Sardegna & Corsica

Suddenly autumn arrived and with it less people but more insect life, wasps in particular. Sardegna and Corsica – very different, one Italian and the other French although both would argue neither, as the locals appeared to have a strong sense of national identity.

We had never planned to circumnavigate both islands – time and weather being the main reasons, so after some research decided to explore the east coast of Sardegna and the west coast of Corsica.

Our first stop in Sardegna was Porto Pino, and from there we cruised along the south coast, stopping for a morning in Capo di Pula to visit the old Roman town of Nora – archaeologists slowly uncovering this fascinating site, some of it under the sea, well preserved floor mosaics, granite cobbled roads, a small amphitheatre and awesome water reticulation systems for drinking, sewage and bathing. Onwards to Cagliari – the largest city and harbour in Sardegna, oil refineries, wide flat river valley, and the old town on a hill bathed pink and gold in the afternoon sun. The Italian telco TIM proved to be the best so far 30 gig for €30 and reliable. We explored the old town the next morning, steep narrow artisan streets and cliff-edge buildings. Continuing along the south coast and then northwards up the east coast towards the Maddalenas we were lucky with our weather and anchorages. Our favourite was Cala di Volpe on the Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast and yes the water is a beautiful clear emerald colour), close to shore anchorage, golden sand, wild lavender and juniper, clean and relatively empty - the rows of mooring buoys stacked ready to be removed were an indication of how popular this place is in the summer.

As we neared and rounded northeast Sardegna, the weather started getting windier, not surprising when you consider the wind funnel that is the Straits of Bonifacio. The next week was spent exploring the Maddalenas, a small archipelago of seven main islands for which you need a permit from Parco Nazionale Arcipelago di La Maddalena – we did wonder what they used the fee for as it wasn’t cheap and there was a disappointing amount of tidal rubbish. We managed to get to Isolas Caprera, Santo Stefano, Maddalena, Spargi and Razzoli missing Santa Maria and Budelli as we felt we had seen enough. These islands are small, reasonably flat and scrubby with many delightful sandy coves and beaches – but it’s a bit like forts and castles – how many do you want to explore? Our favourite island was Isola Caprera as not only did it have a really stunning anchorage in Cala Coticcio or Tahiti Bay but there was a really cool Naturalistic Geo-Mineralogical Museum on the other side in Cala Stagnali - rocks, minerals, fossils, beach sand, shells, marine flora and fauna from the archipelago / history of the granite industry.….

Last stop was Isola Razzoli, the northernmost island with Corsica visible 12 nautical miles away, barren, windswept, we took an afternoon walk along a red granite road to an old derelict lighthouse, very dramatic. 17 days in Sardegna the water temp dropped from 26 to 20 degrees.

We had a good run across the Strait to Corsica and arrived late afternoon, golden light on sheer white limestone cliffs, stunning. Corsica is a granite mountain rising from the sea, it is the fourth largest island in the Med and the birthplace of Napolean.

Bonifacio is quite something, a narrow harbour, highly fortified, sheer cliffs and the old city atop, it’s quite unique, however not anchorable - luckily we found a small cala slightly northwest and settled in there for a couple of days, it was a 4 nautical mile roundtrip in the tender to Bonifacio. Corsica was an olfactory delight, herbs from the maquis scrubland – thyme, myrtle, musky.. and very definitely autumnal by now the maquis blending with the sweet smell of woodsmoke. We loved the west coast with its green hills, hidden calas, few houses and few people – well it was autumn….

Morning tender trips to Ajaccio (birthplace of Napolean and house where he grew up) and Cargèse (Greek heritage) were both picturesque and educational and the stunning calanques de Piana - a red rocky coastline peppered with many tiny calas in the Golfe de Porto and Golfe de Girolata were beautiful.

We spent the last few days in Calvi waiting for favourable weather, it’s a lovely old town but grey weather, frustrating telecoms and having to walk several kilometers lugging 80L of diesel put a bit of a damper on.. next stop the Côte d'Azur, ooh la la!

Legionnaires practicing on our way into Calvi