As you can see we are progressing South East on our trip and arrived at Marina di Pisa at the mouth of the Arno River on Monday 16th May. It was a very smooth & quiet journey, no dolphins, no whales, no fish, in fact 3 & a bit hours of not much happening.

Marina di Pisa is a newish port in a bit of a soulless town (compared to our recent stops) but it is the perfect place to pick up our first guests Liz & Steve who arrived at Pisa airport yesterday morning. We enjoyed a nice lunch on board & then took them to see the local sites ( not too many), the fishermen unloading their catch & selling it off the riverside, the white stoney beach & the Conad Supermarket - that’s about it for here! We had bought some small octopuses the night before for supper direct off the fishing boat. This was a first so we watched a video how to prepare them (definitely an Andrew job 🤢) & I followed a Sophie Grigson recipe to cook them, sadly the end result was very disappointingly chewy & a rather inedible (probably more me than Sophie’s fault!). \240Luckily we had some veggie rice so we didn’t starve 🥴.

Today we all caught the bus to Pisa of course & spent the day sight seeing in this beautiful city with a very famous leaning tower. Although 3 of us had been to Pisa before it really is incredible to see and go up the tower & the Duomo is also pretty stunning. Walking up steps when the building is leaning is quite a strange feeling.

All in all it was a lovely day with a bit of a scary bus drive home (bus driver was texting whilst haring along at 50 miles an hour 😫. We enjoyed a nice lunch outside & walked many thousands of steps.

We are here in San Vincenzo, a 3 hour hop down the coast for a quick stopover ahead of our crossing to Isola di Elba tomorrow. The most interesting thing about this town is that we are back to Pontoon mooring from Stern to with lazy lines(which is the most common berthing in the Med). So all our old ways of low fenders a ropes ready along the starboard side came back into play. We managed it fine, like muscle memory.

We have walked down the one street of shops, we bought a bottle of balsamic vinegar, we found a restaurant for this evening and that’s about it. It’s a nice seaside resort, no more no less. Let’s hope dinner this evening is good otherwise there won’t be any photos 😂.

Us Muirs are island people and therefore we love nothing more than being on an island - so here we are with Liz & Steve on the Isola di Elba. Just one of several islands we will visit on this trip and it is really lovely so far.

We arrived from San Vincenzo yesterday into the lovely old harbour port overlooked in every direction by huge forts (good to feel secure). It was a bit lumpy & windy on the short 2 hour crossing but still lovely & sunny. This is a lovely sheltered port in a town where Napoleon was incarcerated for a year. Elba is about half the size of the Isle of Wight ( it’s population is a lot lower) & it seems is very popular with the Germans. There are lots of German yachts here in the harbour & other than Italian we hear mostly German spoken.

We walked around the very small old town & up to Forte Falcone yesterday. The views from the top were just spectacular & we spied a lovely beach with clear blue water - perfect for swimming. Today we have shopped, chilled & then spent the afternoon on that gorgeous beach - Spaggia Le Viste. The water was beautiful. Tonight Liz is cooking on board so we are watching the world go by from the flybridge. It’s a hard life 😎.

We made it safely from Porto Ferraio here to Porto Azzurro, a short hop with lovely scenery along the way. Porto Azzurro is a sweet little town with lovely back streets & lots of little shops. We like it here which is a good thing because the weather has turned a bit windy and the sea therefore is a bit rocky & rolly for comfort so we are staying until tomorrow.

On our first night here we did a first, we went out at 9pm on Nemo Sub, an odd red submarine type boat with seats and windows under the water. The boat thing (see photo) drives along the cliff edges slowly enabling us to see all the amazing sea life below, lots of amazing fish, big & small, sea urchins & cucumbers & most amazingly a lovely octopus 🐙. It was a very unique experience & not one we have ever seen before.

Since then we have done a lovely long walk along the coast to a sulphurous lake & then inland to the countryside of Elba & we have been swimming a few times from the small beach close to the marina. Andrew had to do his naughty boy speeding course by zoom so missed out on the walk. Liz & Steve cycled up to a monastry in the hills & we have mostly chilled. Elba is lovely but it’s not so easy to get around without a car, not many buses & boat trips aren’t leaving from here yet because it’s not high season.

We head off to new lands tomorrow- back into French territory, the Island of Corsica. Another exciting never before visited place for us.

Here are a few photos from the last few days.

Well after everything running smoothly so far on our journey this year it was time for a little excitement & yesterday we got it!!!

