On our way again, to L’Île-Rousse

Finally late in the afternoon on the 8th August, we set sail again, well actually under engine even though we could have sailed, just to test the engine, to a gorgeous bay 5 miles along the coast of Corsica, called Loto Bay, where we dropped our pick in the most gorgeous turquoise waters for the night.

It was so wonderful that even though it would have meant celebrating our 21st Wedding Anniversary on board, we were tempted to stay a second night. That was until we realised that the M25 traffic from Saint Florent came here, breaking up the peace and churning up the waters around us with taxi ribs and other small boats speeding past with little regard for swimmers or those of us on yachts that rock very easily!.

So we went back to plan A and set sail for 19NM’s to L’Île-Rousse, hoping to pick up a buoy for a couple of nights. The sail was wonderfully peacefully, with a NW3 and it only took us 3 hours to make the trip. Sadly on arrival we were told there were no buoys available, despite having heard, just before and after our request, 2 french boats be given a spot… argggh, we love the French and despite having French blood in me (Chantal), the French can be maddening, often unwilling to assist if you dont speak the lingo!

Anyway we dropped our anchor outside the buoy field, a little further to go by dinghy and less sheltered, but we were planning to spend most of the time ashore and just had our fingers crossed it wouldn’t be too much of a rolly night!

L’Île-Rousse

Named after the islets that blush a deep russet red in the sunset, L’lle Rousse is a laid back seaside town with a central square, lively cafés, restaurants and ice-cream parlours. During the day, the town square fills up with pétanque players and pastis-sipping spectators, whilst the Greek style covered marketplace and little boutiques bustle with locals and tourists alike.

We jumped in the dinghy and moored it safely up, to go ashore to choose a restaurant to celebrate! We then went exploring this little gem of a place!

Then sitting down for dinner, with a wonderful bottle of wine, and fab food, in a little quirky place with a terrace overlooking the square. Afterwards we wandered back into the old side streets in search of ice-cream, they still sell Fondente here which is a plus, and after successfully finding a gelateria, we came across a live street band playing hits such as Pink Floyd, Dire Straits etc, our era stuff. They were seriously good and we soon grabbed a couple of stools at a nearby bar, to top up our vino intake, enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and music around us.

Finally in the wee hours, and more than a little tipsy we managed to get back in the dinghy, without falling in 🤪, and negotiate the buoy field to find Seaclusion, in what was now a pretty calm bay, sleep was beckoning!

The expectant lie-in sadly didn’t happen though, possibly due to the wine the night before, Still, for once, it meant we were awake to take some sunrise shots!

In the morning we jumped back in the dinghy to do some provisioning and have another wander…finding the fabulous market which is held every morning in a majestic covered market place. The produce is local, fresh and includes fish, vegetables, local honey, charcuterie and cheeses.

and the beach, with its almost silver sand.

By the time we returned to Seaclusion, the wind and swell was rolling in nicely into our bay, so we set about getting everything ready to undertake our night sail across to Sanremo on the Italian coast. We couldn’t leave too early as it was likely to take about 18 hours and we didn’t want to arrive in the dead of night, so finally we set sail at 3pm.

The first few hours were rather troublesome as we had a large swell on our beam and not quite enough wind to keep Seaclusions speed high enough to span them well, so we motor sailed for a bit. But it wasn’t that long before the engine was turned off and we had a peaceful, if somewhat slow sail, (at times getting marginally more boat speed than wind speed) the rest of the way!

It wasn’t long after dark though when we had the fright of our lives….we both heard this strange noise, looked to our port side and saw this huge spout of water shoot up right next to us. In the moonlight we made out 2 whales, both as long as our yacht if not longer, swimming alongside us, almost showering us with water through their blowholes. Given the recent orca attacks in Gib, we sat and watched, motionless and silent, but it seemed all they wanted to do was escort us for a few minutes. nerve wracking that it was, it was also absolutely stunning, sadly way too dark to capture the moment on camera.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful after that!

After 104NM’s and 19.5 hours at sea, we arrived at Sanremo and grabbed, luckily, one of free transit spots in the port, ready to start our next chapter of this summer’s adventure.

11th August 2024