The anchor was hauled up by Greg pressing the remote control button up forward. Greg said he could see the anchor coming up quite clearly even though we were in 10 metres of water.
We rounded L'Ile de Pietra, with the Genoese tower looking like someone had made a huge sand castle on top of the island, and headed south-west to Calvi. There was a good breeze but unfortunately it was in the wrong direction for us so we had to motor again!
The huge citadel on the cliff overseeing the town of Calvi is very easily spotted on the horizon. With the trip only being 1.5 hours we were standing off that citadel by noon. No chance of a marina berth but we were able to have a set mooring. 250 of these moorings are set each year for July and August, such is the influx of visiting boats. It's actually very pleasant to be out of the port to enjoy a cooling breeze plus peace and quiet.
We spent the afternoon cleaning and polishing all of the stainless steel on the boat - rails, staunchons, winches, fairleads, dorade vents (there's a couple of trivial pursuit words for you non-yachties), etc and thank goodness for an Australian product, Hillmark Steel Power, which removed rust like it was just dust. With all of my enjo and other micrfibre cloths on board it's the only product I need for cleaning. When Greg's playing Ratty or Mole he does have a range of other goodies to choose from.
We were exhausted by the time we finished and the first beer didn't hit the sides. Home-made hamburgers on board for dinner. Greg's specialty is to make them with grated carrot and shredded lettuce, an idea he should suggest to Macdonalds. Brandied poached figs with ice cream for dessert. No wine!
This morning we took the dinghy into the dock for Greg to look at the ships chandlery and for us to do some basic food shopping. Normally Greg would just want to look in a chandlery just in case he can find something he needs, but today he really needed a part for the water maker on board. We will need to have the part couriered from England but it's just to make sure we can make fresh water from sea water if we can't fill up at a dock. That's not likely on a trip like this but thankfully Greg likes to be prepared for anything that might happen. Imagine what it was like for the sailors who first came to places like Corsica. No docks with power, water and wi-fi, and no boulangerie to buy baguettes that are so good you demolish half of one soon after leaving the shop.
Calvi was first settled by those formidable Romans in the 1st C although the Golfe of Calvi had been visited by sailors long before that.
The town has a population of about 5000 but that swells to about 40,000 in July and August, as it's one of Corsica's most popular tourist destinations. Apart from being a charming town with plenty of very good restaurants, Calvi has 4 km of sandy beach, a little train (real one this time) that travels up the coast to L'Ile Rousse and back several times a day stopping at other sandy beaches, there are excellent dive sites and the coastal Reserve Naturelle de Scandola nearby,there is a major airport and there are ferries to and from Nice (2.75 hours away) and Savona (near Genoa), plus Calvi is at the foot of mountains where the beautiful villages of the Balagne are scattered.
We will stay a while to enjoy some of this but every place around the coast seems to have just as much to offer.