Elba to Rome

Morning of the 25th July we set off to complete our circumventing of Isola di Elba, arriving in Porto Azzurro, on the East Coast…. we were anchored around the corner from the Marina and took the dinghy in to explore.

Porto Azzurro, Elba

After spending a couple of hours in Porto Azzurro, we set sail to Isolo di Giglio, but the winds were against us, and having decided we would not get in until after dark, we diverted back to the mainland and stopped in San di Stefano just as the sun was setting. Seeing lots of space we moored up against the quayside to discover, as David spent  5 hours pulling in the bow line, that we were in fact on a mooring that would have a fitted a 200ft or more boat !. Fortunately the office was closed and fearing we would get stung on mooring fees we  slipped our lines the following morning at 7am! Not before we felt like gold fish with all the passersby, including me having a fright as I came out of the heads with nothing but a towel round me to find a couple staring straight into the boat!

San di Stefano

27th, we left, again for Isola to Giglio in sunshine and little wind. 2 hours later, we donned the wet weather gear as a storm hit, bringing lots of wind, massive rain drops and twisters forming in the clouds above us, fortunately they never reached the sea!

3 hours later we arrived in Giglio.. to be told there was no room at the inn, and no stables, so we dropped anchor in the shallowest bit we could find, as the shoreline went from 8 metres to 25m in less than 2 metres!. Next to us was a boat,  the James Bond stealth boat……

As the afternoon wore on, the winds picked up and our anchor dragged so we decided to move and then spent the next 2 hours trying to find somewhere else to anchor for the night, as the  boys on anchor duty froze their nuts off and got more and more frustrated with me!!! Finally exhausted and incapable of making a sensible decision, David decided he needed to take over, and we finally came t0 rest in 14 metres, with all of our anchor chain out!

The following morning, not wanting to leave the island without exploring, we ventured out in the dingy. We did check the fuel levels in the outboard as best we could, but somewhat under estimated the distance to the marina, against the swell, and the fuel in the tank, resulting in the inevitable engine coming to a resounding stop, for the 2nd time this trip. The boys took to the oars, whilst I tried to flag any ribs passing by. Thankfully, the French cavalry arrived in the form of another small dingy and our perception of the French increased as they towed us into the marina, Suffice to say they came back to the yacht (a beautiful French built boat that looked  like the name of the manufacturer was “Wanquery”, much to our amusement, such was the squirly writing.. it is in fact Wauquiez…) to find a nice bottle of wine on board in thanks!

Giglio is a very cute, typically Italian village, painted houses of all shapes and sizes, including an Alice in Wonderland toilet!

Islo di Giglio

From Isola di Giglio,we headed back to the mainland, a rather uneventful sail,  to Porto Ercole, meant to be a large marina/fishing port, but on arrival we spent 20 minutes trying to raise anyone on the radio for a mooring, to no avail and finally gave up, so headed round the corner and arrived at Marina de Cala Galera, for the night.

The following morning, with a forecast of  Force 3 – 4 Westerlies and light rain, we set sail for the 35 miles trip to Riva di Triaino, just south of Citivecchio, Oh do we wish the forecast had been correct, but sadly no, Force 6 South westerlies, meant we had to continually tack, resulting in 35 miles become 47!. Rain, ha ha ha ha, I think not. Steven (now nicknamed fair weather marine boy) comfortably down below, David and I faced  squalls with 35 knots of wind and rain so heavy that we couldn’t see the bow.. not that it would have made a difference as we couldnt see anything around us, but for the chart plotter would have happily sailed in the wrong direction!  Wet weather gear just wasn’t enough! what is going on, its July!!!!!!

Photos taken just before the squall hit, when everything got a whole lot worse!

Fortunately, the boys at the marina were still on hand at 9pm to help us moor, just as the heavens opened again and so much rain  fell in the next 2 hours to half fill our dingy!!

Yesterday, ready to set sail for another 30 mile trip to Porto Turistico di Roma, we started the engine to get a battery warning light on!. Sensibly we had it checked out to be told we had a problem with the alternator, and our engine battery was at 15.4 volts, close to imploding levels!  We started the engine, isolated the battery and set sail for Roma, rather than being stuck for a few days too far away to taxi in to see the sites!

No wind, meant a calm motor to our destination. However we still had  over 1.5 metre swells which literally meant we were riding the surf into the marina entrance, which required a very scary hand brake turn to our left before beaching ourselves. We moored without incident and are now looking forward to a few days on land, exploring the fabulous sites that Rome has to offer, whilst we await the arrival of yet another new part from the UK… Whoever said boats were money pits were bang on!!!!