Swallow's adventures

On 20th September 2017 we awoke to a beautiful rainbow and light winds, so at 0845 we bade farewell to the Corsican mountains and set sail for the Tuscan island of Elba, 44 miles away; we sailed the first half of the passage close hauled but later had a great beam reach.

As we passed the small isle of Pianosa ,with 12 miles to go, Paul was delighted to catch a 6 lb mahi-mahi; OMG what a blood bath- I’m surprised we didn’t attract a frenzy of sharks; I think next time, rather than bash the poor creature on the head we should adopt the alcohol knock-out method ( for the fish, not the crew).

Our first sighting of Elba was rounded sloping cliffs, carpeted in greenery with trees dotted along the tops. We found a peaceful anchorage in the Golfe della Lacona and yes you guessed it- fish for dinner. Unfortunately the weather was not going to be settled for long, so after a pleasant night’s sleep we moved further south to the island of Giglio. We vowed that we would return and see more of this beautiful island, and in fact the whole area- there are seven Tuscan islands in this national park but some are out of bounds.

The 42 mile passage to Giglio was pretty uneventful, apart from me losing my favourite red polarised sunglasses over the side whilst shelling prawns! We were close hauled most of the way, with one reef in the mainsail; sounds mad in next to no wind but we’ve discovered that this gives us a nicely balanced boat when we manage to get the genoa out too. We are constantly surprised at how many sailboats we see without their sails up, they just motor everywhere and don’t bother. Each island and the mainland coast had fluffy moisture clouds over them, my favourite pastime on days like this is to see what shapes I can see in them- today it’s a baby elephant! Before the days of plotters these clouds, formed by the warm moisture rising, used to tell the navigators that they were nearing land. We’d been feeling quite emotional on the way, happily reminiscing about our childhoods, brought on by listening to Abba for hours; these feelings turned to sadness as we approached the area where the Concordia went down claiming many lives. Our first sight of Giglio port, on the NE coast of the island, showed us the typical old Tuscan houses of various muted colours with terracotta roofs. We ventured just past the port to an anchorage in the pilot book but the shallower area had been buoyed off so it was too deep for us, so, coupled with the fact that there weren’t any other boats there, we decided to try our luck in the port. The coast guard answered our radio call as we came in, he promptly summoned the harbour master, Roberto, from the taverna and within five minutes four amused Italians were gesticulating and summoning us into a spot along the wall; we were asked to berth stern to as there were no mooring lines meaning we would have to drop anchor in the harbour- a first for us, a bit nail biting as Swallow doesn’t like going backwards so Captain Paul had to steer leaving me to drop the anchor, which for me was a bit worrying as I could see other chains below us; luckily no snags when we came to leave.

This harbour is so picturesque, you could sit here for hours just watching the comings and goings of the inhabitants, small boats and the rather large ferry which causes quite a lot of wash! Exploring the village we found narrow streets leading uphill to cute little houses having terraced gardens growing fig and apple trees. There are several bakeries, selling ginormous rolls, pizzerias and a few very expensive grocery stores (well it is an island). We sampled the delicious fried calamari in a cone, give me that over fish and chips any day! The church has a shrine to the Concordia victims, very moving; there is still salvage works operating just outside the harbour. We took the bus( 4 euros return) 400m up the very steep mountain to Castello, not so bad going up but on the way down I felt like I was surfing! Quaint and peaceful Castello is an Aragonese walled village which is still inhabited, we found a maze of narrow alleyways and steps leading to tiny doorways- the villagers must be very short. The views from here, overlooking the graveyard and beyond out to see, are breath-taking. Giglio is definitely another place on our ‘return to’ list.