Elba – Capraia – no Corsica – Loano – Part One

Meanwhile, since the 11th September, we are back in Switzerland – full of unforgettable impressions !

Picking up Luna Azzurra from the shipyard in Rosignano went according to plan. Also grocery shopping and returning the rental car in Cecina the day after, on Saturday 31st August.

This time we were lucky with a train back to Rosignano: As soon as we arrived at the train station, we just had time to buy the tickets and the train rolled in. Twelve minutes later we were back in Rosignano again – marvellous!

It was exactly 12 o’clock lunchtime when we left the marina Cala de Medici, off to Elba! Our aim was a nice anchor spot in the Golfo di Procchio. We arrived there at 7 p.m., after a nice sailing and perfect weather!

There we suddenly realised that our two batteries were dying… crap!!

This meant, we were forced to book a berth at the marina Portoferraio, in order to buy new batteries. Our original plan was to just anchor outside the marina and take the dinghy in, to have a look at the historical city. Yeah, well…..plans changed.

So we spent one night at anchor and took the dinghy into the city the next day.

Realising that someone had emptied the fuel canister for the Mercury (without telling us), it was a worrying trip to the island, hoping to have enough fuel to be able to cross all the ferries in time. Luckily, we did!

After we filled up the tank and canister, we went to the marina office to book a berth – luckily they had space, since the high season was over.

We decided it was finally time for a glass of wine and enjoy the surrounding, at least a little bit, despite of being tired.

Then we returned to Luna Azzurra, had a shower, dinner and went to bed early….Good choice, cause the next day wasn’t to be an easy one!

In the morning (Monday, 02nd Sept.), we took our dinghy into Portoferraio again, in order to find a shop which sells suitable batteries. Ha, what a Odyssey that was! We ended up walking miles and miles, in over 35 deg. C, pounding the streets, searching and asking in whatever boat-ish looking shop…but no-one sold the ones we needed. Un…fu…**..believable!!

After lunch we were back at Luna Azzurra – after a fruitless search – and were ready to enter the marina. Of course their office was closed, so it was after three in the afternoon, until we finally could move towards the entrance and finally were sitting at our mooring spot!

The shitty thing was, we still had no batteries and didn’t really know how to continue our vacation.

It turned out, though, that it was a good thing to talk to the staff of the marina and explained our problem to them. Because one guy said that he was living just beside one shop, which also sells batteries! He would call them and ask if they would have suitable ones in stock! Holy-Moly!!

And sure enough, after an hour he came back to us and told us that the shop would delivery new batteries to the boat and take the old ones back! We truly were in heaven, Patrik and I and couldn’t thank the guy enough (of course he got a nice tip from us)!

Patrik started immediately to demount the old batteries and around 7 p.m. the new ones arrived, as promised! GREAT, finally this problem was solved!

The next day, around lunchtime, we left Portoferraio. The next night we would spend anchoring again, just outside Porto Azzurro. Apparently, a charming little village and not to be missed!

It was quite windy, but sunny and a lot of our journey we were sailing! At 2 p.m. we arrived at our new destination and started to prepare for anchoring. There were already a few yachts lying there, but there was actually still space for us…. It turned out that the holding was very poor, we tried and tried…without success. Every time the anchor was down, we realised that we were drifting away.

It must have looked so badly that suddenly an American guy appeared at our side with his dinghy and asked if we need some help. He was here the third time with his yacht, but never experienced a problem anchoring in this bay.  We thanked and told him that we would have another try at a yet another spot.

This time the anchor was securely holding (finally, after two hours trying!!) and we could relax! JEEZZZZZ !!!

The evening was quiet and peaceful and we were looking forward to explore Porto Azzurro the next day!

Good night world!