Sardinia to Italy (Ottiolu to Rome) 2009 Spring Trip

"Counter Girl" had spent the winter afloat in Ottiolu and was fine when we arrived on 24 April. We put her back together and changed all the rubber bits in the Lavac loo. We left 1 May to anchor in the nearby Brandinchi bay. Using the dinghy we cleaned the fouled starboard side of the hull - the sunny side over-winter! By 3 May we were on the free "old commercial wall" in Olbia. Friends arrived on 5 May and we sailed to Rotondo marina for one night 31euros(e) - CG is 11.21m. Next day Cala di Volpe for a lunch stop to show them James Bond territory, we looked in at Porto Cervo - not many boats here yet, and we anchored in Porto Palma on Caprera Island - one of the Maddalena Islands. Then to La Maddalena marina (22e) through the Chiese Channel. We walked miles over this island - just beautiful. Back on mainland Sardinia we anchored in Porto Pozzo one night and then sailed to Santa Teresa di Gallura (10.50e).

We had an excellent sail across the Straits to Bonifacio Corsica on 12 May. The entrance was difficult to see so we followed a Moby ferry in. 5e for the little train to the medieval city on top of the cliffs. 24.27e a night in the marina.There is a very good launderette near the pontoons. Our visitors took the Moby ferry back to catch the plane from Olbia. May 15 we left for Porto Vecchio via "Passe de la Piantarella". We have two plotting systems - C-map NT on a Simrad chartplotter and Sea-Pro on an Acer computer with Navionics charts. Both were very useful. Porto Vecchio was 30.40e.

Only 18 miles to Solenzara but it was Sunday 17 and no one about till late afternoon. 18.30e a night and we had to move to the East Jetty. No lazy lines here but a buoy to pick up for the bow mooring line. Next to Teverna 32 miles and we had engine problems for the first time since leaving Cowes! Fuel starvation. When we bought CG in 2000 we thoroughly cleaned the fuel tank but we did not clean the pipe that comes up from the bottom of the tank and this must have been clogged up. Malcolm blew back into the tank with an airline and this sorted it. We cleaned out the Racor filter for the next few days removing less bits each time. Taverna was 18.94e and it has a good internet. From here to Bastia. We saw a swordfish jump twice just before the marina. We went into Port Toga and were well looked after. 34e a night. In Vieux Port it would have been 43e!

We had fitted AIS in Sardinia and now it was magic with Bastia being such a big ferry port. Up to Macinaggio our last stop in Corsica. We had had very light winds so far in Corsica but here it really blew and we were grateful for lots of help to moor. Capraia Island on the way to Elba was very pretty. Lots of nesting birds on the cliffs. A huge dredger was working in the entrance to the marina so we anchored in the bay. On Sunday 24 May we had a good sail to Portoferraio on Elba where we tied up to the town quay 40e a night. Girls in the office spoke good english but we needed help with the transponder system for obtaining water and electricity. The next day we moved across to the anchorage opposite which had very good holding - mud and sand. On 29 May we had F6-7 from the N and a catamaran beside us with chain and rope dragged.

We had planned to circumnavigate Elba anchoring most of the time but the weather was very unsettled for the next two weeks so we used the dinghy to get across to the quay each morning (keeping a sharp look out for the Moby and Euromar ferries ) and CG was anchored in the bay. Buses on Elba are very cheap so we used them to visit Marina di Campo, Porto Azzuro (the pontoons were snaking alarmingly in the swell), Marciana marina and Marciana village up in the mountains. We visited Napoleon's house in Portoferraio and his country house. 10 June to Giglio island where we anchored in the Bay Seno di Campese on the NW of the island. We were told to anchor outside a line of red buoys but these were on the 10 metre line! We discovered the trick was to drop the anchor in reasonable depth inside the buoys and drift back outside the line hoping the wind didn't blow us back. This bay has a huge holiday development plus all that goes with it.

We hoped to get into Giglio marina on the E side but alterations were underway and no room. We decided to cross to Port Ercole but again no luck as the harbour was divided into 8 areas. We were given a list of 8 phone numbers to call - non starter - my italian is not good enough. We went to Cala Galera marina nextdoor. Ch 09 answered in english, chap met us on the pontoon to take lines and the marina had excellent facilities 40e a night. Fledgling swallows were leaving the nests along the arcade infront of the shops and all the mooring lines ad rows of tiny birds on them. Sat 13 June to Riva di Traiano where we had arranged to leave CG ashore for July & August.

Riva di Traiano proved to be excellent if a little more expensive than we hoped. 45e a night. We needed bimini repairs, more metalwork for the frame and chandlery items. All were found along the front. Several really good chandleries here. The supermarket on the marina was basic but the Co-op was 1 mile away - walkable - but with bikes it was easy. You can not live on your boat once out of the water - the boatyard is securely locked each evening. The day we left we were lifted 0800, power washed, put on supports and we left for Rome on 1140 bus. We caught the bus to Civitavecchia, a train to Rome where we spent one night , train to airport and EasyJet to Gatwick. Home Thurs 25 June.