First Sail on Vaquita
On achor at Plage du Lotu with Cap Corse in the background
The day after the boat naming ceremony, we set off with my sister Lena and her boyfriend Raphi on a 2-week cruise with OUR boat. The first destination is Capraia, a small (pirate) island between the Italian mainland and Corsica. Lena is not feeling quite so well on the rather sporty crossing and has therefore inaugurated our new folding bucket (nicknamed "Buckito"). After regeneration day with a hike on the green but rocky former prison island, we want to continue on to Corsica - to white sandy beaches and turquoise water. There wasn't much wind on the x-hour trip, but we did see a dolphin and whales (at least we think they were minke whales). The first stop on Corsica is Plage du Lotu. Peter and I were there a year ago and really wanted to go again - turquoise blue water, white sandy beach, no people but only cows on the beach...at least in the morning, because around midday the ratio of animals to people changes thanks to the numerous excursion boats.
In addition to the perfect sailing life, we also get to know our boat and discover something new every day. Things that don't work properly, things that need maintenance and things where we don't know how they do.
For example, we discharged our lithium battery far too much because the percentage display was not accurate. We then recharged it a little with the engine via our alternator. In addition, our electric anchor winch suddenly stopped working and we had to pull up the anchor chain by hand until the end of the trip. Fortunately, we were able to fix this quickly later on, as only one crimp connection between two cables had come loose.
After a night at anchor in the small town of St. Florent, we continued westwards to our favorite town in Corsica: L'Ile Rousse. Here, too, we enjoyed the crystal-clear water and the white sandy beach and spent every day in the plane tree café on the town's main square. There is a huge sandy square where the locals meet for a game of boules (or bowles in English). We enjoy the tranquillity of the town, stroll through the streets and are pleased that we are almost the only ones at the anchorage.
After 2 days, we continue west to the next town, Calvi. There we take a berth in the town harbor, as we have to fully recharge our battery and refuel with water. The weather is also not quite as nice as the last few days. The old town is located in a citadel on a hill. We stroll up the hill, walk through the narrow streets and enjoy the view of the large bay of Calvi. In the evening, we go for a drink right by the town harbor and enjoy the live French-Caribbean music. A French couple asks us to dance and at the end of the evening we invite them to join us on the boat. We don't go to bed until late, or actually early in the morning. The next day is rather quiet - we sleep in, do the laundry and go shopping. We go to bed early in the evening as we want to set off before sunrise the next day. We head back towards Italy and a X nautical miles to Macinaggio (still in Corsica). We have relatively little wind and swap the smaller headsail for the larger genoa, but in the end we have to motor and moor in the marina. It's a rainy evening and we go out to eat one last time in Corsica.
The next day, we fold the large genoa and hoist the smaller headsail again, as the wind is blowing stronger than the day before. We head back to Rosignano in sporty conditions. Vaquita is doing very well and has no problems dealing with the wind and waves, just like the crew. We arrive just in time, because half an hour after mooring a thunderstorm blows over us. We are glad to be safely back in the harbor.
We really enjoyed the first trip and are already looking forward to the next one. But in the meantime, we still have a lot of work to do in the dry dock.