Days 35 – 38 Corsica



The anchorage at Lavezzi

We had a nice trip over from Sardinia; our first stop would be at the Lavezzi Islands, a national park with a couple cemeteries and monuments remembering the worst shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea, a troop ship headed for the Crimean war which was lost with 773 crew and soldiers aboard in 1855. There were a lot of boats anchored in the small lagoon; it reminded me of the BVIs a little with everyone being in so close together.
It’s tricky getting in here with a lot of submerged rocks and narrow unmarked channels; we set our main anchor and also a stern anchor to prevent us from being blown onto some rocks to starboard if the wind direction changed. We went to shore and climbed on the big round boulders that are scattered about. The cemetery isn’t fancy but fits in with the landscape nicely. I took a swim while everyone else explored the area.





We stayed here overnight with dinner on board, there are no shore facilities here, and finally had our showing of Captain Ron, a Skyelark favourite.



Approaching Bonofacio

The next morning it was eggs and potato pancakes for breakfast and we headed up the coast to Bonofacio, a walled city high up on some impressive cliffs.



The wall sits precariously on a cliff



The entrance to the city, there is a drawbridge at the top of the ramp



One of the narrow streets in the old city

We took a berth at the crowded docks in the well protected bay just below the city walls. The waterfront had many cafes, restaurants and shops catering to the tourist trade. Everyone went off their own way to explore the area; some beautiful pictures could be taken from the top of the cliffs overlooking the water.



Initially the plan was to have dinner in the town, but most of the crew stopped for lunch during the day and no one really felt like having a big dinner so we just snacked while having drinks at the waterfront cafes.
The next day we made our way further up the coast, putting ourselves in position for the passage to the mainland. It was a full days sail to Porto Pollo, a resort area with some of the nicest beaches we had seen on this trip. A tender came by to offer us a ride to one of the hotels for drinks or dinner; they also deliver pizzas. We had plans to eat dinner aboard tonight and finish the remnants of the booze locker, so no one took advantage of the offer.
The next morning it was an early start after everyone had breakfast, we set out for a 24 hour sail to our final destination, the Azur Coast of France.



Another beautiful sunset