{"id":1,"date":"2023-05-24T21:06:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T21:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sv-elation.ca\/?p=1"},"modified":"2023-05-24T21:06:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T21:06:37","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sv-elation.ca\/?p=1","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Italy to Explore Corsica"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The stuffies are relieved to be in calmer seas on arrival.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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After a lovely time in Ostia, we decided that the tempting weather window which would give us a broad reach for 150 nm to Corsica could not be left unattended.\u00a0 We are still waiting for a package from Sailrite which includes all the material to make some banana yellow dinghy chaps.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Italian UPS seem as organized as Greek UPS and it is debatable if they will ever actually process the package sitting in their warehouse.\u00a0 After trying to contact them repeatedly for the past 3 days, we decided that we would just head West to Corsica, and if they do finally deliver the package to Ostia, we will recover it in person later.<\/p>\n

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Thus, we left at 4 in the afternoon, with light winds, smooth seas, a full fridge, and plenty of available means of caffeination.\u00a0 The wind steadily built and by midnight, I handed watch off to Jay with a perfect beam reach in 14 knots. \u00a0We did our deck walk and found an incredible site of thousands of phosphorescent jelly fish that lit the water up in the wake of the stern of the boat. \u00a0Unfortunately, none of my cameras were able to capture the effect, but it far exceeded the phosphorescent water we saw in Vieques, Puerto Rico.\u00a0 After a prolonged period of sitting at the stern in amazement, I retired to the front cabin to find an already sleeping Evan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Eventually my gentle rocking to sleep became a little more raucous and the sound of the water rushing under the bow intensified as we surfed down the waves in progressively building seas and winds.\u00a0 At 4:30, I got out of bed and found my socked feet making the interior of the boat a tippy slide.\u00a0 After climbing out to the cockpit, it was quite apparent that our lovely predicted broad reach was now a smoking fast beam reach in 25-30 knots with 3-4 m short, confused seas under a moonless night and lots of rain.\u00a0 We were making great time with a boat speed of 8-10 knots, but we still had four and a half hours left to our destination.<\/p>\n

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Jay chose to lie down in the cockpit to be at hand if needed though, I doubt he got any quality sleep.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, James awoke calling for his SeaBands and made it to the cockpit just in time to empty his stomach into a bucket.\u00a0 Soon after, he and I were sharing said bucket and I have officially earned my first episode of sea sickness on Elation.\u00a0 We jokingly dubbed the cockpit the \u201cpuke pit\u201d.\u00a0 Evan meanwhile, stayed blissfully asleep in the front cabin until the lighthouses to Porto Vecchio became visible 2 nm from shore.\u00a0 Even with a sea that built up in the shallows, Evan\u2019s stomach of steel held strong and he was completely unfazed.<\/p>\n

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Once we were anchored within the lovely, protected bay of Porto Vecchio, Jay and I retired to a long nap while the boys quietly entertained themselves on the boat.<\/p>\n

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Fortunately, 2 days later, the clouds cleared and the stunning mountain ranges of Corsica came into view.\u00a0 The sun began to shine and we all felt recharged.\u00a0 Now the task at hand was: 1. Boulangerie 2. Sandy beaches.\u00a0 After stocking up on some delicious French baguettes, it was not difficult to find long sandy beaches as the entire East coast of Corsica is essentially one long sandy beach.\u00a0 The boys have been properly entertained and Jay and I are having lovely day sails in downwind conditions of 10-18 knots as we made our way North towards Bastia.\u00a0 Bastia is a lovely town with numerous old buildings, small streets, and long bike\/scooter paths.\u00a0 We were able to tuck away in a small spot next to the French customs boat in the old harbour for a night, under the beautiful church.<\/p>\n

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Tomorrow, we plan to take the scooters and bikes on a long ride South to the local yacht club to see about renting some Opti\u2019s and whether they may have some older Opti\u2019s for sale.<\/p>\n

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For the first time this season, we are now leaving our cockpit enclosures open during the day and the night.\u00a0 We are leaving windows open at night and are starting to relish the warmer temperatures heralding late spring and early summer.\u00a0 I am eagerly looking forward to more time in the water, preferably, without the wetsuits.<\/p>\n

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James and I have also added a trip to our future bucket list.\u00a0 There is a stunning but tough ridge hike that crosses Corsica from North to South with numerous, high alpine passes and refuges along the way.\u00a0 The hike is called the GR 20 and is said to be the toughest hiking route in Europe.\u00a0 If we did not have some looming timing commitments, and I had brought my backpacking gear, it would be incredibly tempting to hop off the boat for a \u201clittle bit\u201d.\u00a0 Alas, James and I plan to return when the boat sabbatical is over to conquer this one.<\/p>\n

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