A different cruise ship has anchored off Bonifacio each day for the past three days and the passengers who come ashore must be very disappointed when they discover that hardly anything is open, not even the tourist souvenir shops or the museum. Also closed was the access to the famous 187 steps down 60 metres to the sea, supposedly carved in a single night by the King of Aragon's troops in the 1420 siege on the citadel. Of course everyone should be happy just to see the fabulous white cliff faces, the old town and citadel and the amazing fjord that is the harbor but we can't help but wonder whether Corsica (and Sardinia) really want to encourage visitors once the summer is over. The summer months are too hot for sightseeing but when the weather is more suitable for such interesting pursuits tourists are denied the type of services and facilities they would find elsewhere. The other side of the argument is that most French and Italians are only on vacation in August so there are not enough tourists for the facilities to remain open. We certainly like the peacefulness of Bonifacio now compared with the hundreds of day tripper boats churning up and down the harbor all day. If only the gourmet food store hadn't closed it would suit me.
When Bill Reilly arrived Sunday afternoon with two other professional yachties (Mark and Johnny) to help us return to Palma, Mallorca, we were keen to leave immediately. The weather was calm and we didn't want to miss such a good opportunity for the crossing of the Mediterranean, especially as there can be severe storms at this time of the year. Because the guys had just delivered another yacht to Porto Cervo in Sardinia, only to find the marina totally deserted and food difficult to find anywhere, they had been hoping for a pleasant dinner out in Bonifacio when they came across on the ferry. We talked them out of that plan and at 5.40 pm on Sunday October 12 headed out through the awe-inspiring opening in the cliffs of Bonifacio.
I had prepared plenty of food to keep them happy so I think they soon forgot about their disappointment in leaving Bonifacio so soon. The four guys each had watches of two hours on and six hours off and my main job was chef and kitchen hand and I also kept watch for a short time while the four of them had dinner together down below.
We are now in Palma, having arrived at 9.40 this morning (Tuesday), thankful for such a peaceful crossing that we doubt if any sea water even touched the decks. It's a pity we had to motor all the way and at times it was slightly lumpy due to the "confused" sea, but that didn't seem to bother anyone but me. Once our marina berth was vacant we nestled Dream Catcher III in to our "home away from home" at Porto de Mallorca Marina and carried out the necessary chores. We mostly needed the guys to unload racing sails and spinakers from the boat onto the dock so that someone from the sailmaker's loft can pick them up tomorrow for any repair work and cleaning that needs to be done before they are placed in our storage locker until next year. Boat cleaning starts tomorrow and the laundry service will call by to take bags of linen and towels to wash/dry/iron and return to the boat on Friday. Thank goodness for laundry service!
Greg and I depart for home October 24, with stopovers in Zurich and Dubai, having experienced our first season of cruising around the Med. We have many fond memories of the places we have been and of the unique times with friends. We are pleased to be back in Palma and I can hardly wait to go to the wonderful food market in the morning and do some more touring of beautiful Mallorca before we leave next week.
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