Porto Azzurro

We are walking back to Régal in the midday sun, weighed down with our luggage from Rome as well as shopping bags full of fresh food. I won’t miss these moments when we are back home.
The taxi drivers had all gone on their lunch break when we emerged from the supermarket in Ostia, laden down. This long hot trudge was our only option.
Back on board Régal the sweating continues as we prepare for a speedy departure. There is strong wind forecast for the coming four days and we have decided to leave now and get to the island of Elba before it arrives. With bags of wet clothes collected from the laundry we drop our lines and head out to sea for an overnight passage. We can hang the washing out tomorrow in Elba.
We motor in the beautifully moonlit sea and when a light breeze comes up we roll out the headsail. The wind drops later and we roll it in again. The headsail is in and out several times during the journey. It increases our speed and also steadies the boat in the gentle swell. Régal is always happier and more comfortable when she can carry a sail.

After an absolutely grand twenty hour passage we arrive in Elba and anchor in a bay that is like Glandore.
The next morning the wind gets up earlier than expected and we make a dash into the marina. It is in the lovely holiday town of Porto Azzurro which has several little beaches and lots of pedestrian streets dotted with interesting shops and cafes. We walk along the scenic cliff path to Barbarossa beach and have a great time in the big waves. There is also a lovely sheltered little beach just over the wall from the marina and we make great use of it, swimming, picnicking and just hanging out.
On Saturday when the wind is at its strongest we take the bus to the main town of Portoferraio where Napoleon spent his exile.
We discover that he lived very comfortably in a fine house overlooking the sea. He had a ballroom installed upstairs for all his parties. This isn’t quite what we had imagined when we learned about his exile in school. After only a year and a half in Elba, he sneaked back to Paris and took back power as Emperor again.
From Napoleon’s garden we watch all the white horses in the bay that have come up in the strong wind. The weather is becoming autumnal and today the temperature has dropped dramatically. When we return to Régal we have to open up storage boxes and pull out duvets, jumpers and long pants.
On Sunday we sail to the island of Capraia and anchor under the watch tower as two bottlenose dolphins swim around the harbour. In the morning after a swim we are planning to go into the marina. We have a quick look at the weather and make a dramatic change of plan - ‘let’s sail to Monaco’.
It is the last overnight passage in front of us and conditions are favourable- Ruby and Colm stow their school books and off we go.Read more