The 2007 season begins....

Alghero in the winter is still a fun place – although with most of the restaurants closed it feels ‘out of season’, there is still life on the streets, and New Year was truly fantastic – a street party throughout the town, with four sound stages presenting a whole variety of different music, an amazing firework display and a general sense of everyone getting well-oiled but having a fabulous time. Even the groups of youngsters, whom in Britain one can imagine becoming aggressive and violent, were thoroughly agreeable and friendly.

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But what I had been waiting for was the chance to explore beyond Alghero and its immediate environs – delightful though they are. And in late May, following a stint of TV work in the UK, we got that chance.
The plan was a trip to Elba and back, and various crews were lined up along the route.
It began with Richard and me on the late May Bank Holiday Saturday, taking a leisurely sail/motor in light winds up towards my first trip through the slightly daunting Fornelli Passage, between the Island of Asinara and mainland Sardinia. Although in quiet weather this presents no problems, it is shallow, and risky in strong winds from the East or the West, and the problem is that it’s a six-hour trip up from Alghero, so if you arrive and the wind has picked up – which it can do out here with no warning – then you can be faced with an impassable passage, and the choice between an extra 20 miles to get round the end of Asinara and back, or a long slog back to Alghero!
We were fine – the wind remained light, the depths, reported to be as little as 3 metres, never dropped below 4 and we were soon anchored off Stintino.
But I had seen the forecast for something very nasty coming in weatherwise on Monday and Tuesday – the tail of the same depression which gave such appalling weather in the UK that weekend, presaging the dreadful summer to follow.
I was keen to get to Bonifacio, on Corsica and some 50 miles distant, before that hit, so we were off early the next morning. At first we were motoring in light airs, but as the day went on the wind filled in from the NW and an ominous black cloud built over the coast of Sardinia to the south. By the time we reached Bonifacio it was blowing 5, with more cloud coming over, but the thunderstorm had obligingly kept its rumblings well south of us. But there are far worse places to be stormbound than this delightful old town set atop cliffs so alarmingly undermined by the sea that it seems to defy gravity.
The news of the forecast had spread and that evening found everyone from the 150ft superyachts to the tiddlers laying out extra lines across the harbour. Monday dawned wet, cold and very, very windy. It would not have disgraced an English November.

A walk across the cliffs found us in a full force 10, sand-blasted with horizontal rain showers, only mitigated by their brief duration as they were blown pell-mell across the sky.

Tuesday was again cold and still very windy, but at least sunny – I spent most of it stitching on the new wheel glove. Don’t ever attempt this job unless you have at least a couple of days to finish it! But Wednesday brought a substantial moderation in the wind – or so I thought. I coaxed Richard out with promises of no more than 4-5, and indeed that was what we set off into for the 20 mile run across to Maddalena where we had to be in time for an important appointment. On the Friday we had to drive to Bosa on the west coast to complete on the house I was buying.
By the time we reached relative shelter between the island of Spargi and the mainland the NW wind was a steady 6 and touching 7. Such Stuff was flying with the quartering wind - a steady 8 knots and, as we surfed down a wave off Punta Sardegna, we broke the previous speed record of 10.3 knots (achieved surfing into La Coruna last year) with a staggering 11 knots!
Rich was mightily relieved as we moored safely in Maddalena, and stayed there, with only short trips out and the 3 mile crossing to Palau, till he left the following Sunday!

My new crew, Kevin and James, began their trip with a gentle potter from Palau to a bay on Caprera, and a night at anchor off Cannigione.

Then, on the Tuesday, we headed north across the notorious Bocca di Bonifacio in what was forecast as a 2-3 but was in fact a steady 5. But, comfortably just forward of the beam, this wind gave us a cracking sail across the Strait before dying and forcing us to motor into Porto Vecchio – another delightful old town up the hillside where several of the restaurants afford panoramic views down over the harbour.

A short evening sail the next day brought us to Solenzara – an unremarkable place, but useful in that it shortens the trip to Elba which we began early next day.

