Central Mediterranean – CORSICA AND SARDINIA
We had planed our next leg to start in the north of Corsica and headed off from Menorca for a two night passage. During our first night we encountered pretty boisterous sea conditions which had not been forecast so instead headed for Sardinia, an Italian island. Here we dropped our anchor for a few days to let things settle. We intended to explore Corsica, a French island before spending time in Sardinia and did not want to initiate the Italian check in process just yet. Entry and movement in Italian ports is somewhat more cumbersome and we hoped to enter only once.
Corsica was magical and June was the perfect time to explore. We circumnavigated the island and saw so many beautiful places while enjoying French food, wine and customs.
Some of the ports we visited included Bastia and Bonifacio. We felt so fortunate to enter the Old Port of Bastia which dates back to the 1300’s and secure Echo to the wall while imagining the boats who may have berthed there over the centuries. The Port of Bonifacio also dates back centuries and is a very well protected and popular location surrounded by dramatic cliffs with an ancient citadel at the top. Entry to Bonifacio is narrow, and busy! We were so fortunate to get a booking there and enjoyed every minute of our stay.
We did rent a car for a while and explored some of the island. It was some of the most white knuckle driving we’ve ever done; no guard rails, two way traffic and shear drops with incredible scenery.
Time to raise the flag of Sardinia once cleared in to Italian water
On to Sardinia and our official entry to Italy. We had booked into a marina for a month inAlghero and promptly visited the local coast guard office to obtain our “Constituto d’Arrivo”.
Sarah, Kristi, Fia and Nellie soon arrived and we all explored Alghero together.
It is pretty special to have your 3 year and 4 month old granddaughters visit no matter where you are and we were thrilled! We didn’t do much sailing with them aboard but did have a few nights at anchor and some beach time. This was early July and it was beginning to get very warm.
Fortunately we all had a trip it Ireland planned which was a nice break from the heat. We flew to Dublin with the girls and eventually met up with and Brian and Katie near Dingle where much of our Irish family lives. Mary’s sisters, Cathy and Pattie along with their husbands, Joe and Eddie were visiting too. Also our niece Lisa and her son Kilian. It was a great reunion with all of them and our Irish family. Very special to have our kids and grandkids with us in Ireland. Brian and Sarah had visited several times when they were younger, the first time for Katie, Kristi and the girls.
Jeff and I returned to Echo in Sardinia to continue our travels where it had grown hotter and more crowded. We departed Alghero to see more of Sardinia and enjoyed our explorations along the northwest coast of the island.
Bill,Mary, Mary and Jeff
Our friends, Bill and Mary Ryan were in Romania with their daughter, son-in-law and new granddaughter. They reached out and were able to come visit us for a few days. We enjoyed their visit so much and were able to get out to a few anchorages to give them a glimpse into our life on the water.
Quick stop in Elba
We took a quick trip to Elba and met up with Len and his wife Catherine. We had sailed in Scotland with Len on the Discovery Bluewater 50 hull number 4 while our boat was in build. We did a bit more exploring around Elba but were never able to get on the island by dinghy. This was a challenge we experienced in all Italian anchorages. The beaches were blocked off with swim buoys with no channel left for bringing a dinghy ashore. As a result, we were not able to go in for dinner or shopping.
It was an action packed season to this point but there’s more to come once we finally arrive to mainland Italy. We’ll cover that in the next post.
THANKS FOR TRAVELLING WITH US!
1 Response to Meandering The Med – Part 2