{"id":195,"date":"2023-05-31T12:47:03","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T12:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sv-elation.ca\/?p=195"},"modified":"2023-05-31T12:47:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T12:47:03","slug":"slowing-down-in-elba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sv-elation.ca\/?p=195","title":{"rendered":"Slowing Down in Elba"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fetovia Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had a beautiful close haul reach to Elba in ideal conditions.  With 12-15 knots of breeze and no waves, we happily cruised East to the Southwestern point of Elba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a beautiful island!\u00a0 We have finally slowed down now and are enjoying multiple days in a row at a single anchorage.\u00a0 Our first stop was in Fetovia, a small, isolated bay with a great sandy beach.\u00a0 We are starting to see more boats now that chartering season has officially begun and the low season is coming to an end. This has not been an issue yet, but I can only imagine what these anchorages might look like in July and August. In Italy, you are not allowed to anchor within 200 m of the beach so this has established a great swim distance for me to snorkel and swim while the boys paddleboard to the beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There are actually fish in the Tyrrhenian Sea!\u00a0 Such a contrast to snorkelling and diving in the Ionian, Adriatic and Aegean where we only saw lionfish while diving in Turkey.\u00a0 The water is crystal clear and has warmed up substantially.\u00a0 The skies are consistently blue, the sun is shining and our solar panels continue to float our batteries enough through the day that we are down to only running the generator in the morning.\u00a0 YAY!\u00a0 I have to admit, I cannot wait to upgrade our batteries to Lithium in July.\u00a0 If for no other reason than to not have to run the generator daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boys have been doing lots of schoolwork, beach time and ball play.  Jay and I were even able to go to the nearby point for a quick afternoon dive while the boys stayed aboard the boat.  This is a huge step for us.  To have kids that are reliable enough and old enough to leave them on the boat for 45 minutes to go for a quick dive is such a novel concept and opens up new opportunities for us.  The dive was quite nice with schools of fish, live coral and starfish.  It was a good test for us to confirm our navigation and safety skills in planning a dive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jay also found a nearby dive shop with reasonable rates that was happy to do his final two dives to obtain his Advanced PADI certification.  We awoke at 5 am to sail over to Marina di Campo and anchor in time to get him on the morning dive.  He successfully completed his deep and navigation dive and now we have more flexibility in our dive sites.  Admittedly though, when it is just Jay and I, we are going to continue to play it very conservatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina del Campo is a beautiful open bay with a big sandy beach, crystal clear water again and a lovely group of liveaboard cruisers anchored nearby.\u00a0 Bonus point for Evan, is the fact that there is a small airport right behind the beach and we are anchored directly under the flight path for take offs and landings.\u00a0 Even better still, there is a small sailing club on the beach that rents Opti\u2019s.\u00a0 The boys have been able to play around in the bay in decent breeze in the afternoons and work on tacking, sail trim and steering while Jay coaches from the dinghy and I play steering target on the paddleboard.\u00a0 It\u2019s been fantastic watching them get to independently sail their own dinghy, learn from Jay, and return with huge smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month is going to be lots of fun as we have two sets of close friends that are coming to visit us along with their kids.  We are eager to show the first family around Elba for a week and the next family will join us in Southern France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, I offered the boys a ‘treat’.\u00a0 I told them that while they have friends on board the boat for the week we are in Southern France, they could have a ‘school-free’ week.\u00a0 For reference, we do about 2 hours of school every day all year round.\u00a0 I fully anticipated that the kids would cheer and jump with excitement at this offer.\u00a0 I was shocked and actually quite pleased that their response was that they didn\u2019t agree with this plan.\u00a0 Instead, they want to continue to do French, Science, History, and reading every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are currently covering Medieval Europe (castles, knights, feudal system etc.).  They are loving it!  We are reading King Arthur and they have had the chance to watch Robin Hood and A Knight\u2019s Tale (Thank you Anna Hunter!).  Our science just wrapped up Amphibians, Reptiles and Fish and we are now proceeding with Mammals.  I love how keen the boys are to continue learning and exploring the world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n