Sunday, June 14, 2015

From Bastia via Cap Corse and Nice to Liguria



My new crew arrived June 6th in Bastia by ferry from Nice: Steffi, Vicky, David and and my son Matthias. After a good menu at Table du marche next day we bunkered some food and drinks and sailed north to Tamarone bay to refresh and enjoy the beach.







Late afternoon of June 8th we rounded Cap Corse and set course to Nice
in favourable southwesterly winds. During the night the wind decreased and after a small thunderstorm finally turned to a strong northeasterly breeze. With nice speed up to 8.5 knots we sailed into the bay of Villefrance, where we anchored near Espalmador.

Next morning we sailed into Nice Port Lympia, where we got a mooring place from the nice harbor office. We explored the city and had dinner at Le Romarin and an extraordinary gelato at Fenocchio.






June 11th we tacked along Monaco to SanRemo in nice winds. Next day we had to negotiate some thunderstorms and a very strong northeasterly wind with very high seas but finally reached our final destination: Porto Maurizio in the remarkable town of Imperia. We celebrated our cruise with a 5 course dinner at Olio Grosso and went home via Nice.  Sea of Joy will stay in Porto Maurizio until July 7th.










We sailed 35h and logged 180sm in 6 days.

You may download our track in gpx-format
or view it directly on GoogleMaps

Saturday, June 6, 2015

From Alghero along the westcoast of Corsica to Cap Corse



This blog starts the series of 2015 cruises

In April Sea of Joy got a new Maxprop propeller and new antifouling paint at Nautica Pinna in Bosa, which we can absolutely recommend.


















24th of May I left Alghero with my sailing companion Kurt northwards, passing Capo Caccia, Capo Argentiera with high seas and finally through the famous Fornelli passage, where we anchored in cristal clear turquoise waters.

After a good swim we continued north along Bonifacio strait and anchored south of the Aragonese tower in Figari bay southwest of Corsica. Next morning strong southwesterly winds and high waves forced us to raise anchor and continue north with reefed sails to Propriano, where we had dinner in a rather odd senile restaurant named Le Cabanon.






On May 27th we continued north with less wind to Ajaccio, where we moored for to nights in Charles Ornano Marina. We had an excellent dinner at Da Mama and discovered the sights of Ajaccio.





Two days later we anchored in Gradele bay vis a vis the rocks of Calanques de Piana. May 30th we took a mooring bouy in beautiful Girolata bay and had a good fish dinner at Le Bon Espoir.




Next day we sailed with favourable strong southerly winds into Calvi harbor and had a delicious dinner at Aux Bons Amis. With less wind we motored to Saint Florent, refuelled our diesel tanks, and went south of the fort to the terrace of La Marinuccia celebrating the sunset with an exquisite dinner.



June, 2nd we continued farther north alongside Canari to a beautiful anchor place outside the fishing harbor of Centuri where we of course had a splendid fish menu at Le Vieux Moulin. Next day we rounded Cap Corse in benign seas and set anchor in beautiful Tamarone bay, where we enjoyed the turquoise waters and sandy beach for two more days.




On June, 5th we were happy to get a mooring place in Bastia Vieux Port for the next crew change and enjoyed a nice Vietnamese dinner at Le Saigon. Kurt left next day via Calvi to Vienna and my next crew arrived.

We logged 316sm and sailed 62h in 12 days

You may download our track in gpx-format
or view it directly on GoogleMaps.