Heading South
Blue Sky's Voyage
George & Michael
Wed 16 Aug 2006 12:33
Dear Friends
We're now making good (if leisurely !)
progress south along the west coast of Corsica and we're now anchored off
Campomoro, about half way between Ajaccio and Bonifacio.
Special thanks to friends who have owned up
to actually reading the blog - we get little feedback but I keep writing in the
confident, if foolish, hope that the world hangs on every
keystroke....
We commissioned the watermaker successfully
and it seems to do more or less what its supposed to - the best part of 30
litres an hour and with hardly any noise too. With all the adverse press about
watermakers, at least in cruising websites, we were a bit nervous about the
whole thing, but it all seems to work fine and the desalinated water tastes good
too. Thanks of course to Waypoint-1 in Plymouth who arranged procurement and did
the wiring for us.
On the way south we went past La Scandola
Nature Reserve, home to a number of rare birds. Apparently there are about 127
species in Corsica of which 112 breed on this one island - quite what makes it
so popular is unclear, perhaps its inaccessibility. Later at anchor, we saw what
might probably have been an Audouin's Gull cruising along the cliffs and an
unidentified large bird of prey with a very pale front, though not an
Osprey (which we've seen lots of in Scotland).
We saw some of the local cormorants (they
are everywhere) which also have pale fronts.
I said to George, "those cormorants look
just like penguins", so G took a quick look at them with the binoculars and
said, boldly, "they really are penguins". So I just thought I'd share that with
you all, though he now insists it was a joke.
We spent three nights in Ajaccio, anchored
just off the beach whilst we waited for some more frisky weather to do its
thing. The anchorage was busy, but we managed to get a good spot only 50m off
the beach - so easy to row the tender ashore without bothering about fitting the
outboard. Carrefour was duly raided in the traditional manner!
The photos of the spectacular coast on the
way south were a bit difficult as it was rather hazy. The coast is extremely
jagged and backed by rugged mountains - perhaps our return north will have more
suitable visibility for photography. Meanwhile here's a sunset we enjoyed a few
days ago just north of Ajaccio.
We're just about to enjoy veal steaks and
fresh veg followed by local cheeses and creme brulee. I guess we'll probably go
for a morning swim to work it all off again.
Best Wishes
George and Michael
PS. some difficulties with the GPRS
connection (it's pretty rural here) so this message comes to you a
bit delayed via Inmarsat.
|