Yachting Monthly Italy 2005

FALY
EAMILY
BAREBOAN
eeling at an impossible angle,I
braced myself and clung whiteknucHed to the guardrait and not
aboat in sighl For someone who
suffers from vertigo, clinging to the top of
the I"eaning Tower of Pisa in a stiff 30-knot
breezc is quite an experience.It was the
first day of our ctrarter holiday in Italy and
what away to starl There is somettring
magical about old Italian cities and Pisais no
exception.
My family say I am rarely lost for words,
but when I flung open the shutters in our
hotel room, ttre view over ttre Carnpo dei
Miracoli \Mittl its sfimning Romanesque
buildings rendered me speechless.All I could
do was grab the clrmera
After two days'exploring ashore we
picked up our charter yacht, a short train
and taxi ride away at Casti6flioncello.We
had booked our charter through Cosmos
Yachting which has a number of bases in the
western Mediterranean, presenting endless
options as far as itineraries go. It is possible
to confine yourself to a small area such as the
Tuscan islands, which lie scattered between
Tuscany and Corsica, or The Bonifacio
Straits and The Maddalenas, or even Sicily
and Capri
Each offers the chance of short hops
with plenty of harbours and safe anchorages.
Given that we prefer to do one-way charters
and we like the odd long crossing Cosmos
came up with the following suggestion:
Casti$ioncello to Algflrero taking in Capraira
Elba the Maddalenas and the Bonifacio
Straits. This would $ve us plenty of short
trips, along night crossing and meant we
could take advantage of Ryanair's cheap
flights to Pisa and from Algfrero. (fip: it's
cheaper to fly to Pisaon aFriday and spend
the nigtrtin ahotel rather thanfly on a
Saturday - and what a bonus!)
Casti$ioncello is a new and fairly
uninspiring base but it is efficiently run, has
good facilities and helpful staff. Our boat,
Derubola,a B6n6teau Oceanis 393,was clean
and well fitted-out As usual we had all the
family in tow - Matt, now 23; Ctrarlie, 20, Ed,
16; and Sarah, 14. Along with Tom and me
this makes us a formidable crew, so we soon
ABOVESardinianskylino in
Algherc.BELOW:'Rlglrta biLl'
Sarah gets to grips with tha
LeaningTower of Pisa
had zupplies bought and stowed away, all the
systems checked out, and a course plotted
for Capraira in readiness for an early starL
Our only problem was the weather. At
this time of the year the prevailing winds are
mainly from the north-west" but we awoke
to wavesbreaking over ttre harbour wall
and the wind a strong southwesterly - dead
on the nose for Capraira We had come to
sail after all, but we quickly compromised
and decided to head straight for Elba I had
amoment of mis$ving as we hitthe first
waves outside the harbour, but Derub ola
took them in her stride and we romped off
towards Elba
Guide books say that Napoleon should
have thought himself lucky to be exiled
to Elba Wittr its high motrntains,lush
vegetation and coastline indented
with attractive harbours and
anchorages itis worth more ttran a
fleeting visit We spent three days
hopping from Portoferrairo to Porto
Azz;tmaandfinally Marina di Campo.
What we didnt see from the water
we explored byland, hiring motor
scooters and zooming off in a family
convoy up the steep roads to lunch
in hilltop villages and visit Napoleons
surnmer villa in San Martino.
The wind had now settled to a
gentle westerly with flat seas,ideal
conditions for our lor4l crossin5lto Corsica
It turned into one of those perfect nights at
seE all the family together on deck enjoying
the last wann $ow of the sun before it slips
below the horizon and then that incredible
quiet as the stars come out and night
descends on the boat The boys took the first
night watch and, with constanttrimming,
kept us going at a steady 5 knots. We arrived
in Rondinarain time for an early morning
swim andbrealdasl
The next leg of our cruise took us past
the Costa Smeralda to Portisco on the
north-east coast of Sardinia The area is
renowned as aplayground for the rich and as
we approached, their'toys' were very much
in evidence.
Portisco is aless expensive and more
attractive option to the hugely popular
Pofro Cervo. The new marina has excellent t
Tte S-tevensboye rcll backthe
frontierc of inland ltaly courtesy
of a hircd fleet of motor scootent
n
FEBRUARY
2005. wwwyachtingmonthly.com
E:ril
facilities including an arcade of pretty
waterside shops and restaurants. Our
enjoyment was added to by an acrobatic
air display over the bay and the loan by
Simone, the charming base mana6ger,of a
200hp rib for the afternoon to visit the local
beaches.Armed with weather forecasts.
local knowledge from Simone and plenty
of supplies,we left Portisco to explore the
Maddalena archipelago.
With the exception of La Maddalena
itself, this group of islands are sparsely
populated and fringed with roclcy shoals,but
there are dozens of delightful anchorages
with tiny white sandy beaches and
everywhere crystal-clear water in shades
of turquoise and aquamarine. Our favourite
was Cala Gior$o Marino in the centre of the
northern group of islands,which bears more
than a passingresemblanceto Tobago Cays
in the Caribbean.
The channel between Corsica and
Sardinia known as the Bonifacio Straits, is
scattered with islands,rocklsand reefs.
It has an evil reputation in strong winds
and over the years has been the graveyard of
many a ship.
