Rolly Porto Pollo

Our sail from Bonifacio west out of the straits & north around the coast of Corsica was as expected, a bit frustrating. Good news was we had force 4 when leaving & had an hour of sailing but as we sailed out of the Straits the wind dropped of & we motored sailed the remainder of the journey - 35 miles in total.

On arrival we looked to anchor but all other boats were on buoys as the water was over 10 metres even quite close into shore (ideally we anchor in 5m of less) In the pilot booked it mentions red or white buoys depending on boat size but instead there were around 50 blue buoys! But as there were boats similar size to Magnum we decided to pick up a buoy & then wait to see whether we were thrown off or charged.

As the sun had been baking all day we were keen to cool off & with a sea temperature of over 20 degrees it looked like we would venture in without wetsuits. The swim was brief but refreshing.

The next day brought the wind as forecasted, over 25 knots in the anchorage for hours on end. We did manage a trip ashore & Porto Pollo is a small holiday resort with a couple of low key hotels, one was particularly rustic & pretty. The beach is sandy, peaceful & the sea is clear & warm. There is a small slightly over priced supermarket but also a yummy boulangerie & little shack selling local produce.

Back on the boat the rest of the day was uncomfortable the north west wind brought the swell into the anchorage & all the boats were swinging like pendulums. By the morning the wind had dropped but the swell remained & we were worn out, so we left the boat & spent most of the day at the beach which was lovely. By the evening luckily the swell had calmed & we could finally get some sleep!

The other good news was no-one collected any charge for using the mooring buoy so :)

Photo are of beautiful hotel, overlooking beach with Magnum at anchor & looking back at beach from Magnum.