Bonifacio -> Rondinara -> Baie de Stagnolu

La Madonetta lighthouse at the entrance to Bonifacio harbour

It would have been great to spend more time in Bonifacio, but the forecast is for strong possibly near-gale force winds in the Strait by evening. We decide to leave early and head back towards the Gulf of Porto Vecchio, where we will be sure to find shelter.

Captain and First Mate are looking forward to returning to the marina in Porto Vecchio, but I have other plans. I want to spend at least one night at anchor, and I've already picked out what should be a sheltered spot in the Gulf. But we won't know for sure until we get closer.

Up early (again!) and preparing to leave. Eileen goes to the small grocery store to stock up on a few grocs first. The night was absolutely quiet and there wasn't a ripple in the harbour, but the wind is already starting to rise. There is much activity around us as the Italians prepare to leave. They seem to be in a group of three boats traveling together. But the big ugly cat and another 50 foot yacht facing each other on the outside of pontoons J and K are blocking their exit.

The 50-footer lets some slack in one of their stern lines and gives a blast of bow thruster to pivot the front out. I realize too late that this would have made it much easier for us to leave as well but we are not ready yet. The big yacht pivots back to the pontoon and the gap closes. It's a tight gap but we're a small boat so it should be doable.

When we're finally ready I let off the stern lines while Eileen lets go of the lazy line at the bow. We go foreward a bit and then a blast of reverse stops forward motion and spins the bow to starboard. This boat has a very pronounced kick to port in reverse, and thank goodness it's favorable for this manoeuvre. We move slowly through the tight gap, with the same three onlookers on the cat (do they sleep there?) plus several others on the yacht watching closely. Still no yelling! We slip through then, oops, watch that stupid buoy! Phew, missed it. Sharp turn to port and we're on our way again.

Cap Pertusato, at the southern tip of Corsica

Once again we motor slowly through the long narrow harbour. And once again I am blown away by the incredible scenery. Outside the harbour we turn to port and stay close to the cliffs for a better look. The Thalassa boats are back out in full force plying up and down the cliff face. Eileen is at the helm while I bring in the fenders, coil and stow the shorelines, and tie the dingy to the stern. There is a good breeze from the east now, so after lingering for a while we eventually hoist the sails and head south. An eye piece falls off the binoculars. These are the cheapest crap binoculars I've ever seen. Oh well, at least they still work.

The jib comes down and the engine comes on as we round Cap Pertusato and approach the beginning of the Piantarella passage.  The wind is from the east, and we are heading east so we'll need the engine for this part of the passage.

When we came through La Piantarella in the other direction, we heeded Xavier's words very carefully: "The plotter is the master". Perhaps too carefully. What I mean is that we spent too much time looking at the plotter, and not enough time looking around at the navigation marks. This made me feel uncomfortable afterwords, because if there had been any kind of malfunction with the plotter, we would have had a hard time staying off the rocks. This time we use a combination of low-tech and high-tech. We use old-fashioned pilotage, align navigation marks, and steer by compass course. As we go along and at every change of course we verify our position on the chart plotter. This combination works perfectly, is more rewarding, and is undoubtedly safer.

Back on the east coast of Corsica now, we're heading north with a northeasterly breeze. We unfurl the sails and kill the engine. For me this is always the best moment aboard a sailboat, when the engine stops and the sails take over. The boat heels, and the only sounds are the wind in the sails and the water on the hull. Bliss.

One of Xavier's top "not to be missed" spots is a bay called Rondinara. It's a sea-shell shaped bay with the entrance at the hinge and a white sandy beach lining the rim. It's surrounded by green pine-covered hills and red rocky outcrops, and there is very little construction on the shore. The wind is E-NE which makes most of the anchorages on the east coast a bit risky for over-night stops. A bit disappointing because I was counting on having sheltered anchorages from the dominant westerly winds that normally blow here. Since we arrived in Corsica we've had pretty much nothing but NE, E, or SE winds! Very unusual, apparently. We decide we'll take a look in and see if we can anchor there for lunch.

Looking around further out to sea we spot the three big Italian yachts from Bonifacio. They must have gone outside the islands, and they seem to have more wind out there. Soon they overtake us and head off into the distance. Towards Rondinara! I hope it won't be crowded in there. Actually I'm more worried that they will take our spot, which is in the northern part of the bay behind the hill at the entrance. In theory that should be the most sheltered spot in these conditions.