We had a lovely smooth crossing from Porto Azzurro to Bastia. We had amazing dolphins showing off aerial skills, everything was good (except perhaps the Emma egg mayo sarnies that were rather dry due to day old bread rolls!). Then we arrived in Bastia (our first stop in Corsica, France), we entered Port Toga & a rather officious man told us in French that the port was closed ( & therefore we could not take up the berth we had booked & had been accepted) \240by order of the Mayor (we don’t know why but presume due to it being Ascension Day.

When we asked he suggested we go to the Vieux Port, we duly did, only to receive no response on the radio, the German yacht in front of us also received no response. The Old Port was clearly full & we couldn’t see any space that would fit us. Quelle Horreur 😱😱 we had no space. What to do??? We have to be in Bastia because Liz & Steve fly out from there tomorrow & Chris & Alina arrive on Tuesday…..

Options 1. Anchor up somewhere - however research showed that local anchorages would provide little shelter 2. Find another marina nearby

So here we are in Port Taverna, a shithole of a marina 22 miles south of Bastia in the middle of nowhere but at least we had a berth for the night. The marina staff here were also not responding but a kind local took our lines & we berthed safely for the night.

We are now trying to establish if we can go to Bastia today….. more soon.

It’s all OK we are here, now in Bastia Vieux Port for the next 5 days. Steve & Liz can get their Air Latvia flight home tomorrow (their EasyJet one was cancelled & replaced with an Air Latvia one 😵‍💫) & Chris & Alina can fly in and join us on Tuesday as planned.

Bastia is charming, it looks Italian (which it was until the 1769 ish) it sounds French (because that is the main language although we have heard Corsican spoken) \240but it doesn’t really feel like either. It is different, it feels a bit edgy (the people here, or at least some of them, want independence from France) \240there is an underlying feeling which I can’t quite put my finger on. One quite strange thing here is the flag which I think is a little intimidating (see photo).

Anyway we really like it here in the old port, we are close to everything we need & there is always something going on.

We have cleaned the boat from top to bottom & then it rained (just a tiny bit) which has left brown sandy marks all over - grrr. We have stocked up on important things like lovely French cheeses & local rose wine & we have explored the old town & churches. Oh & I managed to get a much needed pedicure yesterday - thank goodness! We have also planned our next few stops ahead around Corsica with Chris & Alina who arrive on board today.

Tomorrow we depart for Saint Florent around the finger of Corsica (Cape Corse), not far by road but almost 45 nm by sea.

Here are a few photos of Bastia & us….

It’s June already & we are 4 weeks into our 10 week trip!!

This is a gorgeous little town with an amazing back drop & lovely calm beach. Saint Florent is a little gem of a holiday resort with quaint streets, quality shops and restaurants & a lovely marina. What’s not to like.

Our journey here around the finger (or knob) of Corsica, Cap Corse, (rather than cross land as the Journo map shows) was very enjoyable with fab views & not too much breeze. Our berthing was spectacularly successful & we had some friendly helpers.

We got the paddle board out for the first time yesterday & Chris mastered it in the lovely warm waters of the bay. I got my paddle board legs back after 2 years. The waters here are shallow & very warm at 22 degrees so swimming has been easy (for me anyway).

It’s a lovely place for 2 nights but we have seen it now so are moving on today to Ille Rousse westerly along the coast.

Happy Platinum Jubilee to everyone in the UK, it’s kind of passed us by here but we are a little sad to have missed the celebrations.

Another lovely place here in Corsica. The marina is a bit more rough & ready but the Marinaro was absolute lovely & so helpful (which is odd for French!). The main challenge are the huge Ferries that come in & out at least 3 times a day and loom over us.

Ille Rousse is a sweet town with an amazing white sand beach and the most amazing crystal clear sea - really gorgeous. Other than shops & a lovely walk to the lighthouse & our first day on the beach that’s all we have done really.

Bloody hell it’s windy here. We arrived & had to berth in the most incredibly strong gale force winds - horrendous. Luckily with Chris on board & an encouraging marinero on the quayside Andrew managed to get her in & we were able to secure her, but it was a real struggle & we were a bit shell shocked afterwards.

Now we are here the winds are not abating so we might be here longer than planned!! Luckily Calvi is lovely. We had already planned to hire a car to take Chris & Alina back to Bastia airport so that is 2 days being busy & I have no doubt we will find lots of other things to do.

