We had one week to go before we were due to collect our next crew in Sardinia. The main obstacle in our way was the Strait of Bonifacio, a narrow body of water (11 km / 6.8 miles wide) that divides the French island of Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia and separates the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea. This strait is notorious among sailors because of its potentially strong winds, heavy seas, currents and undersurface obstacles, and many accidents have occurred in its waters. In fact, French and Italian flagged vessels carrying dangerous goods have not been allowed to pass through the straight since a tanker disaster occurred in 1993.
Spoiler Alert – We made it through the strait with no issues at all because Skippy planned and timed it well. 🙂 It was a great source of angst beforehand, though. Instead, we enjoyed amazing locations on either side…
Bonifacio
This is the oldest city in Corsica, having been founded around 830. The walled old city sits atop a cliffside about 70 meters / 230 ft high where the medieval citadel was established as a defense against pirates. Bonifacio also has a long natural harbor where a marina, modern residences, shops, etc. now reside. The geology is that of limestone, which over time has worn away to very dramatic structures.
While we did climb up to the old city to wander and enjoy the stunning views, we did not venture out to see some of the other sites – the lighthouse, the military cemetery, or its beaches. (Those are all recommended, though!) We spent two nights in the marina mainly to wait out some strong winds before our crossing to Sardinia. The winds were strong no matter where you were, so we weren’t too keen to take the clifftop walks. We enjoyed the beauty of the place, though, and all the buzz. Restaurants, shops and nightlife were plentiful. And, super yachts filled the marina, which provided entertainment as well.
The entrance into the marina was quite impressive:
Our assigned dock was less impressive. We’ve never had such a short dock to side tie on!
Old Town and the views were stunning:
Interesting sites back down by the marina:
When we left Bonifacio and headed to Sardinia, the view of the Old Town above the cliffs was striking:
La Maddalena islands
This archipelago in the northeast corner of Sardinia consists of seven main islands and many smaller ones. The entire area is a national park, popular for its crystal clear blue waters and dramatic granite coastlines. This is likely the most touristic area of Sardinia, at least in regard to boats. They are everywhere! We can certainly understand why.
We spent our first night anchored off the east side of Isola Spargi. Packed during the day with “day boats” but nearly to ourselves at night, this was an amazingly beautiful first taste of Sardinia. When the crowds had left for the day, we saw some unexpected residents on the island, but they seemed harmless enough.
In the morning, the anchorage was mobbed again by 10:30am. We booked it out of there as Conor was concerned a day boat would stop right over our anchor, making an exit tricky.
Given the wind conditions for the day were pretty light, it was finally a good day to try and repair the screecher sail. Easier said than done. We made for some relatively open space, and the plan was simple – first we had to hoist it back into place, then unfurl it to re-furl it properly and tightly. Only when it was time to unfurl, it was too wrapped up in itself to do so. Three tries later with a lot of finagling, it finally worked. Thank goodness.
Now we could move on to our next spot, Isola Santa Stefano. One of the features of La Maddalena Islands (and Sardinia, in general) is rocky outcrops. Conor was always concerned about finding and avoiding submerged rocks because they were often uncharted and depths can be difficult to determine. After a couple of tries, we secured a location we liked. In a case like this, Conor will always immediately go for a swim to dive the anchor and check out all the surrounding area. All was a-ok. Here we took UberDing ashore and went for a little hike. A couple of historical sites were nearby – Forte San Giorgio and a Napoleonic tower. There were what looked to be holiday villas, tennis courts, and a beach club, but all were deserted. Strange, but it was nice to stretch our legs and see some beautiful views of the islands.
Marinella
Our next stop was on the “mainland.” (This sounds strange since Sardinia is itself an island, but we took to using this to distinguish the main island from the rest.) The Gulf of Marinella is a really nice big bay. It was a great place to kayak and explore interesting rock formations. The town itself wasn’t much of a town, rather a holiday resort area. Plenty of lovely holiday villas, some restaurants, a long sandy beach, and lots of family activities. We were entertained for a couple of days watching lines of students learning how to wind surf and parents toting children around in paddle boats. There was a small marina with a very easy place to park a dinghy, so that was very handy. A grocery store was nearby, and both Conor and I felt back at home being in an Italian grocery where we recognized things and could find what we were looking for. 🙂
When we left Marinella in the morning, we headed just around the corner to the town of Aranci where we could collect our next crew later in the day. We are excited for their arrival and to keep exploring the gorgeous area of Sardinia! 🙂
Sailing Sabática 