South Corsica

After Rondinara, we leave with the end of a West gale (yes another one !) for Piana island. The sea is a bit agitated so we prefer to sail around the Lavezzis islands instead of following the transits in between the rocks to reach the Piantarella anchorage. A low lagoon, right in the middle of the Strait of Bonifacio, le most windy area in France, looks like a kite surf spot! The place is really nice but very busy; in daytime innumerable inflatables of all sizes add up to the already anchored sailing boats and motor yachts. Happily Ludo can now dodge them while kite surfing and he starts to jump, so far in a rather interesting frog style with difficult landing but it’s improving.
After few days in Piana and a torn kite, we go to have a look at Bonifacio. Nice sailing along the white lime stone cliffs of the Spérone Point, the Cape of Pertusato (supposedly the rudder of Corsica with a lot of imagination) and impressive entrance into Bonif. It’s a 1.5km long fjord, only 100m wide between steep high cliffs which opens up at the very last moment before the bow. Inside it’s a huge mess consisting in a heavy traffic of day tripper boats, mega-yachts manoeuvring, ferries arriving full speed and pleasure boats waiting in line to get a berth. We take the free option and go to the small Catena anchorage, perpendicular to the main fjord. It’s our first med style anchoring: we drop the anchor and run in reverse as close of the cliff as possible and tight the ropes to rings or trees. We go for a walk in burning sun across the old city and the citadelle, the next day tired of the crowd we go back to Piana.
When we arrived in Piana we meet the Black Dog team who’s waiting for the Rainbow Warrior II, Greenpeace flagship that should arrive anytime soon. She indeed arrives the next day, so we leave for Bonif again and make by chance a perfectly synchronized entrance with her into the harbor. She gets a berth at the Quai du Commerce and we go back to the Catena anchorage. For the last three weeks, a team has been mobilizing local associations, pleasure yachts and sailors clubs to build a flotilla on August 3 to protest against the crossing of the Bouches de Bonifacio, one of the most dangerous area in the Med, by cargos carrying hazardous materials that could damage this sensitive ecosystem. The aim is to force the cargos to sail all around Sardinia instead and to classify the area as an effectively protected marine reserve. Bad luck, a gale warning on the very morning of the event caused the cancellation of the flotilla. Nevertheless, the political impact seemed positive when you see local politicians and journalists fighting to get on board the Warrior despite the guaranteed shower during the taxi in inflatable…
After these few days in good company, we go back to Piana and then Rondinara on our way to Porto Vecchio where Cédric, Ludo’s brother will come onboard while I’ll be leaving to fly to the most boring city in the world, Bonn in Germany where a UN conference on climate change is taking place.