Another fantastic day in paradise. Waking up in this beautiful place is full of joyful happiness. Everything is so easy. Even a simple trip to the ablutions ended up in meeting Massillon by chance, having a coffee and when I mentioned that we my go to CarloForte tomorrow, he offers to drive us there in exchange for some sailing tuition of course.

After washing Arcturus, we made our way into town and showed Paul the site, eventually strolling into one of the restaurants recommended by Marta.

After 10 individual courses which included octopus, cuttle fish, mussels, cheeses, hams, meats, Vongole, smails, sorbets, wines, deserts wines and coffee, we were ready for a gentle stroll back to Arctura for a siesta. All this for €30 per head.

Here are just some on the photos of our day.

Well quite a sleepless night. Lots of swell and anchor alarms going off. Although we didn’t drag Arctura moved enough to set off the ancho alarm and there was quite a swell which resulted in interrupted sleep. I went on deck to check that everything was ok and in time to see Venus and the sun rising in the east.

A beautiful anchorage if not a little bit rolley. 

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After a light breakfast we weighed anchor and set sail for Giglio Porto.

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Fair wind got us to Giglio by 1900 and we were greeted by awesome views and a warn welcome from our German neighbor with their two adorable children.

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A leisurely start to the day. Usual chores of washing, preparing Arctura for sailing and a brisk walk into town to get some supPlies and a replacement gas bottle, which we managed to get from the Supermarkado.

We slipped lines and put the main up whilst still in the shelter of the harbour and then sailed north eastward along the coast and then south and then west towards our yet to be chosen anchorage. Quite a swell at the moment and the wind has died down to practically nothing.

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Arrived at Golfo Della Lacona and anchored up in 3.3 mtrs and deployed 18 mtrs of chain. Below you can see the hardship we have to put up with.

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After many a days sailing its time to unwind on shore. First things first though and a quick visit to the marina office to book another couple of nights as there is an iminant storm brewing. Then off for a coffee and onto the tourist spots. A visit to Napolean’s house and a trip along the old town walls  and then onto a theatre commissioned by Napaolean as his house was to small to accommodate one. Here are a couple of actors we bumped into rehearsing for their evening performance

After the show was over we visited a fantastic restaurant called the TEATRO run by a lovely English lady called Fiona and her husband Antonio. A scrumptious meal of seafood carpaccio and wild boar pasta, completed by a panna cotta dessert and coffee.

Here are just some of the photos from this most beautiful of towns. I wont write an explanation as a picture tells a thousand words.

We left with sadness but with new expectations and yet another world to visit.

We slipped line at 1245 and Paul gentle ease Arctura out of her berth and into the quite marina basin. Sails went up immediately and we had a cracking sail almost all the way to Elba. About 5 miles off the coast of Elba the wind died down, then picked up, then died down again and so we decided to engine into Portoferraio, Napoleans home in excite for a while.

We had to wait for our berth allocation and were then shown our new home, which we slipped into with perfect precision, crew working like a well oil machine.

The videos tell more of our story of arrival.

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We left Calvi at 0500 as planned and set our mail sail in the harbour. We motored out in the darkness and saw Venus rising in the east and left Calvi in it’s romantic glow of subtle lights behind us. A fond farewell to a wonderful town.

Soon the darkness progressively turned to light and the sun rose illuminating our world.

After motoring towards the north cardinal mark we turned off the iron maiden and sailed to the sound of the wind and waves and set course to the northern tip of Corsica. Almost reaching the northern coast  of Corsica  the wind subsided to nothing and we had to motor the rest of the way to the Isola Capraia. We popped our head into Capraia marina, but decided to look at an anchorage further south, which proved to be nothing spectacular and certainly wasn’t sheltered from the predicted upcoming winds.

Back to the marina for a jolly welcome by the harbour master and into our berth for the night.

After aboluting, we went to the most amazing fish restaurant and fantastic food of sea food marinated in lemon and a fish called Sarago, amazing.!!!!!!

Today was a day of rest. Just a couple of jobs on Arctura, then washing clothes and off for lunch. Lovely locally caught seafood and steamed to perfection.

After lunch a stroll to the old town and battlements. Again the photos say it all.

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During the early hours of the 1st of May the weather changed. We received a Navtex update of severe winds in the area and especially the top of Corsica, which we were due to pass through. Decision made we changed course to Calvi and four hours later and through rough seas we arrived. Just in time as it happens as literally 10 minutes after mooring up the wind increased further and it would have been a major isssue mooring.

The entry to Calvi was beautiful and spectacular  and the photos and videos below say it all.

After attending to Arctura we all went out for a well deserved lunch. One of the best hamburgers I’ve had, topped with Foie Gras.
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