Rondinara Bay. Hey, that's our spot!

We eventually arrive at Rondinara, and see the three Italian boats already anchored in the southern part of the bay. Great, the northern part is empty. We prepare the anchor and slow right down as we head towards our chosen spot. Eileen is at the bow, ready to drop the anchor on signal. We're advancing slowly now, when we gently come to a halt? Crap, we've gone aground! Good thing it's a sandy bottom. I give a short blast of reverse, and the boat floats free. Phew!

I was convinced there were 4 metres of water in this spot, and we draw 1.8 metres, so there should have been plenty to spare. I know there is a shallow spot in the middle and stayed on this side to avoid it. I was so absolutely sure of the depth here that I wasn't monitoring the depth sounder. Mistake. We back off a bit and drop the anchor. Looking at different pilot books and charts, they don't quite agree on the depth in this part of the bay, and that should have set off the alarm bells. I should have put Laura on the depth sounder, calling out readings as we approached. Lesson learned.

While we are getting our lunch ready, another small yacht enters the bay. It approaches from the south and makes a big loop ending up at the spot we were aiming for. Lifting keel? Local knowledge? We'll never know. Now, back to lunch, and by the way what's that stink? Four day old Brocciu. Peeew, better finish it today. It's getting late and I want to get past the Pointe de la Ciappa and into the Gulf before the strong winds arrive and before we lose daylight. So we pick up the anchor and head off again.

The plan is to have a look at Stagnolu bay in the northern end of the Gulf of Porto Vecchio. If it's sheltered then we will spend the night anchored there. If not we will continue on to the marina. We're tacking up the coast in a good 10 or 15 knots of breeze, but we seem to be losing a lot of ground on the port tack. "Is that the same bunch of red rocks again?!". I definitely need to polish my sail trimming skills to make better progress to windward.

We come to the entrance to the Gulf of Porto Vecchio. There is a big Bourbon tug waiting at entrance, but we don't see what he is waiting for. It reminds me of a YouTube video of another Bourbon tug, the Abeille Flandre in the Iroise Sea. I hope they are not here to do some filming in bad weather!

Stagnolu Bay in the Gulf of Porto Vecchio. Rocks off our stern!

We pass the green Benedettu lateral mark, but instead of heading southwest towards the marina, we head north into the Baie de Stagnolu. It is well sheltered from the northeast wind just as I had hoped. We head for the 3 metre depth contour in the northeastern part of the bay. Eileen drops the anchor on cue, and we reverse as the chain pays out. We keep an eye on things for a while to make sure the anchor isn't dragging, and then we can relax. 

Well, not completely because there are a bunch of rocks about 150 metres off our stern. And the wind is blowing us in that direction. But there is hardly any wind for the moment and we'll be fine as long as it doesn't blow up during the night.

It's beautiful and calm in this part of the bay, so we plan for dinner on deck. Unfortunately we don't have a cockpit table! We enjoy a lovely pasta dinner off our laps, complete with Corsican wine of course. We listen to birds, watch the odd boat passing in the distance, and enjoy the peace and quite. Finally the tiredness overcomes us and we head for bed. I set an alarm for every three hours, because if the wind rises during the night it could push us on to those rocks off our stern. The night is quiet, and I pop my head out at 02:00 and at 05:00 to take a quick look at the Benedettu and check our distance off the rocks, then crawl back in. 

Eileen and Laura are sleeping in the forecabin tonight, and at one point after checking the anchor I hear a surreal argument: "You poked me with your toe!", "I did not!", "You did so!", "Did not", "Did so", "Didn't", "Did". Then silence. In the morning I think I must have dreamt it...

Log entry for Tuesday 20/04/2011

Fuel: 4/4

Batteries: 1 (engine) = 12.8; 2 (domestic) = 12.5

Water: Tank 1: 1/2; Tank 2: 4/4

Baro: 1016

Weather forecast: East coast: E-SE F2-3, increasing to F4 by evening; Senetosa to Bonifacio: E-SE F4-5 increasing F5-6 by afternoon

From: Bonifacio; Log 77 @ 09:45

Towards: Rondinara; Log 92 @ 13:10

From: Rondinara; Log 92 @ 15:30

Towards: Baie de Stagnolu; Log 109 @ 19:30