Corsica, Aug. 20, 2022. 6th anniversary of sailing...
SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Sun 21 Aug 2022 14:18
UTC 2029
August 20, 2022
We are on anchor, in Corsica. The Eastern Coast of it. In a big bay. Safe. Doing OK.
The events of the last few days — need a special comments.
Their chronological list would be the following:
On Monday, August 15th, we were attached to the wall in the old Olbia harbour. My visitors — old time friends from Montreal — were leaving the boat after 2 weeks of adventurous trip around the north of Sardinia, and a bit of the West Coast of Corsica.
Great 2 weeks! We made the passage in ‘Caribbean style’, waking up and having coffee in a ‘ lazy way’ and no rush in the morning, sailing about 15-20 miles, drop the anchor at a new place, and relax till the end of the day… Visiting and exploring the shores, towns, etc, etc…. We were very lucky as the weather and the wind cooperated with us, the usage of the motor — was bare minimum, gentle winds — were just enough to propel the boat at good speed…
Northern coast of Sardinia — Esmeralda Coast — and its harbours, city of Palau, sailing to Corsica and exploring Banifaccio, nice weather, great food, wine & beer…
A new ( should I say fresh ? ;-)) Canadian flag -- not being touched by the Sun and torned by winds -- attracted a lot of attention from the passing-by boats, and neighbours on the anchorages... Everybody wanted to know how we managed to get lost so far from home, or we were just a 'fake', getting the boat in the Med...
Even the stormy night, which we run into on the way back to Olbia — a place to change the boat for the airport — has been taking with a great admiraron, due to watching the spectacular lightning storm, and did not feel being in danger…. ;-) ( Who cares about random gusts of 40 knots winds, waves, and a bit of boat drugging ? :-) )
All in all — it was a fantastic time/adventure, with meeting a lot of people ( as always the most interesting part )…
But somehow, all the good things have its end. My friends left the boat to continue their journey by plane(s) and on land… I’ve returned to the boat…
Their departure has ended more then two month SV Eleonora ‘occupation’ by the visitors… The whole summer and navigation of 2022 was completely different from what it meant to be… ;-) But that is a feature of living aboard, right?
Now it was a moment to come back to ’normal life’…. With the biggest question — what to do with the rest of the summer and sailing season ? ( If some left... ;-))
The time spent so far -- has been great!!!!
( There are plenty material and photos, plenty observations… I know, the blog is ’thin’ at the moment — as some of my friends politely saying — but i hope one day, I’ll feel the gap… )
On Tuesday, August 16th.
That is a very special date for us… The anniversary of launching SV Eleonora, on August 16th, 2016…. ( The famous launching, when I nearly managed to sank the boat in the slings of the travel lift, first sailings the boat in the bay of Newport, RI, USA…. and the rest is the history, as they say... All that in earlier records of the blog logs… )
August 16, 2022... Six years on the water... It sounds like it was yesterday -- my first attempts to run the boat alone in-front of the Newport, first lessons, taught by the boat...
One of my friends likes the quantitive methods a lot... So, what has changed/happened over the 6 years, in numbers ?
- At the beginning, my return visits to Montreal were around every 2-3 months... Today, I'm staying on the boat for the last 2 years, arrived in December 2020...
- Amount of miles sailed... The total amount -- I stopped counting after 10,000 nm... Well, people doing it eventually after certain amount. So, what the point to wait to, say , 50,000 ?
- times the anchor was dragged... In December 2016, on St. Martin , every attempt to drop the anchor -- finished in dragging...
At least the first attempt... Today, this year, we dragged 2 times... ( A bit and re-anchored... And both were during the disturbances of 45 knot of wind... ;-) )
- 1000 boat business cards went away... The list of people, fellow boaters, on WhatsApp, e-mails, etc -- constantly growing up....
I can go on and on... But in short, it has been amazing 6 years of life style transformation, from life on land to the life on the Sea...
Olbia... The anniversary day has been spent in cleaning, washing, laundromat, provisioning, checking the weather, planning the next sailing... ( With all due respect to convenience of Olbia, one would try to make the stay here as short as possible... The heat, the quality of the water, etc, etc.... )
Evening... The quite celebration...
August 17th, 2022...
After verifying the weather once again, saying goodbye to the neighbours, we casted the lines. The plan was to progress slowly to Elba. Possibly, to pass by the Island of Monte Cristo... ( Yes, the one, which inspires A. Duma in his famous novel...). With about ~120nm to go, I've been thinking to make it in 24 hours....
As leaving the bay of Olbia, the first signs of 'strange weather' start to appear. First, the wind did not feet any forecasted pattern... Of course, nothing to worry about! Those weather tellers! When they has been right the last time? On top, the wind was about 8-9 knots, NE ( forecasted SE ), and the boat took it nicely.... We were sailing about 3-4nm offshore, following again the Esmeralda coast, nearly on the strait line to Elba...
Shortly afternoon, it has become rapidly a few degrees warmer, and very humid... The visibility dropped probably to 5 nm.... due to kind of fog/smog/super low clouds... The wind increased a notch, and backed a bit... The NE swell became more noticeable... Now we were doing a good speed and nice sailing on the direct line to Porto Vecchio, Corsica...
Still make a lot of sense... We are crossing the straight between Corsica and Sardinia... Obviously, a bit more swell, obviously, a bit more wind... Should it be a bit more Southerly, but it is a bit more Northerly ? Ah, those weather tellers... Who is listening to them, really ? No problem... I'm not in the rush... I'll stay on Corsica, for the night, if the wind go down, as usual, at the sun set... Ah, a dolphin passed by!!!!
