August 10

10:45hrs: Woke up at 7am and planned to head off by 8am to Elba, on my way to Civitavecchia. Overcast morning which quickly developed into a major thunderstorm with lightening right over the top of Bastia. I pulled the drain plug from the transom of the dinghy to allow rainwater to drain out and will wait it out before making a decision on when to leave. Bucketing down at the moment (8:10am). The storm cleared by 9:30am so I prepared to leave. Very light 2kt wind astern in the marina so I was able to release the stern ropes, then the bow mooring line and ease the boat out from the berth then head out of the marina and set a course for Elba at 1045hrs. My first serious leg going solo.

11:46hrs: After stowing the fenders and mooring ropes the wind was up to 15knots northerly, on the port beam. So set the main and genoa for a beam reach and tuned her up such that she is averaging above 8.5kns under sail, engine off. Perfect for a straight run on a bearing of 90 deg. At this stage a perfect sail, unfortunately doing it solo.

15:00hrs: Anchored at Marina di Campo on the south side of Elba, so protected from northerly wind. Made great time today covering the 36nm in just over 4 hours, all under sail only, other than initial departure and the last 2 or 3 nm in the lea of Elba. The wind strengthened to between 15kns and 20kns and the weather helm required a reef in the main and genoa. Will rest up here overnight, after going ashore in the dinghy for dinner, then leave early for Citivavecchia in the morning. Went for a quick nap at 3:30pm and woke up at 7:30pm! Got organised and took the dinghy in and had dinner amongst all the German tourists who appear to have made Marina Di Campo their own holiday town. Hit the sack at 11pm.

August 11

07:45hrs: Depart Marina Di Campo for an 80nm run to Civitavecchia. Lights winds at the moment, so under motor. Hopefully winds will strengthen during the day.

08:53hrs: Still under motor. I have in view I. Elba behind me, I. Di Montechristo at 190 degrees and I. Del Giglio at 130 degrees.

12:41hrs: Under motor, very little wind.

18:45hrs: Tied up at fuelling jetty, Riva Di Traino marina. 11 hours under motor in very light winds and very flat sea. Utilised time to update blog and carry out some minor maintenance issues around boat, keeping a close watch. After refuelling I made my way over to the berth. Somewhat of a challenge to go stern to solo without a boat either side to locate, I came in dead slow, gave the port stern mooring rope to the Ormeggiatori and tied off on the port stern cleat with plenty of room, applied a bit of forward throttle for a second or two and then quickly took the port lead line forward and tied off the port bow mooring line. I repeated the same on the starboard side and finally reversed to tension up the bow lines and take up the slack on the stern lines.