Monday 9 September 2019

This proved to be one of the more dramatic days of the trip. We are approaching the Bonifacio Straights between Sardinia and Corsica, and had to decide on our destination.  The wind was forecast to be reasonably strong and, as it had been blowing like this for a few days, the waves would be big as well.  All this to be enhanced by the venturi effect that you always get between islands.

We have several friends who have spoken highly of Bonifacio, and so we decided that it was reasonable to head across the straights to the Corsican side.  This would also give us a slightly better angle to the wind, going across rather than directly downwind.

The trip was not the most pleasant, with the wind speed and wave height exceeding the forecasts that we had looked at, up to 28 knots and 3 metres. There was one time when it felt like we had hit a lull in the wind, which turned out to be down to about 20 knots, and the boat speed dropped to 8 knots.  The saving grace was that the speed we were making meant that the voyage was shorter than it might have been. Disaster struck when a large wave threw Teresa off her feet while she was on the wheel, and landed heavily on some of the equipment on deck. At best she will have severe bruising, and at worst broken ribs. Previous experience says that the treatment for both of these is the same, time and painkillers, so long as there is no damage to the lungs etc from a break.  There was no choice but to press on and get to Bonifacio.

The guide books say that the entrance is well hidden, which it was, but we were able to watch a ferry entering to see exactly where it was. We are aware of spectacular photos of the entrance and the channel up to the town, but we were rather preoccupied and did not take our own versions.

The marina caters for a huge throughput of boats of all sizes, from super yachts to day boats.  There are many tourist boats that ferry people out to look at the nearby caves. It is run(?) in a rather eccentric fashion, and we were not impressed by the time it took them to respond to the radio and then get someone to come and direct us to our mooring.  And it was not a busy time when we arrived. Eventually they came in a rib and guided us into a spot, which was very tricky in the strong wind that was funnelling up the channel.  We think we were put into the wrong space, as we were much larger than the other boats around us, and the guys next to us were pretty dismayed at the prospect of trying to get around us when they were leaving early the next morning.  To say that some of the other facilities were below the standard expected would be an understatement.

There is always someone with a bigger boat!

Our Germans friends arrived after us and came over for a drink and a chat.  The wife of the couple turned out to be Russian, so we will have to think of a new label for them.

Distance covered today	35.0	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	149.0	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	1202.0	nautical miles
Steve (and Tricia)