A few hours later... We are trying to keep the straight line to Porto Vicchio... We are going close haul... Doing about 8.5 knots in 19-20 knots of apparent wind... We are a bit overpowered, but it feels OK... great speed, great sailing... The only observation -- we are going closer and closer to the wind, the waves becoming bigger and bigger, and it is getting darker and darker, though it is still too early for the Sun set... The smog / low clouds are becoming ... unusually thick, low, and ... strange colour -- a bit of grey, a bit of pink... Yes, I know... The forecast has been saying about the strong NW winds coming from France... But it should be later, and it should be on the West coast... We are on the East coast, and should be totally protected by the mountains of Corsica....
The catamaran, with a tiny flapping genoa, flight on our starboard side, on exactly opposite direction than we are doing... Woy! What a great speeds both of us are doing... But ok, we are close to Corsica coast, time to find anchorage...
Oops... Hmm... we have a problem/challenge/situation... The swell ( waves ) around the shore -- 1.5 m, occasionally about 2m, very short... Plus, strait from the East... -- the only direction all anchorages are not protected... Navily are rating them -- not protected in current conditions... I see it myself -- not only 'not protected', but see it with my own eyes -- even entering, would be not safe...
Ok... Anchorages to the south of Porto Vicchio... not good... Porto Vicchio... see a couple of boats trying to get out/get in... No, not interested... Next bay... See boat on anchor there... See the movements of their masts.... No, thank you.... So...
Back to original plan -- to Elba over night... By this time -- the weather should change, the wind would pass the Western Corsica, and everything would be fine!
Michael ( as crew ), ' Captain, who said that?'
Michael ( as captain), 'Michael, stop it! I said it! Crew, reef the sails, we are going to Elba! '
Michael ( as crew), ' Ok, captain... I'll reef the sails... But remember the last time we did it... '
To make the story short...
According to the weather forecast, we should have about under 10 knots of wind, starboard, 120 degrees... with nice mild swell...
With 75 nm between us and Elba -- we should be there next day, may be a bit tired... but ... on Elba...
The reality was -- the whole night of tacking, moving, reefing... from 3 knots of wind to 23 knots of wind from all possible directions... The boat just refused to go towards Elba...
At 0700 we found ourselves about 5 nm from Corsica shore... with mild Eastern swell, no wind at all... Low waterly clounds... Steel coloured water...
Distance to Elba --- 67 nm to go.... as crow flies... Consulted the Navily... Golfe di Pinarellu.. Big bay... a lot of anchorage space... sand ( mostly ? ) bottom....
Around 0830 we dropped the anchor... The Westerly wind about 5 knots... The Easterly swell about 0.7 m... 30ft (10 m) depth... hope sand... ( Could not say for sure -- no visibility... )... I deliberately put the boat a bit behind of other boats, closer to the wide bay entry... Just in case to have more space to manoeuvre in case of dragging...
What happened next -- is still a bit unbelievable...
After stopping the engine -- pulled / digged the anchor into the sand -- I made the check on the chain and the snubber, and was returning from the bow to the cockpit... A bit tired, but happy and looking for the rest... Looks like going to be rain... Looks like enough wind to keep the boat stern to Easterly swell... No rolling...
I have not reached the cockpit yet, when the wind jumped in a gust... I heard alarm inside the boat and run... Wind alarm -- 35. 40, 45, 47 knots... Ok, now I feel that wind with each cm of the boat... Looked over the bay...
All the water -- white, as the boiling milk... Literally... The peaces of schum are flying horizontally... Rushed to my second cockpit to secure some stuff... Got a full shower... by wind and rain...
No, it is not a gust... It is constant wind of -- now with a wall of rain -- 45-47 knots... ( if believe to my device... I'm believing it... )...
Alarms from all directions -- wind alarm, VHF alarm ( pan pan... ), GPS alarm ( dragging... )
Looked out... How are other boats doing ? Could not see other boats... See the forestay of my boat -- barely... After that --the wall of rain, with chunks of foam flying from it into my face... This fun was going for about 30-40 minutes... None stop....
The GPS said -- we are moving... But It is not clear if we are rotating on anchor, or dragging in the straight line...
No other boats coming from the rain wall... No screams... Good...
Then the wind eased... To 30-35 knots... And was staying like that for more then half of day.... With rain...
The VHF waked up... and started to broadcast every 5 minutes that all the boat on the West coast should return to port(s) immediately, due to the unique weather condition.... The broadcasts are life -- not records... With each hour -- the voice of Coast Guard officers more and more tired...
The next day, August 19th, the news revealled the sad story...
The storm hitted Corsica with 224 km/h winds... The west coast, and central part...
Boats on the shore... Damages on the land...
45000 homes with no electricity...
46 people dead... Injured... still missing...
The day also revealed that I'm watched... Thank you for everyone, who contacted me and asked how we are doing... From the Med, from Caribs, from Norway, from Montreal! Thank you!
At this moment, we are on anchor, Pinarellu bay, Corsica, the Eastern coast of the Island. A big bay. Safe. Doing OK.
Life is back to normal...
Boats are coming and going...
Water skies, fly-boat practicing, divers boat in-out... Parachute 'around viewers'....
Regular weekend at the most nice time of the season! Mild wind of 5 knots, about 30C air, about 27C water...
Laugh, smiles...
At the West coast... The grief of the aftermath... Pictures of washed out boats -- of all kinds... Farewells for those who gone...
Deja veu... I've had the same strange feeling about the life on St. Marteen, Grand Case, 6 years ago... when the young skipper of charter boat passed away...
The same switch from tragedy to normal...
We are on schedule to prepare for the next passage...
Some cleaning, some fixing... as waiting for the right weather window.
Talk soon,
Michael.
phone/WhatsApp : +1 ( 514 ) 609-5645