May 17 – 26, 2015 —
On Sunday May 17th we slipped out of Barcelona for Bonifacio, Corsica in a skinny weather window between two 55+ knot/45+ foot-seas mistrals. Back to that shortly.
Leaving Barcelona was a major challenge for us—emotionally and technically. Emotionally, because we loved it there and could have stayed all summer, as another one of our cruising friends decided to do. Good thing for guests—they keep us on schedule. Technically, because we had an unexpected issue with the rudder that we had to deal with.
One month earlier Quintessa was hauled out at a boat yard about five miles north of Barcelona for the usual annual maintenance – bottom paint, cleaning, polishing, zincs, etc. We picked the yard, EMV Marine, over the winter because, although young, they were an authorized Swan servicer. Swans being high quality yachts, one would expect good service from an authorized yard. It turns out the service was great service, due in no small part to the project manager assigned to us. The confidence we had in the manager and boat yard was a relief when they discovered the loose skeg the day we hauled out. The skeg which holds the rudder onto the bottom of the boat had to be dealt with, we just had no idea how! The skeg attachment is quite technical on a Hylas and no one at the boat yard had any experience with this construction. Three choices: 1) do nothing (it had probably been loose for a while), 2) work with the existing attachment and do a minor repair to tighten it up (probably what had been done previously), or 3) remove and rework the fiberglass attachment foot. After numerous consults with the builder in Taiwan, the local fiberglass specialists and the boat yard it was decided to undertake the third option. This decision involved considerably more expense and a delay to our departure of at least one week which became two, but provided an opportunity to address an alignment problem with the rudder. The alignment not being a major issue was one that would be nice to address as there are three rudder bearings and, unlike a two bearing system, if there is any misalignment the autopilot and everything else has to work harder. The result would be a stronger attachment. It is always in our best interest to keep the rudder attached to the boat and not risk leaving it on the bottom of the Med.
So, back to those mistrals: As we were leaving the boatyard and heading back to Port Vell in Barcelona one mistral was cranking up while the second one was just forming. Not sure what to think of the situation and the forecasting being beyond our ability we contacted Commanders Weather in, of all places, Nashua, New Hampshire, our home state. We established Commanders Weather on retainer for just this occasion. Our decision was complicated by the fact that we had guests arriving in Bonifacio to meet us. Their answer: leave at 1800 hours on Sunday and maintain 6 knots no matter what. The disclaimer was: if you encounter heavy conditions in the first 12 hours left over from the first mistral, stick to the plan and it will briefly flatten out before the next, even larger, mistral. That was not entirely reassuring. Ever ones for a Plan “B” and “C” we worked out alternative destinations of Menorca and Calvi (Northern tip of Corsica). Fortunately everything played out as forecast and we had mild conditions (although minimal sailing) for the entire passage.
Our friends, Bill and Sharon, whom we had met and sailed with in the Caribbean, were standing on the dock when we pulled in. They had had just enough time to catch lunch between their own arrival and ours. We had planned to arrive much earlier, but as they say…the best laid plans… The day after we arrived we enjoyed the full strength of the second mistral from the safety of the Harbor at Bonifacio with our guests.
Bonifacio was fascinating. It is on the southern coast of Corsica (France) and just 8 miles across the Bonifacio Strait from Sardinia (Italy). Like so many of the islands and port cities of the Med, Bonifacio has a citadel on the top of a hill (more like a rock cliff), with a siege history similar to Gibraltar. The Genovese were ruling Bonifacio by the 12th century so, though currently part of France, it looks more Italian than French. The island is rugged with mountains covering most of it. In late May some are still snowcapped.
After just an overnight on the corner of Sardinia, we headed northeast to Elba, an island off the western coast of Italy. We had been there fourteen years ago, while sailing with friends on their boat. We loved Elba then and were enthused about returning.
Elba has its own history and claim to fame. At the end of the 18th century Britain occupied Elba for two years. Napoleon arrived there in 1814 having been exiled there by the British. With him arrived over 700 military personnel. While there he oversaw the construction of roads and modernized Portoferraio, the main city on Elba. In 1815 he embarked on a ship, evaded the naval patrols, and managed to sail back to France. His home on Elba is now open as a museum. Most of the original furniture is gone. An attempt is being made to obtain similar pieces to restore the original look. They have a ways to go. The internal walls look wallpapered, but are actually all hand painted. The home sits high on a hill with stunning views of the sea and harbor entrance.
In ancient times Elba was important for the iron ore that was mined there. Mining lasted from the 6th century BC to 1984 when the last mine closed.
Today Elba is an active holiday island. Weekends in the summer find the harbors filled with mostly sail boats and the waterfront restaurants busy. Ferries from several mainland cities provide a constant buzz and wake through the harbor and anchorage. It is the only anchorage we have been in where we need to gimbal the stove to cook!
On Tuesday we had a lovely sail to Punta Ala Marina on the mainland where we would leave Quintessa for a few days and do land travel. The evening was topped off with a celebration of Bill’s birthday. Bob made home-made strawberry ice cream from the local milk and cream. To say it was full fat is an understatement! Bill commented that it was the richest ice cream he had ever had, and strawberry to boot–his favorite. Yumm!
Tomorrow: on to exploring hill towns.