We spent an extra day in Elba finishing off the chores and kitting out the boat with new ropes and on Tuesday 12/05/09 we set out with Southerlies again. We sailed on a tight tack to the Italian coast and then turned south with the wind on the nose and under engine once again. It was a long uneventful day and we anchored In a little bay on the Italian coast called Cala di Forno just before the Argentario peninsula and Giglio island.

The market is still in town today so we again wandered through it and finally found a Modano ham to have on board. We also found the local supermarket and various other shops that we will need to use before we leave on Monday for the Italian coast as again the winds are not in our favour so we have decided to sail down the coast towards Sicily and see where the wind takes us.

We have decided to continue on our way and so we lifted anchor at 08h00 and started on the course for Elba. It was a very bumpy ride with the wind again on the nose but we made the uneventful journey in 8 hours and were anchored in the bay of Portferrario at 16h00. A lovely place to visit and explore and once ashore we discovered that we had arrived in the middle of a travelling European market with goods and food from all over Europe including Finland, France, Austria, Germany and of course the different regions of Italy. A lovely place stepped in history in which to meander amongst the stalls and see the old houses alongside the harbour. As it was approaching dinner time we climbed the steps to the higher part of the town away from the crowds and had a quiet meal overlooking the bay. A fitful ending to a long day.

The weather forecast for the next few days is not so good with strong SE winds blowing into our anchorage so we have moved further up the coast to a better protected bay at Barcaggio. Here we have spent a lazy day on the beach and in the evening ate on board “Anelo” where we were treated to a spider crab caught by the skipper.

After a good night’s rest Svein has set up my computer at the desk in the aft cabin so it is now installed and now no excuses not to write about our adventure. We are still having difficulty in realizing that this will be our way of life for the next few years. We received word that Svein’s private pension from Denmark has started to be paid and although it will not make us rich it has brought home that brought our working lives are over and we must move on to things new despite that Caryn has been receiving her private pension from the UK for some years now.
We have just been called over for homemade fish soup on “Anelo” so the epic will continue at a later date.