Week 17: Olbia, IT to Ajaccio, FR (103 nm)

Alec’s parents, Barry and Sarah, joined us for the week to meet Serenity First and explore a bit of Sardinia and Corsica. We enjoyed some idyllic bays, charming towns and challenging sailing – but the highlight was the incredible harbour and town of Bonifacio on the south coast of Corsica. A must-visit! The Italians and French also lived up to their culinary reputations with some incredible seafood (though our tuna was up there, if we do say so ourselves!).

Big Boats and Big Appetites in Sardinia

A big wind system was passing through the Sardinia / Corsica area, meaning Olbia stayed windy throughout our time there. Alec’s parents, Barry and Sarah, came to join us for the week, and did manage to arrive in one piece despite a very bumpy landing at the airport. They were happy to be back on solid ground, though of course we immediately changed that by bringing them on board Serenity 😊. Luckily, we were very secure in our spot on the harbour wall. It was such a pleasure to show Barry and Sarah around Serenity, as they’ve been hearing about her since this time last year!

We stayed in Olbia for a night with Barry and Sarah, and started by taking them back to the cocktail bar we’d found on our first night here. Everyone had something wacky – Alec tried a Black Bart (with orange and chocolate), and I had something with mezcal. We followed this up with a meal out at an unusual pizza restaurant, Giro Pizza, that had been recommended by TripAdvisor. It was a long walk away in a slightly dodgy looking location; and, when you walked it, it was empty and looked a bit shabby. But, then they took you out to the back where they had a massive, cool walled-in garden area, and a banging playlist of 60s-80s music. Barry and Sarah enjoyed telling us all about the songs and artists that we were hearing, and we had some unique and very delicious pizza. A great find – go TripAdvisor!

The next day, the weather was kind to us and the big winds had blown through. So, we cast off and headed for a bay to the north, which had been recommended to us by one of the other yachts in Olbia (a very kind gentleman named Rudinger, who at 77 was still happily sailing his boat around the Med. He looked more like 60 though – clearly sailing is good for your health!) Anyway, his remark about this bay was that we would be anchored next to a number of super yachts, many of which would likely be worth more than the GDP of a small country. He was not kidding!

The wind was initially really flukey, but once we got outside the hills around Olbia it settled down and we had a storming beam reach into our bay (hitting +7 knots!). We could see why it was popular – beautiful turquoise water and plenty of large, well-protected coves to anchor in. It was also understandably busy, so it took us a while to nose around and find a Serenity-sized spot. But before too long we were settled in the thick of things. We spent most of the afternoon ogling the enormous yachts around us and laughing at how, in several cases, their tenders (smaller boats that take people from the main boat to shore) were larger than Serenity! We were a bit envious of one in particular that had a huge inflatable slide running from their top deck to the sea – we so wanted to try it! We also did a bit of googling and discovered that the largest boat in the bay was a new one, just completed for the Emir of Qatar. It had cost a bargain $310 million to build ($3 million / metre). Casual. It was so large it could have been a cruise ship!

To end the day, we were treated to a stunning sunset and a star-filled sky. Barry even got out an app to help us identify the planets and constellations. It also pointed out the moon, though we didn’t think that was quite as impressive a feat 😊!

Though we could easily have spent the week just exploring this bay, we next headed up to La Maddalena island, off the NE end of Sardinia. La Maddalena and the other little islands around it are a protected marine reserve, so we looked forward to something a little more remote-feeling. To our slight surprise, the island was dominated by a sizeable town. We found a mooring here at the municipal harbour, and then went in for a look around. Though it wasn’t quite the marine reserve we expected, it was a charming town and they had some grade A ice cream!

After a few hours exploring the town, we found a little wine bar and sampled some more of the Sardinian wine we’ve become partial to: Vermentino, which is a delicious, easy-drinking white. Barry then consulted the trusty TripAdvisor app, which led us to La Magretta and an exceptional meal. They specialised in seafood and we wasted no time in sampling the menu (plus a bit more Vermentino!). There were seafood platters, tuna carpaccio, raw shrimp with avocado (much nicer than it sounds), risotto, grilled fish… and all was excellent!

The One-of-a-Kind City of Bonifacio

The forecast for the next day suggested it would be a good one to pass through the strait of Bonifacio. The topography of the area means that even a light wind out at sea becomes a big blow when funnelled through this gap between Sardinia and Corsica. It is often too windy to go across, so when you’ve got a window, you should take it! There was literally zero wind coming through the Maddalenas when we set off in the morning and yet we still got 10-12 knots through the straight. This was perfect sailing wind, so we rolled out the sails and enjoyed a lovely ride over.

From about 4 miles out, we started to be able to pick out the town of Bonifacio, perched precariously on the sheer cliffs that line the southern coast of Corsica. It was not until we were much closer though that we managed to work out where the entrance was. Bonifacio is an incredible natural harbour, with a cut out in the cliffs that wraps around to form a perfectly protected inlet. It is an awe-inspiring view as you sail in – the huge cliffs, with the town on top, and this narrow entrance that somehow opens out into a beautiful harbour. It was a highlight not only of the week, but of our trip so far! The town that exists today was built by Boniface II, who was the leader of Tuscany under the Holy Roman Empire, in the 9th century as a fortress to protect Tuscany’s borders from invasion by Saracens from Africa.

