7th to 8th June - Ajaccio to Campomoro (A Blonde Moment)
Bali Hai
Neal Stow
Mon 8 Jun 2009 22:56
Sunday morning, Jackie and Ian arrived. They had in fact used the same
taxi back from the airport. Readers of this blog will remember Jackie
from the Rally Portugal where she crewed on Blonde Moment (the girl with
the big cheeses that Cocktail John took a liking to). Together Ian and
Jackie run a windsurfing establishment in Wales and although they have not
had much big boat experience they have done lots of dinghy racing and are
scarily fit (Jackie claims to go to the gym and run 5km's every day) so I
think that they will turn out to be excellent crew.
Jackie bounded on board in her usual effervescent way and started talking
non-stop but we eventually managed to pack them off to see Ajaccio while
we got on with some domestic chores. We had planned to do the shopping in
the afternoon, having been assured by Pete and Tina that the local Spar
would be open Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately it was shut and so instead
we resolved to be up and ready to shop at 8:30 Monday morning and headed
out for a dinner - where "non-drinking Jackie" managed to consume a pint
of rosé.
The arrangement in the morning was to be up at 7:30 to get the boat ready
to leave immediately after shopping. At 8:00 there was no sign of Ian and
Jackie then suddenly at 8:10 Jacky bounded past us and off the boat with
an "I'm off for a run!" It turned out that she had not yet managed to get
to grips with the fact that Corsican time is not the same as time in
Wales.
When we did eventually leave we did so in view of the most enormous cruise
liner we had ever seen that completely dominated the port. The passengers
then looked on as we found that we had a large rope coiled around the
anchor. Fortunately Jackie turned out to be a dab hand with the boat hook
and we were soon free.
There followed the best sail of the trip so far in 11 knots of wind as we
headed down the coast to the attractive anchorage of Campomoro. Emma and
I then had our most successful anchoring experience on a seabed that fell
away at quite a steep angle. Following her success with the anchor Emma
was on a roll as she managed the "Repairman Dave" role of replacing the
dinghy bung a second time but, unlike Dave, managing to stay dry.
Unfortunately this replacement bung also does not fit - you would have
thought Avon would manage to have a standard size for something so basic.
Dinner was BBQ, catering might prove a little more of challenge on this leg
as Ian is a vegetarian and "non-Drinking" Jackie does not eat dairy
products (although she seemed to tuck into the chocolate quite happily -
but perhaps chocolate is okay with another pint of rosé).
The evening ended with a game of Uno but modesty prevents me from saying
who won.