So much for slowing down. After some delightful laid back beach days, it would seem that the itch to “do something” overtook us.
First up; recovering the package in Rome. Logistically it became apparent that the best course of action was to sail to the mainland, anchor off Follonica, and put Jay ashore to hop on the train and recover our swathes of banana yellow fabric and additional material. We enjoyed a slow downwind sail. I am loathe to say though, eventually, we were really just bobbing and had to ultimately deploy the iron jib.
We anchored in the bay, off the mouth of the main marina, in dead calm conditions and at the crack of dawn, I deposited Jay on shore for his long day of travel. The boys and I settled in for a day of schoolwork and generalized activities on the boat. Unfortunately, it turns out that Friday was a national holiday and it also coincided with the TP 52 Superseries racing. What this meant was that everyone and their uncle, left the marina that day to either hit the beach, or follow the sleek boats into the bay to enjoy some fast racing when the thermal kicked in to 15-20 knots onshore. We had boats left, right and centre, at full speed creating lots of slapping wake all day long. Combine this with the realization that our anchor was not in sand but a thick bed of Posidonia, meant that we were soon dragging back to the breakwall.
Fortunately, this boat is a dream to manage single handedly, though my “mini crew” would point out that they were standing on the bow looking for patches of sand and telling me, “You missed a spot”. I can now officially say, that I have single handed the boat, and was able to successfully pick up anchor, reposition to a small area of sand, re-anchor, and not lose a kid overboard, hit any of the relentless motorboats that continued to fly past me within 10 m, or lose my mind. Bonus!
When Jay finally returned in the evening from his successful mission and after the thermal had settled and the traffic had dissipated he commented on how idyllic a place it was to anchor. Needless to say, I convinced him that we would not be staying for another day 😉
After that, we had a beautiful day of reaching South to anchor in the Archipelago of Giglio. The following day, we turned around and reached North to Porto Azzurro on Elba. We have been pleasantly surprised by how lovely and consistent the sailing winds have been. After being hammered by unexpected gusts, meltemis, and katabatic winds or simply no wind at all in the Adriatic and Ionian, this is a lovely change.
Porto Azzurro is another charming town in Elba with some beautiful hikes and a great waterfront square with yummy pizza and gelato. It was quite wet and rainy while we were there but it did a great job of washing Elation and it brought out thousands of snails on the walking path. This made for endless fun trying to hop over swathes of snails and avoid the stomach turning crunch of a misstep.
Finally, on Tuesday morning we headed back to Follonica, this time to pick up some friends that our joining us for a week. We are now 8 on the boat. The most people we have had on the boat to date. The boys now have two other boys to play with and Jay and I get a chance to catch up with some great friends from Calgary! One of them is also planning to join us for the Atlantic crossing, so this is a great opportunity to get a feel for the boat and how she works. Even if, we refer to her “heads” as bathrooms. Let’s be honest, they are too nice to be called, “heads”.
So far, we have had a fantastic time playing on the beach, hiking through cave paths, catching up, and eating gelato. Though admittedly, the boys seem to wear as much gelato as they eat! We even had a water balloon fight today for D.M’s 6th birthday! Note to self, inflate the water balloons more so that they actually burst and don’t become non breakable rockets that the kids whip at the adults. At least their aim is improving.
We have one final week on Elba. We are hoping to get in one to two more dives and definitely some more beach time, pizza, and gelato. After that, we will be making our way further North towards France.
Miles travelled this season: 1361
Time spent under sail this week: 90%
Boat projects completed: ordered replacement handheld vacuum and assorted spare parts to pick up in Portoferrario, a light scrub of the hull.
WTF Moment: Anchor dragging in Follonica
# of days until I return to Canada: 22
Love you mom like actually.