddalena Island one day.  It is a short ride across the gap.

We try to make our escape one day but conditions are so unfriendly we turn back and grab the buoy in the harbour again.   

So it is a relief to have a lull in the wind and be able to get out to this amazing anchorage at Budelli Island and pick up a mooring buoy big enough to hold a boat 3 times our size.  There is more wind coming.  Bonifacio is just 11 NM away across the straights and we kind of get the feeling that AL is itching to get there too.  This area with its remote beauty is one of our most favourite places. 

We spend quite a few nights on this anchorage, mostly because of the mistral gale which howls around us so that we are unable to move far.   The good thing about it is the clear skies which it brings with it.  The light and colours around us are all intensified.  Fortunately the buoy is included in the fee we have paid to be able to visit this exceptional place. 

It is crowded the day we arrive, but soon we have it to ourselves with a few other boats.  We initially pick up a buoy with 'Riservato' marked clearly on it, but we don't see it until after we have tied to it.  We get thrown off by a large tour boat, but soon are able to go on to another one.  Its all in the learning curve!

Oops!

This is awful!

 We go on some truly lovely if a little short.. walks to pass the time.

Watch that ferry Capn Buck...

Now... on to Bonifacio.  Finally we get the break and off we go.  The sail across the straights is just perfect and entry into the incredibly narrow entrance to the harbour quite an experience with many other craft of all shapes and sizes coming and going at the same time.

Tying up in the small Cala off to the left inside the entrance is an interesting experience.  The lazy lines are attached to the cliff face so you have to get into the water or dinghy and go and get the line.

Fortunately we are assisted by a French boat so don't have to work it all out for ourselves.  Its worth it though as is E20 for the night rather than E75 around the corner and in the marina.  We find it easy to jump in the dinghy and motor around the corner into the small village built around the harbour.  There are plenty of red ladders which we can tie up to and leave the dinghy.

From here on Bonifacio rolls out her photo opportunities. A stunning place to visit and walk around, we make the most of our time here.  The marina empties out during the day, but its fun to sit in a bar and watch the boats arriving as the evening approaches and everyone comes in for their party time.  Some massive boats manage to squeeze their way in.


Too soon it is time to leave.

We sail on to Porto Vecchio, stopping on the way to anchor in Golfo Santa Manza, and a beautiful sandy bay just outside P Vecchio. Porto Vecchio town is lovely in many ways but it is a whistle stop tour now and we fly through it in a morning.

AL is back in her spot on the boat again as we have yet another beautiful night on board.  Port de Rondinara makes a gorgeous anchorage for our last night in Corsica.

Good thing as we have a very boisterous sail the next day back to northern Sardinia and into a safe anchorage on the mainland.  Tomorrow we will have to go into La Maddalena Marina so that we can get AL on to the Ferry.  The inclement wind is threatening from the north this time and bringing cloudy skies and rain with it.