Sadly wind was in short supply and so we motored most of the 60 miles but were rewarded at the end with a stunning sunset as we rounded the western end of the island and moored in Marciana Marina, which must rank as one of the most picturesque harbours in the area. With the high point of the island – Monte Capanne – and the two unmistakeably Tuscan hilltop villages of Poggio and Marciana punctuating the wooded hillside as a backdrop, the harbour is small and the town, though touristy, quiet and attractive.

The next day was rather marred by an up close and personal encounter with a severely blocked toilet, but once that had been dealt with we enjoyed a trip up to the villages on the bus, and to the summit of the mountain in what can best be described as shopping baskets.

Don’t attempt this if you haven’t a head for heights, but the views are spectacular.

Then on to the main town of Portoferraio, much more bustling than Marciana but with a fascinating history dating from the Renaissance and including, of course, Napoleon’s sojourn here.

Nice pad – can’t see why he left!

It was now Kevin and James’ turn to be replaced by brother Steve, sister-in-law Janet and nephew Tom, who arrived on the ferry, somewhat travel-weary, having taken the overland route from the UK.
Wind was still in short supply, but sun was not, so the trip round to Porto Azzurro was a pleasant potter under motor with a stop en route for a swim. And again a charming little harbour and village nestling round it where we spent the night.
With 80 miles to cover back to the southern end of Corsica, and the prospect of little wind to blow us there we opted to alleviate the tedium of a long motoring passage by doing it overnight – a first for both Tom and Janet.

But they soon overcame their apprehension and enjoyed a straightforward trip with the delight of Porte de Rondinara at the end of it. Like so many places on Corsica the name is a mix of French and Italian.

This is an almost circular, landlocked bay surrounded by white sandy beaches with startlingly clear water. Sheltered from all but a due easterly, though we did suffer a slight roll, it’s a truly unmissable anchorage.

The next day we headed on through the rock-bound Passage de la Piantarella back to Bonifacio, with the straits proving true to their reputation by providing a hatful of wind to blow us in.
Superyachts in this harbour are always 2 a penny, but today saw the arrival of the largest I have seen round here – the modestly named Utopia which boasts at least 4 decks plus a promenade deck and must measure well over 200ft. It dwarfed the harbour, never mind all the other yachts!
The wind, which had been conspicuous by its absence for over a week, now decided to return. It would have been obliging if it had filled in from its habitual NW in these parts, but no – SW. Dead on the nose for the 50-mile trip back to Stintino. However, it was forecast at no more than 10 knots, so we decided to give it a go under engine.
And for the first 4 or 5 hours it was pleasant enough – warm and sunny, if a little lumpy. But then the clouds came over and the wind increased from force 3 to force 6, touching 30 knots over the deck at one point. The trip became a miserable slog. And with the wind well above its forecast strength it was slightly worrying in that we didn’t know what it would do next.
Heading directly into this strength of wind, with the short chop it created, reduced our speed to 4k or less, so the options were to beat, increasing the time to complete the trip from 4 hours to 8, to opt out and head for Porto Torres – still a good 4 hours away and not a place to visit if you don’t have to - or to bash on under engine just keeping the main full of wind which enabled us to maintain 6k even if not quite in the right direction – a kind of ‘motor-tacking’. In the end we opted for this last and bashed on, finally reaching Stintino, a little damp, around 18.30 after 10 hours slogging into headwinds – by far the worst passage of the trip.
Although the wind remained in the SW the next day, we left early and never encountered more than 10-12k for the final 30 miles back to Alghero, and with the sun out it was a very reasonable trip – if a little tedious – and, after a final swim stop in Cala Bollo and a delightful run, under sail at last, back to harbour, we were on the mooring for 6.
It had been quite an ambitious trip, especially with not many experienced crew aboard, but in the end achieved without too much discomfort, no shortage of sunshine, and certainly three very happy crews!