On the water in Corsica – the south coast

After about a week of exploring in and around Ajaccio, the wind had died down enough to continue our circumnavigation of the island.

We had been given some recommendations for anchorages along the southwest and south coast, however, most of these were rather small, rather busy, not particularly attractive, and not always suitable for the weather conditions. So, we hopped leisurely along the coast, picking our anchorages based on the wind and swell conditions, with the port of Bonifacio and the îles Lavezzi in our sights.

Here in the south, the boat traffic was considerably busier, with an endless stream of sailing yachts (charter or otherwise), big Italian motor cruisers, various two- and three masters, restored old fishing boats, and the odd research vessel. Jetski’s are also incredibly popular in the Mediterranean, unfortunately so given the noise they make, and this was very much the case in the area between Corsica and Sardinia.

A short and sharp blow

After five days of coastal hugging and anchoring in beautiful locations (though less so than on the west coast), such as Plage du Taravo, Cala di Roccapina, and Anse de Chevanne, we approached Bonifacio, described as one of the most spectacular harbours in Corsica, if not the Mediterranean. In this case that description just might be correct.

Unfortunately, winds of up to 100 km/h were forecast from the west for a few hours that same evening, and the harbour opens to the west.

So instead of staying in the marina for the night, we did a quick tour of the port on motor, enough to be able to agree that, yes, this was one stunning harbour; exceedingly narrow, deep and long with steep pale limestone cliffs on one side and the towering ramparts and cliffs of the medieval citadel on the other.

The next question was: where can we shelter from 100 km/h winds? The îles Lavezzi looked gorgeous on paper, but their anchorages were rather small and poorly protected with residual swell coming in from all sides, and on closer inspection also packed with large motor cruisers that were likely not at all well anchored (this being the Med).

Beautiful Italian islands beckoned on the horizon, but we did not want to get caught up in the infamous Italian bureaucracy of boat papers and visas.

So up around the SE corner of Corsica, we went and into Golfe de Sant’ Amanza where we found a solid anchoring spot all the way up into the shallows with a low ridge protecting us from the west. Here we sat out the westerly blow in comfort and quite pleasant surrounds. We took advantage of this time to visit Bonnifacio and to get a few boat jobs done.

Fickle winds

With all the motoring and motor-sailing we had done, we needed to fuel up so the next stop was the marina in Solenzara. Despite a favourable forecast of light southerly winds, we spent the whole day taking sails up and down in various configurations, with the wind coming from any and all directions and ranging from nothing to brisk and back again.

At one point, despite there being white caps all around us and just 200m away, we sat in complete calm waiting for enough of a puff to move us – go figure!

As usual the grass looked greener a bit further away from the coast but even there, we had little luck, so in the end we gave up, fired up the iron jib and made a rhumbline to Solenzara. Where we filled up and discovered the concept of ‘Restaurant/Glacerie’, that is, places that do meals and have an enormous selection of artisanal ice creams – how civilized!