Ajaccio - Solenzara

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Dear relative and friends,
Hopefully I will try and finish our 2008 trip in the next couple of weeks, hope you enjoy our travels. Sorry it has taken so long.

Sunday 19th October
Port de Plaisance - Ajaccio Tino Rossi
Our friends Jo and Chris have left us and we decide that it's better to continue our journey as fast as possible, as we have heard that storms are on their way and in November we are to pick up a couple of friends in Rome.
On the East side of Corsica there are very few harbours or bays to shelter in and we don't want to be caught out in a storm, especially me. I'm not a fan of hard weather.

Arrival in Ancien Port de Chiavari.
We didn't get very far but we are out of the harbour and on our way again. The bay we are in is not very far from Ajaccio. We want to check the weather and have some quiet time. There are not alot of places to go on the East side which means maybe an over nighter.

Monday 20th - 23nd October
We leave Port de Chiavari early and make it to Cala Lazarina on Ile Lavezzi.
It's a beautiful island. No one lives on it but there are two cemetaries and a Memorial Stone for a ship that went down with all hands. There are no names on the stones except for one, The ship was called "La Sémillante". It went down in 1855, with no survivors. I have taken the following passage from a book we have on board:
",,,,,,, two cemeteries for the dead that washed up on the shores of Lavezzi. The story of the shipwreck and the aftermath are both puzzling and strange.
La Sémillante was on it's way to the Crimean War packed with French troops, some 773 beings including the crew. The ship foundered in a gale off Lavezzi at midday on 15 February 1855, and everyone on board were drowned. Over the days, bodies of the drowned were washed ashore on Lavezzi in such a mangled condition that only one, an officer, could be identified. So it is that the crosses of the graves are not named, though in the eastern cemetery a plaque records the names of the officers"
We explored the rest of the island and found rocks like the ones when we were in Scoglui Longu bay with Jo and Chris.

Our departure from Cala Lazarina on Wednesday brought winds gusting up to 20 knots and over. It's chilly and there is no sun as yet. There are small islands everywhere just outside Bonifacio and they are all a National Nature Reserve for wild life, fauna, flowers etc. We are making our to the only harbour on the East Coast, Solenzara.

On our arrival to Solenzara we see a sailing boat which looks like it's been blown up onto land. It has it's anchor out and later, after enquires we are told be was washed up on to land during a storm not so long ago. The waves wash hard against the hull and there's not much the owner can do but watch.
Now it's raining and the wind has picked up. We dig in and wait out the rain. When it's clear again Lars finds a beautiful little frog near our bow. It has lovely patterns in green and white all over it's back. We have no idea how it got on board, must of come with the rain. Lars thinks that idea is nuts and as we have no idea if it's a salt water or fresh water frog I get a little bucket and make Lars walk all the way around to the grass, to let it go.

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Photos

A hand in rock.
Naturally made by the wind, rain and waves. Fantastic

The church and plaque.
The plaque contains all the officers names who were aboard La Sémillante

The little green and white frog
Found on board after a very heavy rain fall.