A gentle broad reach took us onwards
to Bonifacio, described by Rod Heikell
in his pilot book as one of the most
memorable natural harbours in the western
Mediterranean. You cannot see it as you
approach from the east as it is literally a
DUIHOIS THISFOR?
People with experience who want
to go it alone.
D CATffiEY BETOXETY?
Anchorages
andmarinas
canbe
chosen
to suitanyone's
needs.
In
every place you will find likeminded people,and meeting other
sailors is part of the bareboat
Dozensof beautiful anchorages
line the lrladdalenaarchipelago
slit in the high cliffs, which turns back on
itseH.The approach is memorable too - the
ancient citadel sits on the cliff tops, many of
the housesoverhanging the seaThe wind remained fair for our crossing
back to Sardinia where we spent a night
in Castelsardo and then on to Stintino, an
atffactive little village on the north-west
corner of the island.
The berths here are free. as the marina
project has been abandoned,and we met a
number of interesting liveaboards.
Our early-morning departure through the
Fornelli Passagewas delayed by dense fog
The channel is fringed with rocks and with
depths down to 3m, only daylight passa€es
are allowed. We anchored and waited for
the fog to burn off. By midday there was no
D U'HATTO COXSIDERBEFORE
BOOKttO
Flightsandtransfers:Arethey
included
or canyoubookyour
own to suityourplans?
Season:
Doyouneedto go peak
seasonor areyouwillingto risk
slightlylesspredictable
weatherto
bookat quieter,cheapertimes?
experience.
Chooslng
a boat:Thinkabout
DWHATABOUT
EUPPORTAXD gettinga boatwith moreberths
BACK.UP?
thanyou need.Thiswill meanthere
You are expected to have a degree
is morespacefor everyoneto
spreadout.Sixpeoplein a six-berth
yachtfor a fortnightcan be a real
p h o n ec a l l a w a y
squeeze.
Youmaybe ableto book
an older,biggerboatfor the same
D WHATABOUTAT ITIXERARY? prizeas a smaller,newerone.
Allbareboat
charter
companies
will Facilitiesat the charterbase:Are
givea thoroughbriefing,
whichwill
thereanysupermarkets
nearby?
includea suggesteditineraryto
suityou.
DWHAT IS ITCLUDEDIX THE
We suggestthat youwork out a
CO$T OFfHE GHARTER?Check
roughitinerarybeforehand,
using
for all extrasandorderthem in
pilotbookandtouristinformation, advance- bedding,
outboardmotor,
andthenfine-tuneit with the
GPSandspinnaker.lt
is alsoworth
benefitof the chartercompany's
checkingthe averagecost of
experience.
marinas,eatingout,etc.
of self-sufficiency,but if you have a
major problem,help is only a mobile
78
wwwyachtingmonthly.com. FEBRUARy
2005
improvement and as we were due back in
Alghero the next morning we decided to risk
it. Tom put three waypoints into the GPS
and with all hands on deck we inched our
way through. The fog bank seemed to sit in
the channel and there were huge sighs of
relief when we came out the other side into
clear blue sky.
The last leg of our cruise took us past
ma{inificent limestone cliffs, home to the
famous Neptunes Grotto, and finally to
a berth tucked beneath the city walls of
Alghero. We took the time to explore the
delightful old city before settling down to a
last meal and a family debrief.
Had we enjoyed ourselves, and would we
come again...?
There followed a resounding 'Yes!' A
D 0UAtlFlCATl0llS: Tocharter
bareboatyouwill needto havea
qualification,
recognised
usuallyDay
Skipperor ICCat least.
D SPECIFICS
Theseason:Fromthe beginningof
Mayto the endof 0ctober.August
is the busiestmonth.
Theweather:We hadwide range
of weatherconditions,
including
rain,gales,thunderstorms,
flat
calmsandfog (whichis extremely
unusuaf.
Wewerequiteunlucky
asthe weatheris normallyfairly
settled,andthe breezefrom the
NW.However,
we did get some
glorioussailing.
Marinacosts:Marinaswerefairly
expensive,
the most expensive
was834/night,includingwaterand
electricity,but thereare plentyof
beautifulanchorages.
Eatlngout Thisvariedin price,
rangingfrom 810in Pisato €30 for
a stunningmealin Portisco.
Fllghts Weflew with Ryanair
from LondonStanstedto Pisafor
845 each,bookingthe flightsin
January.
Thehomewardflightsfrom
Alghero,
Sardinia,
to Stanstedwere
859 each.Weflew out on a Friday
andreturnedon a Sunday,
which
gaveus an extradayin both Pisa
andAlghero.
Thesavingswe made
by not flyingon Saturdays
almost
coveredthe cost of hotelsin both
towns.
Prlces:Theboat,a B6n6teau
Oceanis393,was 91,530perweek,
midJuly,including
outboardand
endcleaning,
excluding
flightsand
transfers.
Best bite
Sublimeovernightcrossingfrom
Elbato Corsica.
Bonifacio,
an
absolutemust.Boatin fantastic
condition.
Spending
an extradayat
eitherendof the charter.
Worct blts
Theweather[wewerevery
unlucky].
Themarinaswerea bit on
the priceysideandcrowdedwhen
the weatherwas bad.
YMratlng:4/5
Contact CosmosYachting,
Teh0800 3769070/
0208 8780880
Emalftinfo@cosmosyachting.com
Website:www.cosmosyachtingcom