Viva la Francais! Here was an opportunity to get a sneak preview of France, just a few miles from our location in northern Sardinia. Unfortunately, the 'Bouche de Bonifacio', the straits of Bonifacio lay between us and Corsica. These straits funnel the prevailing westerlies between the two mountainous islands, and often double the windspeed. In addition, there are lots of reefs and rock outcroppings, so the crossing is rightly feared, attested by the large number of sunken vessels in the vicinity. We waited for a weather window and had a calm crossing.
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| A Sardinian Hobbit community |
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| Our last Sardinian anchorage |
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| The Bonafacio Straits, unseasonably calm |
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| Islands and reefs in the Straits |
It was off our route, but we'd heard that Port Bonafacio was something not to be missed, so we diverted for a drive-by. The port is located in a narrow gorge in the bluff limestone cliffs of southern Corsica. It was indeed spectacular.
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| The cliffs of Bonafacio |
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| The port entrance is a small slit in the cliffs |
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| We followed the ferry in ... |
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... turned the corner and there is the port!
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| Town falling down the cliffs |
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| Bonifacio yacht harbour |
Our bank manager wouldn't authorise a loan big enough to cover the docking fees for a night in Bonafacio, so after a swift sortie up the harbour, we turned tail and headed back out again, to head for Porto Vecchio.
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| Looking to seaward from the harbour |
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| The limestone cliffs of Bonifacio |
There was a mistral wind forecast (that's a wind from the NW, usually quite strong, around 30 knots), so we spent some time trying to find a secure anchorage in Porto Vecchio. That achieved, we tendered ashore to explore the old town above Porto Vecchio.
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| Walled town above Porto Vecchio |
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| Church tower |
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Stone architecture
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| View from the old town. |
From Porto Vecchio, we had to transit up the east coast of Corsica. There are few anchorages on this coast, and the marina's charge exorbitant fees, so we had to spend a few rolly nights anchoring off beaches as we made our way up the coast. Luckily we had settled weather and had no issues, but we certainly rocked our world for a few nights.
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| Anchoring off the beach at Solenzara |
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| Umbrella, Pavlov and Megan |
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| Spit goes to the beach |
Our last port of call in Corsica was the delightful town of Bastia. We actually splurged on a marina here, as we were getting low on water and needed to do the laundry. Bastia was an interesting warren of a town and we enjoyed wandering around and exploring this French outpost.
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| Port entrance in Bastia |
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| Town looms above the port |
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| Pavlov on the quay in Bastia |
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| Another church |
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| French cafes |
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| Photogenic port |
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| Moonrise over the port entrance |
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| Town and port |
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| Moon and Megan |
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| Old town above the port |
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| another obligatory |
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| Mr Dribbles |
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| Just for the composition |
So that was Corsica for us. It was a quite wild island, sparsely inhabited, but if we had our time again, I would cruise the west coast, just watching the weather. The east coast is not particularly distinguished between Bonifacio and Bastia. However, those ports did make up for the other long stretches. Next, able was I ere I saw Elba!
