Hey there,
I not only launched my boat on my birthday last week but also took advantage of a nice weather window, making my way to Bastia in Corsica. I thought it would be a good way to celebrate completing another full circle around the sun. Over the last two years, I’ve dedicated a lot of effort to expanding my capability of sailing longer distances on my own. However, I’ve never sailed alone for longer than 14 hours or through a night.
As I sailed along the coast of southern France for a few hours before leaving the mainland behind at the island of Porquerolles to make the crossing to Corsica, I encountered a couple of options to change my plans. I chose a time with very light winds because there were heavy winds of up to 60 knots before and after my sail.
In fact, I’m currently sitting in Bastia, waiting for a storm to pass by so that I can continue to Isola d’Elba. Once again, it is gusting in the high 50s. Due to the light winds during my crossing, I needed to motorsail most of it to make it before the next storm. Yet, it was not an easy passage due to the up to 3m swell left from the passing storm. The boat was bouncing around so much that I felt seasick for about the first 10 hours.
When the sun set, I was about 20nm out at sea, experiencing the very first time of being absolutely alone on the open sea. The sky was clear, and as it was a new moon, there were countless stars. At one point, the wind and the waves disappeared entirely, and after a short nap, I found myself in the middle of a disco ball. Stars surrounded me as the sea was like a mirror. That was the most bizarre image I have ever seen on a sailboat.
When the sunrise appeared on the horizon, I was already in sight of Corsica. Unfortunately, I could not use the upcoming breeze around Cap Corse because something on my mainsail ripped, which needed to be stitched before I could hoist it again. I managed to bring it down safely and have since stitched a new latch on.
Although Bastia is quite a large town with an old and a new marina as well as the ferry terminal, both marinas were neither picking up the phone nor answering the VHF when I arrived. That left me pulling into one of them and just choosing a spot on my own. They not only weren’t answering the phone; I haven’t seen anybody at the port until today, three days later.
So I didn’t really bother to find anybody. Tonight, the wind is supposed to die down a bit, and hopefully, I’ll be in Marciana Marina by tomorrow.
Take care my friend and talk to you soon,
Floh
