Ajaccio to Bonifaccio

We finally made it to Bonifaccio! There IS an entrance to the marina in here somewhere! We had to follow the ferry to find it though. Stunning scenery!

After the Force 7 (gusting to force 9) winds on the west side of Corsica. No, this is not Eidos but I sure feel for the owner of this boat. I suspect the skipper got too close to land and couldn't get away again. The wind reached 65 knots in this area (just north of Bonifacio). Good thing we stayed put in a marina.

The best way to travel on land

During the Mistral, while Eidos was safely tied to a dock in Propriano, Filippo and I went sightseeing on a scooter.

Mistral in Corsica

I've heard about these cigar-shaped clouds that announce the arrival of a Mistral , but until I saw one myself, didn't believe how evil they look. We were on our way to Bonifacio and after experiencing some big swell, chicken me decided to hide out for awhile in Propiano. The next day we saw this cloud and soon had force 7-9 (35-60 knot) wind. Good decision.

Corsica

Wally, the little runabout

Corsica

It's an amazing island - very rugged and harsh. I am still suffering from lack of good Internet access so will have to wait until winter before catching up. Meanwhile back to repairs and maintenance chores and very slowly moving south. If you're interested in joining me, I hope you have some interest and skills in boat repairs! Possibility of room and board in exchange depending on skills both sailing and maintenance.

Heat wave in Menton, France

We're hiding from the heat today, doing what the locals do - enjoying a siesta. Anything to get out of the sun. It is intense!

Anchoring out is actually more fun than being at a marina right now because we can just jump off the boat to cool off, but sometimes it is necessary to tie up to a dock. To check email for instance and to update the blog as well as to do some sightseeing and to top up the water. Good thing that unlimited showers are only two Euros a day! which is the same price as ten minutes of Internet access! I really hope that Italy is a bit cheaper so that I can include some photos here. Time for another shower!!!

Antibes

I was in Antibes three years ago looking for a sailboat. It is amazing to be here again on board Eidos just three short years later, and just about the same time of the year. My dream to sail on the Med became a goal, then a plan and now a reality. A totally different perspective to see it from the sea.

Oh, by the way, I have hundreds of photos and just need to connect my laptop to include some of them here and on Flickr. Hopefully from Nice.

How Time Flies...

Amazing how time flies when you're having fun. Of course my other excuse for not writing more is lack of convenient and reliable Internet connection where I can hook up my laptop.

Eidos is in Le Lavendou (surrounded by lavender fields) near Toulon after surviving Gulf de Lyon's force 8 Mistral and many idylic days in Costa Brava and southern France. I will try to catch up with the stories, add some photos too and if you click on the Flickr badge below, you can see many more.

Sailing the southern coast of France

Crossing the Gulf de Lyon, France

Octopus reading the news

Paula and Moa

Stowing the groceries

And so summer is finally here. The heater is put away and so are the sweaters and long pants. Out come the bathing suits. Hopefully the Mistral and Tramontana winds will go back to where they came from. I certainly don't want any more force 7 and 8 conditions. Been there, done that.

I took the photo with the scrap of jib out during a relatively calm moment on the way to Marseille when I didn't have to worry about getting salt water on my camera. Need to remember to buy one of those waterproof disposable ones. And one of these days I'll write up about sailing in the Gulf de Lyon with 40 knots of Mistral wind and a French Navy helicopter hovering over Eidos with its crew wondering what the heck we were doing out there. Well, it was only blowing 15 when we started out... They told us to head for the nearest port immediately. Right, guys, at 7.5 knots it should only take a minute or two. Atlantic crossing was easier.

I didn't set up the photo of the octopus reading the newspaper, honest. Just one of those lucky moments when I had the camera with me.

The two ladies are Paula from Venezuela and Moa from Finland who came for a week. And the messy galley is right after we received three bags of food from a charter boat in Marseille. Lucky for us, because the food in France is twice as expensive as in Spain.

More coming soon...

Early morning excitement on Porquerolles Island

The wind had been whistling madly in the rigging all night keeping me awake and the sun at day break was an anemic yellow. I checked the instruments - 20 knots from the northeast. Another Mistral. The power boat in the photo was a bit far out in the anchorage, but not unusually so - large yachts often anchor more out in the open.



Fifteen minutes later the power yacht and the catamaran were definitely dragging anchor. The navy motored out of the harbour to wake the crew up. Another five minutes and they would have been on the rocks.

The cat wisely came into the port for the crew to catch their breath and reassess the situation but the power yacht after retrieving his anchor returned to the anchorage. After all, it was only blowing 25-30. The anchorage is known to be poor holding. We're staying put and exploring inland today.

Le Lavandou to Ille de Levant