The Start of the Tuscan Archipelago

First a little bit of information about these wonderful islands. Legend has it that when Venus was born from the waves, seven precious stones fell from her tiara, creating seven islands off the Tuscan coast, now named (North to South) Gorgona, Capraia, Elba, Pianosa, Montecristo, Giglio and Giannutri.

Our first stop was going to be to the northerly Island, Gorgona, until we read on Navily that it is in fact a penitentiary, and you have to apply in advance or be arrested, no visitors allowed! Thankfully we hadn’t made the trip, or got arrested, so we set sail for 34NM’s from Livorno to Capraia in a lovely NW3 and dropped our pick just outside the harbour. The water was very deep here so whilst we had no problems as we were quite early although we did anticipate it being a bit of a bun fight later, especially as the marina and its accompanying buoy field were charging €90 per night!

Isla di Capraia

Capraia is an island uncontaminated, surrounded by the wilderness, its village is a true paradise outside the boundaries of time, or so it is said. Not surprising really as it only has 400 inhabitants, outside the summer season and its holiday makers.

Sadly we never made it ashore to the village as so many boats came in and dropped anchor too close for comfort, with the wind picking up, we daren’t leave Seaclusion in case someone hit her or worse, snagged our anchor with theirs but aside from the concern, it was rather entertaining.

The next day we actually moved to the other side of the bay for a better night and managed to grab the only sandy spot, which was just as well as a number of boats who had anchored on thick seaweed dragged their anchors as the wind got up again,

We then watched the sun go down and the moon come up over the village, washed down with some lovely pink vino, although we definitely can’t say that about the grub.. Smoked Salmon pasta with a touch of chilli! 🤪. We had bought a little pot of lazy chilly sauce and even though I put the tiniest amount in, (in fact David queried how little), the first mouthful practically blew our heads off.. It didn’t matter how much extra cream and lemon juice we added, it was barely edible.. suffice to say the fish seemed to enjoy it, but we were half expecting to find some dead ones bobbing about later that evening or the following morning!

The next morning, the forecast showed fab winds to take us the 25 NM’s to Elba, certainly the winds where we were anchored reinforced the forecast, so at 7 in the morning we picked up our anchor, set our sails and off we went. Sadly by 8.30am, the wind died and the iron spinnaker, (the engine) came on, although not for long. The wind simply changed direction and we goosewinged the rest of the way arriving on the North West coast at a place called Marcianna, where we dropped our anchor for the night, somewhat sheltered from the swell by the harbour wall.

Isla di Elba

Elba has an area of 86 square miles (223 square km) and is the largest of the Tuscan Archipelago, yet it feels (thankfully) secluded and far from the bustle and overwhelming tourism of the mainland.

The reason you may have heard of the island is because of its claim to fame as the home of Napoleon Bonaparte during his enforced exile; following his abdication in 1814, the commander remained for just under one year as Sovereign of Elba. Napoleon certainly left his mark on the island, apparent today thanks to his introduction of underground drainage systems to stop flooding and to his widening of roads, essential for his imperial carriage to pass. Other famed guests have been known to frequent the island since, from supermodels to actors to politicians, where they can lounge peacefully under the sun, senza paparazzi. Otherwise, the island, only an hour’s ferry ride from the port of Piombino, remains largely unspoiled by foreign mass tourism.

We had a glorious evening watching the colours change as the sun started to go down, on board, joined only by another 4/5 boats so not nearly as hectic as Capraia!

After a peaceful night, we managed to get a buoy in the tiny buoy field tucked up inside the marina, which mean’t we could safely leave Seaclusion and go exploring into the coast part of Marcianna, the old town being up the hill.

We then caught the bus up to Marcianna Old Town, which was lovely and quaint with a wonderful creperie with its owner who couldn’t help take the piss out of David when he asked for a cold cappuccino in the middle of the day, clearly not the done thing in Italy!

Somewhat nervously we jumped in it, they don’t even stop to allow you to get on board, but the trip up the mountain with the views soon dissipated our nervousness, it was stunning!

When we started to get near the top however we realised that the wind was much stronger and the clouds were flying past..and whilst they didn’t really effect the northwards view, southwards was another issue.. as was the rocky path that led to the very top which certainly made me cling to the inner part, rather than peer down the unprotected drop the other side… having never been scared of heights before, my determination many years ago to get the shot of Shipwreck Bay on Zakynthos certainly has a lot to answer for!

Back at the bottom, all safe and sound, we caught the bus back down to Marcianna town and returned to Seaclusion to chill out, just in time as the heavens opened and it poured all night!

The next day, we were back on the bus, this time to visit Portoferraio. Whilst we could go there with Seaclusion, Navily comments had warned that the permitted anchorage there was 3 miles from the nearest dinghy stopping place, heavily populated with ferries, so we thought this was the better option, rather than potentially missing out.

Portoferraio

The town of Portoferraio serves as the main port and is where Napoleon’s official residence, the Villa dei Mulini, still remains. Colourful houses with striped awnings line the seafront around the marina where no doubt later in the day there will be more than a few superyachts jostling for space. The new part wasn’t much to write home about so we headed to the old town and up to Napoleon’s Villa and the old fort with its lighthouse, wandering through the tiny ancient streets and houses that were so narrow, they could be called “Tube Houses”.

The views across the old city, the harbour and the bay were stunning.

We then strolled back down towards the seafront, with its little cafes and shops, a milkshake was calling after all…

We had dinner out that evening, as clearly anything we cooked might not have been too clever by that stage and then paddled our way through the very full buoy field to reach Seaclusion, refreshed and ready to set sail again the following day!

22nd July 2024