Solenzara -> Porto Vecchio

The plan is to head out at 08:30 with a skipper for a half-day. He will show us the different systems on the boat and explain how everything works. We get up early and have breakfast on the boat. The wind died down over night and the sea is calm.

In preparation for this trip I have invested in a whole load of iPhone weather apps. Weather Pro, Wind Guru, Passage Weather, Weathertrack, Meteo France. I consult all of them. The accepted wisdom is to have several sources of weather forecast and take the least favorable one. Today they all pretty much agree that there will be light winds. A good way to start off on a new boat in a new area.

Xavier shows up and asks how we want to spend the morning. I ask if he would mind taking us to Porto Vecchio. The general idea being to get as far south at the start of the holiday and work our way back slowly. He agrees, even though it means someone having to pick him up in Porto Vecchio.

Xavier immediately starts unhooking the shore power and undoing the stern lines. To his great frustration the starboard stern line hasn't been done correctly and is jammed on the cleat. "Incredible! Who could have done this?!" he says shaking his head in disbelief. He looks like a salty old sea-dog, and has quite a different manner from Dan, our instructor in Greece. Xavier is very business like, more of a skipper and less of an instructor. Things start off a bit cool. I get the feeling that he is there to assess our ability to take the boat on our own rather than help prepare us to take the boat on our own!

After a while we warm up to each other and Xavier is showing us the furling lines, in-haul, out-haul, kicker, main sheet, jib sheets, wind instrument, depth finder, chart plotter. We unfurl the main, reef the main, furl the main. Unfurl the jib, reef the jib, furl the jib. I'm asking as many questions as I can think of, trying to get as much information and local knowledge as I can from our skipper.

Pte de Sponsaglia, with ruins of a Genoese tower

As we are sailing along we spot many towers on points and headlands along the coast. Xavier explains to us that they were built as a system of defense from North African pirates when the island was controlled by Genoa. Each tower could be seen from it's neighboring tower, and when unknown ships were spotted on the horizon, a fire would be lit. The message would be passed from tower to tower thus alerting the whole island to the potential danger.

We explain to Xavier that the south coast of Ireland has the same system of towers (known as Martello towers), which were built by the British and inspired by these very Corsican towers!

We are unsure about the French pronunciation of the name of the boat (Achab) and ask Xavier about it. He thinks it must be the name of the captain from Moby Dick. That's what we thought. I mention that things didn't turn out too well for Captain Ahab... Hopefully not a bad omen!

Achab has a chart plotter in front of the helm, and with all the rocks, shallows, and isolated dangers in the area it really makes life easier. "Remember, the chart plotter is master". In other words, the chances of the chart plotter being wrong are much smaller that you being wrong. The boat also has a roller-furling jib and in-mast furling main sail. That means the sails can be handled without leaving the cockpit. A real plus in bad weather.

What it doesn't have are any decent life jackets. We always wear self-inflating life jackets when sailing in Ireland, and Sail Ionian also provided them in Greece. They are very compact and comfortable enough that they don't hinder movement and are comfortable to wear. The life jackets on Achab are the big, bulky, bright-orange foam things that no self-respecting sailor would ever be caught dead in. Xavier explains that French sailors never wear life jackets in the Med, so they don't bother buying expensive self-inflating ones.

There is no way in hell I'm going to wear one of those big bright-orange things and this makes Eileen quite uncomfortable. As well as that, there are no child-sized life jackets (Xavier was supposed to bring one for Laura). We agree that we will try to find a chandler in Porto Vecchio and buy some life jackets.

Xavier opens the cockpit locker and smells petrol. Not good. The jerry-can has tipped over, and the lid was not properly screwed on. There is a good quantity of petrol in the bottom of the locker. Thinking about it now, the thought of that fuel catching fire sends a shiver up my spine. Luckily it was found and Xavier cleans out most of it by mopping it up with toilet paper. We'll be leaving the locker lid open from time to time over the next few days, as there is also a smell of petrol in the heads.

Gulf of Porto Vecchio

After about three hours of sailing and motoring we come to the entrance to the very large and beautiful Gulf of Porto Vecchio. We navigate the entrance and follow the channel markers towards the marina. We're getting closer and closer but still can't see the entrance. Eventually it becomes clear that there is a gap between the breakwaters, and we motor in slowly.