At the bottom of the inlet is Bonifacio’s bustling (some might say manic) marina and little port. They pack an awful lot into this little space, including moorings for a few mega yachts and full-size ferries. Fortunately for us, the inlet also has two small bays that branch off before you get to the marina area, one of which is a mooring area for yachts looking for a quieter place to park for the night. It was an unusual set up, and actually a first for us – normally when we moor to rocks, we use the anchor to secure the bow of the boat. But in this case, there were laid mooring lines (I think because the bottom was too rocky for anchors). This meant that in order to park, you had to back up to the rocks and find the tail end of one of the many laid lines (not all of which were in working order, so this was a little more challenging than expected!). Then, you have someone on board take this line forward to the bow, while someone else—either a swimmer or someone in a dinghy—takes lines from the back of the boat to the rocks. With the bow held out by the mooring line, and the stern held in by the lines on the rocks, the boat is then secure. It took us a few attempts, but eventually, with the help of one of our neighbours, we got ourselves settled.

With Serenity taken care of, we hopped into the dinghy to go explore the town. A continuous chain of upmarket restaurants, clearly catering to the yacht tourist trade, is laid along the edge of the harbour, but a short (if steep) walk up the hill brought us to the beautiful and charming main town. Protected by high walls and a Game of Thrones-style gate, Bonifacio was a maze of little streets and higgledy-piggledy buildings looking out on the absolutely stunning view across the strait. We had a wonderful time losing ourselves, finding ice cream (very important), and admiring the buzzing atmosphere. We aimed to do a loop of the town, and eventually made it to the western extremity, which overlooks the entrance to the inlet. A view I could never get tired of!! Interestingly, there was a large mariners’ cemetery there as well. It was beautiful, with small buildings dedicated to individual families. Not a bad place to end up I think 😊.

With the sun starting to set, we headed back to Serenity. As we were coming in, we noticed that the bay we’d parked in had a little beach at its head. It looked too good to pass up, so we quickly donned swimwear and headed off to investigate. It turned out to be the perfect end to a perfect day! The water was bath temperature, and the beach was lovely and sandy. We enjoyed a celebratory beer and a great swim while we watched the sun go down (and some pretty impressive superyacht late arrivals – one had a helicopter)!

Corsica’s Windy West Coast

Bonifacio was a busy spot, but that wasn’t representative of the rest of Corsica. The west coast, which we travelled up, was sparsely populated and fairly lightly developed. This made for some amazing scenery and cute towns.

First up was Figari, an inlet with an anchorage where we’d heard rumour a pizza delivery man would come out to the boat. But, it didn’t quite work out for us! The main anchorage was small, with only room for maybe 4-5 boats. There were three already there when we arrived, and unfortunately they’d anchored such that, despite several goes, we couldn’t fit Serenity in. Undeterred, we went up to the head of the inlet to see if we could anchor near the marina there. It was a tight fit in a tiny space; we thought we’d managed but our anchor wouldn’t set. After a bit of soul searching, we finally decided we’d have to go to the marina for the night. The winds were picking up and we didn’t want to chance it. Strong winds meant a tough park, but finally we got set! I then went off to check us in and got to test my French. I was quite pleased with myself – I managed to sort out a mess when they entered our details wrong and even build a little bit of rapport with the staff. Thank you to Fran HM for being such a good teacher!

We thought we might go find the pizza restaurant that did the boat delivery, so we could at least still take advantage of that, but sadly they didn’t take card and we didn’t have any cash. Luckily, we keep Serenity well stocked for just such emergencies and still had a great meal with (even more) Vermentino to boot 😊.

Hoping to do better the next day, we left at the crack of dawn and headed for Porto Pollo (or “Port Chicken” as we called it). We had some punchy winds on our way up, but as usual Serenity handled them like a champ, and no one got sea sick. By lunch time, we had picked up a mooring buoy just off the beach. This turned out to be another special spot! It was a very small resort town, but with a lovely collection of little bars and restaurants and a great beach. We enjoyed a stroll, some more ice cream (of course) and then spent the afternoon swimming and paddleboarding from the boat.

Our final destination was Ajaccio, which is the capital of Corsica. It was another windy forecast, so we were off early again to beat the worst of it. We had some of the biggest seas we’ve seen yet with Serenity! Waves were around 1.5-2m, and for the first half of our journey we were going straight into them. That meant even I was feeling a little bit green! It also put our storage to the test, and we had a few casualties (some overturned porridge, and several boxes of supplies ended up strewn around the saloon). But no matter – this is all part of boat life!

We were all pretty grateful to arrive and get out of the sea state, and were instantly perked up by the hubbub of the town. We spent some time exploring before selecting a spot for a final blow out meal to end the week on a big high. We found another fish restaurant, this one run by a husband and wife team. It had a really authentic feel, and the food was to die for! I was enjoying it so much, I decided to spring for dessert – I got a few raised eyebrows when an enormous rum-covered donut arrived at my place. It was magnifique!

Sunday morning, we waved goodbye to Barry and Sarah after a truly amazing week. For me, this kind of week is what the boat is all about – making amazing memories with people you love! It was a very special one indeed. So, with that in mind, we cast off lines to make a beeline for Palma de Mallorca in the Balaeric islands. Alec’s sister Liv and her fiancé Elliott are meeting us there to explore the island and then sail with us to Valencia. How lucky are we to have visitors twice in such a short space? We can’t wait!

Next week, we’ll share the story of our passage to Palma and our first days in Spain while waiting for Liv and Elliott. Stay tun(a)ed! (All credit to Alec for the pun.)