Bonifacio Bound

The postcard town of Bonifacio was on the to do list. We had a bit of a tangle getting the boat secured to the mooring lines in the cove but got it all straightened out. Heading in to the harbourmasters office to pay we had the nice surprise to be told for us it is free and here is the WiFi password and not one, not two, but Five shower tokens! How did they know Shannon wanted two? Heaven….

 

As you can tell by the clothing summer has not yet arrived here and it was the usual brisk +25 knots out in the straights.

 

DAD do we Have to have another photo…?

Yes, our boat is in the background!

 

Note the size of the motor yacht in the marina below as we look down from the fort. So big it had to back all the way down the narrow channel and created quite a bit of interest. Amelia declared that is the sort of boat she would like. We kept seeing the owners all over town. Maybe they were following us?

 

Getting happily lost in some of the back streets away from the very expensive eateries on the waterfront. Somehow my arms couldn’t quite reach my wallet for the EUR + 20 starters they were proffering to the punters in shiny clothes.

 

Door number three. Guess they were shorter a few hundred years ago.

 

Another gratuitous shot of our boat, this one looking out towards the harbour entrance. Not shown are the uncomfortable winds to gust in on us later that day. Was interesting watching the big car ferries come steaming in then do a fast handbrake turn to the dock with the strong winds.

 

Dinghy exploring found a secret grotto that looked like it had access from the castle above.

 

Lets go to Sardinia! Racing across the wind factory straights between Corsica and Sardinia we were glad to only have 25 knots. They have a bit of a reputation and hold the bones of many a ship. Little bit easier with GPS today.

 

Some more wind just for a change made me jumpy leaving Drakkar on the anchor while we hot footed it into town trying to check back into Italy. Maybe one day we will find the elusive customs people? The next day was stunning and made for a much more relaxed tour of the nice little town on Palau.

 

Heading around the corner to Porto Pollo we had good fun catching up with our friends Mattia and Cesare at their sailing school Orza.

 

One of the things we like the most about this trip are the great friends we are making. We got offered the use of two cars and even a girlfriend, the lovely Elisa as a chauffeur! Much appreciated and look forward to catching up with you guys again.

 

In between beach excursions the work shirt is often on keeping the operation going.

I am the beach hut building king!

 

And the work shirt is on again…

 

In a tiny settlement we came across a letterbox with a beautifully done painting of Prada crossing Team NZ in America’s Cup boats. Proud to be Kiwis debated if they had crossed us ahead but appreciated the sentiment and friendship between the teams and countries.

 

And another early morning run trying to beat the winds. This one around Capo Testa after a few nights in La Colba. Pretty happy to have a couple of large Volvos that can drive us into the steep chop faster than we are comfortable. We ran them up for a test and threw water all over the boat.

 

Was worth the trouble and tricky anchoring trying to find some of the sand the guide book promised as we spend a couple of nights in the beautiful Cala Giorgio Marino. Here it is deserted in an eerie low mist. Spot the dinghy, Shannon, the kids and bonus points to spot Drakkar.