Sailing to Corsica

Goodbye to the Maddalena Islands    

We had a nice slow start on Tuesday 11 July with a sail of about 5 hours planned. The wind was expected to build from the southeast and so we waited until 1145 before departing our anchorage off Cannigione [Ed: where, worryingly since we were heading north, the wind was funnelled down the valley to come from the north!]. Once outside we were clear of this funnelling effect, we had around 10 knots from the east-northeast and so sailed hard on the wind around the east side of the Maddalena Islands before bearing away and heading downwind for the south-eastern tip of Corsica. Tracking along the northern side of the islands we hoisted the spinnaker and made very good progress.

Approaching Corsica   

It was all going very well but we did notice that over a couple of hours the wind had increased to being more 16 knots than 14 knots. Lowering the large MPS with just the two of us on board can be a little tricky above 15 knots and so we picked our moment and changed the sail plan to a poled-out genoa instead. As it happens, we could have kept the MPS up all the way but we felt that it was better to play it safe and not risk damaging the sail. Part of the way across we had the excitement of lowering the Italian courtesy ensign and hoisting the French one; it’s the first time we’ve flown that since 2014.

Port de Rondinara    

Our planned destination on Corsica was circular bay called Port de Rondinara, which is very popular for its clear water and sandy beach. Despite it being open to the easterly swell it was very busy when we arrived at just after 4pm. We guessed that a lot of the motor boats would leave in a couple of hours which would give us more anchoring options and so looked about for a temporary space to squeeze into. All the while Nicky was looking at the masts swaying about as the ½ metre swell rolled into the bay. She was concerned that BV would sit sideways on to this swell when the wind dropped later, which would have been very rolly, so we looked at other options.

Anchored in Golfe de Sant'Amanza   

Four and a half miles to the south of Port de Rondinara is the Golfe de Sant'Amanza which we felt would be better protected from the swell and the prevailing and forecast wind. That became our new destination for the day and we set off again, eventually anchoring there at 1730.

We joined several other yachts there and almost as soon as we had sorted ourselves out we saw a steady stream of yachts making their way into the bay to join us. It might not have had the clear turquoise water and sandy bottom of Port de Rondinara, but straight away it proved to be much more settled, with no swell making its way down to the bottom of the gulf. As a result, we had a very quiet night and slept well.

Golfe de Saint’Amanza, Corsica, France