Elba Island

View from our anchorage Gulf de Pinarellu, Corsica

Its strange how we are always ready to leave a place despite having enjoyed it hugely.  Today is no different as we sail away from the La Maddalena Islands towards Corsica, with the island of Elba firmly in our sights, the anticipation of discovering a new place, seeing new things and hopefully having safe and enjoyable sailing.  It is such a good thing that we do not know in advance what the future will bring.  In this case both good and bad is lying in wait for us in big doses.  Some of the bad will stay with us for quite a while...

We have been having trouble with our genoa furler occasionally jamming, mostly when we desperately need to get it in quickly.  We bring the sail down on the deck and closely inspect the parts.  It appears that the top of the halyard is very twisted and hardened from spending its life at the top of the mast, so we immerse it in a bucket of fresh water and leave it for 24 hours.  This appears to soften it quite a lot and we are able to get the twist out of it.  The other issue is the halyard guide which is supposed to stop it from jamming.  This has some decent grooves worn in it from constant use, so that is put on the list for replacement when we can.  Richard sprays it with lubricant and we rehoist the sail.   This appears to sort out the problem of jamming for now.

Tuscan morning

After over-nighting on Corsica in Gulf de Pinarellu the passage to Elba is wind on and off, but mostly off.  At one point though we do have 30 knots, for around half an hour, accompanied by some rain.  We motor all but 2.5 hours of the 13 hour passage, sailing the last half hour into an anchorage in the south of Elba Island - Golfo Della Lacona.

So here begins our Elba Island experience.  We are definitely in Tuscany.  Gone are the dry rocky wind-tortured hills and foliage of Corsica and the Madalena Islands.  The shore appears to be positively verdant, the green foliage accented along the shore with bright blue beach umbrellas, the water crystal clear and inviting.  It is just a bit rolly for comfort and a struggle to prepare a meal on board with the galley dancing around all over the place.  Some people are never satisfied!

Happy campers adorn the forest nearby

Wishing to find a more settled anchorage, we sail on around the island to the lovely sheltered anchorage of Porto Azzuro and explore the small township.  It is to be a brief stop though because we connect on email to some friends from Marina di Ragusa who are anchored at Porto de Campo on the southern side.  The breeze is just right to sail off the anchor and out of the harbour, scaring the crew on a large two masted vessel on the way as they think we are going to t-bone their boat, but of course we tack away in plenty of time. (...inches to spare! Besides, they are bigger than us!)


We are around in Campo fairly quickly to Mike's surprise on SY Rio Luna "Gosh you were quick!".  He knows how to get on well with Richard!

It is a lovely anchorage, if a little crowded, but we enjoy ourselves very much having a nice relaxed time for a couple of days.

Michael is very scathing about the state of Pippy's basil plant, and Justin gets a good breeze to try out the wind surfer.  Water starts are on the agenda for a while...Capn Buck gives a few pointers to Justin on how to do the water starts but it takes a bit of practice.

Fancy pedallos in this part of the world.

We get together and swap stories of our cruising to date.  Rio Luna have already been further north, into the Arno River in fact, and it is from this encounter that we get the idea we would like to go there too.  It is close to Pisa and to Florence.  Sounds like we have a plan forming.  Soon it is time to say farewell as Rio Luna head on south.  They are planning to be back in Marina di Ragusa before the end of September. 

The bald head just popped in as Richard clicked!

Matelot is pretty happy at anchor here at Campo, but parts further north beckon us and also we have not yet seen the island.

So back to Porto Azzuro we go, leave the boat on anchor where we are sure she will be quite safe, then catch a local bus around the island to visit the tourist attractions.

Top of the list is the country residence of Napolean Bonaparte.  Pretty impressive and set in lovely gardens.


We are lucky and it is market day in Ferraio so we are able to stock up on some market fresh produce while we wait for the bus.



The lighthouse at Portoferraio provides us with an opportunity to look at the view further north.

Then its on to Cavo on the North Eastern corner of Elba Island to check out the anchorage and the very grand looking residences lining the shore.

The bus takes us all over the island and we arrive back on board Matelot tired but happy that we have had a lovely day out.


But already we are keen to move onwards.  The Arno River, Pisa and Florence are beckoning to us.  So is fate....  We plan our passage for the next day.