We took two pieces of kit back from our training in La Grande Motte: a new topping lift line and a pin that connects the steering wheel to the rest of the steering system.
The topping lift is a double-braided Dyneema line that keeps the boom at the right height when the main sail is not raised. When not sailing, we always used to pull the main sheet tight with a winch to create tension against the topping lift to hold the boom in place so that it doesn’t swing around and makes noises, especially at night. While we’ve been doing it this way for over a decade and never had any problems, it seems like excessive tension on the topping lift can lead it to chafe at the clutch which is what happened. The outer sheath chafed through and separated from the inner line. Dyneema is very slippery and as a result the clutch is not able to hold the line without the sheath anymore. We replaced the topping lift using some of our newly acquired rope handling skills which worked flawlessly. We now use a different system to hold the boom in place: we move the traveler slightly to starboard to create an angle for the main sheet and then tie a separate line that we also use as a preventer from the boom to a cleat on the port side. Both lines are only hand tightened and they hold the boom in place perfectly, so hopefully this issue won’t repeat.
Our boat can be steered with a tiller as an alternative to the wheel. This is part of Outremer’s DNA and while we don’t use this often, it is super fun to steer a 12+ ton boat with a tiller in the right conditions. To make that easier, the wheel can be disconnected from the rest of the steering system by pulling a pin. Unfortunately, that pin broke which rendered the wheel useless and we had to steer the boat with the autopilot, the tiller and the engines – not fun, especially when trying to dock in a tight spot. We brought a replacement pin back from the yard which we installed as soon as we were back on the boat so we could use the wheel again.
From Rome (1), we sailed back to the Argentario peninsula (2) where we met my sister, her husband and their dog. All three joined us for three nights on the boat.
We’ve never had a dog on board and were wondering how well this would work, with the necessary at-least-twice daily potty stops etc. Short answer: it worked great.
Elly (the dog) was super adorable and has been declared the official dog of the sailing vessel Aquila! We hope to have her (and her family of course!) back again on board sometimes soon.
Despite strong headwinds, we decided to take our guests to nearby Giglio island (3). This time, we booked a berth in the marina because the weather didn’t allow for anchoring. Unfortunately, it turned out that the port of Giglio is really poorly protected in this (or arguably any) kind of weather and we ended up getting very little sleep on account of the boat jumping around very uncomfortably and borderline dangerously all night. At 10 pm we rotated from the initial lazy/slimy line mooring to a side tie because we couldn’t hold the boat off the harbor wall without running the engines. The side tie was somewhat safer but still extremely uncomfortable grinding the fenders against the concrete wall, and we left early in the morning.
We left our guests in Argentario / Porto Santo Stefano and sailed back to Marina di Campo on Elba (4) where we anchored for a couple nights before crossing to Bastia (5) on the island of Corsica. We moored at Port Toga and spend two days exploring the northern part of the island, including Corte in the interior. We cruised the west coast of Corsica in 2018 and loved it: beautiful landscapes, lots of protected anchorages and great food, although some of it, for example the cheeses, can test one’s digestive system a bit…
We left Bastia under grey skies late afternoon, rounded the northern most part of Cap Course at nightfall and went through the night on a 120 NM run to Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French riviera. The winds were pretty light and we ran an engine most of the time, which allowed us to reach the French coast shortly after 9a. This was the first overnight sail Andrea and I have done on Aquila with just the two of us, so it was a milestone of sorts. Since it was overcast the night was pitch black to the point where we could not see the bow of the boat from the saloon. It takes a bit of time to getting used to having to rely solely on radar and AIS (a system where nearby boats broadcast their position, course and speed such that they show up on the chart plotter – mandatory for commercial vessels in Europe but not for pleasure craft), but after a few hours we felt comfortable with it again. We met a tanker and a couple larger passenger ships on what was overall a smooth passage.
The Cote d’Azur is one of our all time favorite places in the world. The landscape is breathtaking, the place oozes history, many (historical) buildings are gorgeous, the food is outstanding and we speak the local language. We visited Monaco, “enjoyed” a double espresso for 13 Euros and paid homage to Grace Kelly, who was my favorite actress when I was a kid.
Marinas in the Med are typically very full in winter with boats that are not moving for months and we had to call on over a dozen to find one that had space. In Beaulieu we were for two nights on the quai d’accueil until we had to move to their floating dock because they needed the quai for a larger cruise ship that came to drop off passengers all day. The floating dock is right by the marina entrance and swell hits it from two sides. That night the waves outside were over 2 meters which created a lot of movement and we experienced another near-sleepless night similar to the one we had in Giglio. At 1 am one of the dock lines (all of 3 months old!) ripped and we had to re-attach the boat and stayed up until early morning out of fear that more lines might rip. It’s a bit ironic that the two worst nights we had in the last months were not at sea, not at anchor, but in marinas.
Thankfully, Antibes (7) had space for us so we sailed there and spent four relaxing nights in Port Vauban. Port Vauban is a big, well run marina right next to the fortified old town with many shops and restaurants. Nice is a 20 minute train ride away and so is Cannes. Unlike Cannes, which similar to Monte Carlo is over the top posh and boutique infested, Antibes maintains its natural charm. Highly recommended!
We used the opportunity to buy a pair of foldable Brompton bikes in Nice. Having bikes on board is very helpful when you don’t have a car to go sight seeing, shopping, running marina errands etc.
The bikes weigh 12 kg and have 12 speeds. We biked back from Nice (20 km) after buying them and to Cannes and back (30 km) the following day without breaking a sweat. When folded, they fit into a neat bag that goes into the port side bow locker for storage. Very happy with them so far!
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