We have had some technical issues, which have meant
that we have not updated
our website for a while, however we have had a
wonderful time visiting Isola
di Giannutri (a small rocky island which is
virtually uninhabited, about 30
miles from Civitaveccia), Isola di Giglio (a
bustling fishing village where
we just managed to fit Keoma into the harbour
- see pictures) and Elba which
is picturesque with a beautiful port
(Portoferraio) and some lovely
anchorages and beaches.
Giannutri Rocks
Giglio Harbour
Giglio Buildings
Giglio Castello
View from Giglio
Castello
Giglio Castello from
afar
Leaving Giglio
Elba from the sea
Portoferraio Harbour
Ice Cream in
Portoferraio
View of castle from Elba
anchorage
View of Portoferraio from Elba
anchorage
Children on foredeck
Charlie at computer
Lighthouse outside Elba
New
spinnaker!
We sailed across to
Sardinia in a force 6, with the wind virtually on the
nose and big
waves. It was 120 miles and quite hard work, but the boat
coped
brilliantly and it was a good test for us. Particularly reassuring
was
that the children were on deck at 4am enjoying it! They had heard
the
rustle of chocolate bars being unwrapped (C and J had done quite a few
sail
changes and were feeling a bit low on energy) and sprang out of
bed. This
also meant they saw some shooting stars so they were doubly
pleased.
Sunset on night sail
Charlie wiring in
inverter
Sardinia has proved rather eventful so
far. We arrived to a beautiful
natural anchorage - turquoise waters and
an amazing panorama of mountains.
The place is called Punta di
Capecciolo. We spent a couple of nights here,
including a barbecue on
one of the nearby islands (see picture of us with
"Wilson").
Unfortunately we also
had an encounter between a rock and our keel, meaning
we now need to have
the boat lifted out for an inspection.
View of mountains - Punto de
Capecciolo
BBQ
View of anchorage
Collecting firewood
We moved onto another bay
around 20 miles further north, called Golfo di
Marinella. By now it was
getting quite windy and we spent a couple of days
there, storm bound by the
Mistral. We had some amazing gusts of wind, up to
37 knots. It
was very reassuring that our anchor held through this. There
was a
forest fire and we watched the helecopter taking bags of water from
the
sea. Yesterday the wind started to abate and Alice had a
windsurfing
lesson. Juan and Charlie hired jetskis. In the
evening we went to Olbia,
ready for the lift out tomorrow and Victoria and
Juan's ferry back to the
mainland. It was great to have them with us
for a few days.
Windsurfing lesson
Jetskis
Lighthouse outside
Olbia