Xavier picks an empty berth and backs in. He pulls out again and now it's my turn. I manage to get in without too much trouble. He asks if I want to try again, and I say yes. Mistake. There is a cross-wind and the boat has a very pronounced kick to port when going astern. As Eileen would say, I make a right hames of it. Try again, and again. Xavier suggests turning around and standing behind the wheel. This helps and eventually we are all tied up and secure. "Remember, stay calm, zen!".

It's true that the most stressful part of cruising is the first and last few meters from the dock. The slower you go, the less chance of causing great damage to neighboring (expensive!) boats, but you also have less control over the boat. The wind has more effect, currents have more effect, and if you go too slow you lose steerage way and have no control what so ever!

To celebrate a successful passage we have beers accompanied by bread, cheese, and salami. We talk about our plans for the next few days and Xavier makes a list of the "not to be missed" spots in the area. He also reassures us about the passage to Bonifacio. It's not that difficult in good weather. Just keep an eye on the chart plotter. Then he has to go and we are on our own.

First priority is to check in with the harbourmaster. We tell the lady behind the counter which berth we are in, and she asks us to move! To a more difficult inside berth! I explain that it's afternoon and we will be leaving early next morning. She explains that the pontoon we are on is reserved for bigger boats. But she says that if there are 3 or 4 berths available on that pontoon we can stay. If the space is needed we will have to move. Sounds fair. We see several free spaces so we should be OK.

The second priority is to get ice-cream. Laura missed out on her ice-cream yesterday, and has been promised that we will find some in Porto Vecchio right away. First thing. It's not difficult, as there are several cafés along the edge of the marina that sell ice-cream. As all things in Corsica, ice-cream is also a mix of French and Italian cultures. I was hoping that it would be real Italian gelato but it's just not quite as good. But Laura is not as fussy and is quite satisfied with whatever she gets, as long as it's ice-cream.

Next on the agenda are showers for all. We get shower tokens from the harbourmaster's office. The lady there explains that the boiler is a long way from the showers, so we might want to run the sinks for a while before starting the shower. Otherwise it is likely to be a cold one. Good tip, thanks. The showers and toilets are a bit grotty, not what I expected in a place like this.

Entrance to the Old Town

After showers we read up on Porto Vecchio in the Michelin guide, and jot down a few restaurant recommendations for dinner. We head up the hill to the old town, amazed by the view and the giant cacti. Laura gets sucked into a souvenir shop and comes out pleading for money to buy a key-ring. She doesn't have any keys, but for some reason she has developed a thing for key-rings. We give in and hand over the 5 euros.

We can't find the first resto on our list, and end up going around in circles for a while. Finally we are able to find the second choice, Chez Anna. Highly recommended. I try their speciality, a pasta dish called "dollari" which is very good. Eileen has a delicious aubergine lasagne. Laura has ham with pasta. That girl is not very adventurous with food... We have a really lovely meal, and head back to the boat.

We are getting in the habit of having a glass of Muscat for an apéritif, and a half-litre of Corsican wine with our dinners. They make very drinkable rosés in the region around Porto Vecchio, and the reds aren't bad either. The food in general is very good, with fresh, local ingredients and a nice mix of Italian and French dishes.

Back on the boat, we are subjected to another episode of The Incredibly Annoying Laura. Followed by several games of Fish which are won by Eileen, although we suspect she was cheating.

Corsicans have a habit of dropping the final vowels in place names. Solenzara becomes "Solenzar", Rondinara becomes "Rondinar", and Porto Vecchio becomes "Porto Vecc". Maybe it's an attempt to make the Italian-ish names more French-sounding. Laura picks up her imaginary portable phone and says in her best yuppy-teenage-chick impersonation "Salut mec! J'suis à Porto Vecc!".

Log entry for Monday 18/04/2011
Fuel: 4/4
Batteries: 1 (engine) = 13.8; 2 (domestic) = 13.7
Water: Tank 1: 4/4; Tank 2: 4/4
Baro: 1020.5
Weather forecast: F2-3 offshore, F1-2 near the coast
From: Solenzara; Log 32 @ 09:00
Towards: Porto Vecchio; Log 51 @ 12:30