On Tuesday the forecast was perfect to make the crossing so at 11h30 we lifted anchor and headed out past Ile du Cros and Ile du Levant before turning East and a straight line to Corsica (Cap Corse). As there was no wind we motored the way and the Perkins did us proud. All Svein’s hard work to strip and rebuild the engine paid off and she went like a dream. The crossing was pretty uneventful with some heavy swell at the beginning (the aftermath of the previous day’s winds) but as the day went on the sea became calmer and by night we were merrily on our way with an average on 6 knots. We had to take watches so Svein took the first watch and at 23h00 Caryn took over. There was a good moon so plenty of visibility and always the radar and AIS to check for other ships in the area. At 02h00 Svein took over the watch just in time to see the ballet of the ferries and cruise ships around us (all on their way to Corsica as well but not at the same speed!). By dawn we could see Corsica but still were quite a way off. We gradually reached the first waypoint since Ile du Levant by which time we had been at sea for just under 24 hours. We had managed to hoist the mizzen and genoa around 07h00 which gave us a little more speed and improved the stability of the boat to stop us rolling too much. We eventually came in sight of our destination Macinaggio on the east side of the tip of Cap Corse. There we joined Anne Laure, Laurent and Antoine on “Anelo & moi”. We anchored at 12h15 so had been at sea for just over 24 hours se we had made very good time.
They joined us for a drink and we then went over to their boat for lunch. The afternoon called for a snooze, so that we could get back on track, and in the evening we went into the town in the dinghy to have a meal. Again the forecast is not too good for a few days so we will continue to wind down and plan the next stage of the journey.