Today we picked up the hire car from Calvi airport & drove into the mountains to visit the artisans. It is stunning up there with villages clinging on to hillsides & lots of wildlife. We followed an artisan trail through several villages & saw local knives being made with goat horn handles beautifully polished & shaped. We were given such a detailed demo of one being made so of course ended up buying one. We saw lovely pottery, music boxes & of course olive oil, charcuterie, cheese, wine & honey. Back in Calvi the wind is still howling ……

Still here in Calvi & getting bored now with the relentless gale force winds. It looks like we will be here until Saturday. This puts a bit of pressure on because we have to be in Olbia by next Wednesday when Alex is due to arrive in Olbia, Sardinia. We have a bit of a rush down the west coast of Corsica ahead!

Chris & Alina managed to get home yesterday despite their EasyJet flight being cancelled at 3am in the morning 🤬. They managed to get a Luxair flight from Calvi airport (just 4 miles away) to Luxembourg & then a BA flight into London City - all at the expense of EasyJet. So the car we hired to take them to Bastia was redundant although we did enjoy using it to drive around here a bit more, visiting a fabulous viewpoint above Calvi & driving around the coastal road towards Galeria on the very exciting cliff hugging road.

We met our boat neighbours Mike & Jean here when we tried desperately not to hit their boat on arrival in the huge winds. They are stuck here too so we invited them onboard last night for drinks & we have lots in common. They live mostly on the Isle of Wight so we are close neighbours at home too. They also have a house in Chobham, not far from Shepperton & we know people in common, it’s a small world.

Now we are running out of things to do here whilst waiting for the weather to change. The forecast says the wind will drop tomorrow & the waves will calm by Saturday.

A few pics from yesterdays drive.

We are still here in Calvi but it’s our last day/night because we depart for Ajaccio tomorrow morning. The winds have finally abated. Our neighbours Mike & Jean went this morning so we are now alone although it’s Friday so May have new neighbours by the end of the day.

We had a beach day yesterday which was very relaxing & I have to say it is a beautiful white sand beach with lovely clear shallow sea.

A few more photos……

We finally left Calvi - yipppeeee 🥳. It’s not that Calvi is awful because it isn’t, in fact it’s lovely but it’s not a 6 night town, it’s probably a 3 night town but the sea state was bad so we had to wait.

Now we are in Ajaccio halfway down the Corsica West Coast. The journey was lovely due to the amazing mountainous scenery the whole way. It was a 6 hour trip so quite long and we arrived in Port Tino Rossi to yet another new way to berth (nothing is ever simple!!). Here we had to drop our anchor in the port & then reverse back to a very high quay to tie ropes. Not easy …. And we took 3 goes at it before getting it right 😱😱😱. We hadn’t expected to berth this way until Greece so at least we have got some experience now.

Ajaccio is ok but not as interesting as the other places we have visited. It has a very good market though which we haven’t seen for a while. We had a nice dinner onboard a floating boat restaurant last night but still feel the food is a bit samey & not as good as Italy, it’s also really expensive here to eat out. Corsican wines though are great, particularly the Rose so we have of course tested a few.

Tomorrow we head to Bonifacio which we have heard & read is a stunning city.

Wow - see Bonifacio and die 😍😍. I know that’s not the saying but it surely must apply to this amazing place. At the very southernmost tip of Corsica is this most spectacular Citadelle perched on a limestone cliff with sea on one side and an amazing carved gorge on the other where we are now sitting on top of VA in the marina. Possibly one of the most spectacular natural phenomena we have seen with an stunning Italianate Citadelle more impressive than all the others we have visited. Just wow 😮.

We had a chippy choppy arrival here after a lovely smooth start from Ajaccio. The wind & waves picked up enough to make our final hour a bit uncomfortable. Once we entered the mouth of the gorge though all was calm & lovely. Another unique berthing experience (when will we get something we have done before) but we have a prime spot right on the lower town quay where we can watch the world go by. Our new friends Mike & Jean on Eclipse were here when we arrived & we were invited onboard for drinks with them & their friends Carol & Tony followed by dinner - a very boozy night ensued with great food & company.

A bit jaded today we walked up the steep hill into the Citadelle that towers over the boats. We saw all the spectacular views, the stunning architecture & shops & market of the old city. We lunched on Stuffed Aubergine a La Bonifacio & soaked up the atmosphere of this touristy but incredible town.

We walked along the cliff top for even more views & have concluded that this place is a real gem & we will come back with Alex next week.

Tomorrow we head to Sardinia with our first stop being Olbia to pick up Alex.

Part 3

Sardinia and back to Sanremo