Propriano
Beowulf
Tom Fenton and Faith Ressmeyer
Wed 10 Sep 2014 19:13
A difficult day. The wind was stronger than expected, first from the West, preventing us from getting far enough west to round several capes in SW Corsica and set a northerly course for the French coast. We had to tack, which takes twice as long to get anywhere. Then as we thought we had made it, the wind veered , and we gave up and came into Propriano. Our track is shown in pink on the chart below.
However this is a beautiful bay. The water is over 200m deep surprisingly close the the shore. As we approached the harbour there was a fine sunset behind us.
Now we have to figure out how to get past Cape Muro (see chart above). Or, if we are very lucky we will get a wind that will allow us to sail straight to Toulon, which is about NW from here, and about 150 miles.
Then there is the psychological difficulty of heading back to Britain. I think both of us are finding this hard to come to terms with. It feels like giving up. Or like wasting all the effort we spent on getting Beowulf to this point. Frequently, as we sail into lovely harbours or spectacular bays, we say to each other, "We sailed here - from England." Next year, we will be able to say, "We sailed here from England, twice."