Sailing in Tuscany
As a change from the annual Croatian week in October the Vienna International Sailing Club outsourced to Sail Charter International, expertly run by Frank Honan and Dominic Candelori, to organise a cruise around the Tuscan Archipelago from 27th April - 4th May 2019.
Given that Laudamotion flies there directly from Vienna and there are direct flights from the UK, I obviously had to take part and managed to get friends and brother from Scotland and Jörg from Austria to make up the crew. In all there were 9 boats in the flotilla crewed mostly by folks from the club in Vienna. We had a Sun Odyssey 439 from 2011 which was perfect for 6 people.
Day 1: Marina Calle de Medici - San Vincenzo
Very windy with big seas. It took a while to build up the courage to depart, but there was no point in waiting around the harbour. As soon as we rounded the breakwater we were heading into very large waves from the west. With a little mainsail and tiny jib we managed to head south towards San Vicenzo.
Wind was force 6-7 and seas 3-4m high. All except Jörg and Alasdair were feeling pretty sick. A shame as I couldn't bring myself to get my camera out and take pictures.
Wind and waves remained very strong the whole day, though the sun came out shortly before entering the marina. The entrance was dodgy given the swell, so it was a matter of picking the right moment and gunning the engine to get round into the shelter of the marina.
Only 3 boats left Calle de Medici but we were the only one to complete the course. The others turned back.
Day 2: San Vincenzo - Porto Azzurro
What a difference a few hours makes - the sea was flat calm and no wind in the morning! The weather improved during the day and we ended up with a pleasant 3 - 4bf taking us into Porto Azzurro and joined all the other boats in this pleasant little town.
Day 3: Porto Azzurro - Marina di Campo
Very light SW wind, sunny but chilly. Nice views of Corsica with snow-covered hills and of Monte Christo and other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. We only sailed about 10M but this was perfect in the light breeze. All boats anchored in the bay for the night. Spoiled only by the beer costing €6 for 40cl.
Day 4: Marina di Campo - Portoferraio
Continuing clockwise around Elba in little to no wind. Pleasant and sunny though. Ended up under motor for the last hour. A very nice harbour right in the centre of town, though expensive at €67 for the night.
Day 5: Portoferraio - San Vincenzo
Set of after a guided tour of the town, including Napoleon's house. Hardly any wind in the lee of the island so we motored for a bit before picking up a good wind near the mainland. Stopped for a swim (very short as the water is still pretty cold) in the Golfo di Baratti. The wind finally died around 18:00 so had to motor into port. Now that it is 2nd May the prices have increased substantially and we had to pay €77 for the night.
Day 6: San Vincenzo - Calle de Medici
Very gusty - up to 25kn - so reefed both sails. This was the regatta day. We had a terrible start as there were problems getting the tender tied down, and the jib sheet unthreaded itself since stop knot was missing. We caught up somewhat on the 12M run north. The wind increased considerably by mid-afternoon so we stayed out to cruise around a bit and practice gybing. A worn jib sheet eventually snapped and needed to be replaced in a hurry using one of the spare ropes we had.
All photos can be seen on my Smugmug site.