Cala del Core Ponza, Italy We seldom end a cruising season where we began. In fact, we typically prefer making new discoveries to repeating past experiences. But this year was an exception. While we had hoped to be in Spain for winter, our longing to revisit Northern Italy, the French Riviera, Corsica, and Sardinia, combined […]
North East Sardinia It is a well-known fact that the Italians love fast cars. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, peddle to the metal, 0 to 60 in three seconds. That fierce passion transfers to boats as well. Italian-made yachts like Azimut and Pershing can reach speeds over 25 knots, which doesn’t sound very thrilling but on a […]
Northern Sardinia, Italy We discovered long ago that our GPS has a mind of its own, always selecting the shortest route and assuming we can travel at ridiculous speeds. Consequently, we are often led along narrow, winding roads through hilltop towns and over mountains, rather than being directed to the much faster highway. While frustrating, […]
La Maddalenas, Sardinia Italy Lying at the southern end of the Straight of Bonifacio, the La Maddalena Archipelago is a group of seven islands (known as the seven sisters) and 55 tiny issolatti (scraps of land). A geomarine Italian national park, La Maddalena spans more than 20,000 hectares of land and sea, and meanders along […]
South West Corsica, France It seemed like forever since we had been off Berkeley East. The weather conditions and our remote Corsica locales made leaving the boat very difficult. So when we saw a Mistral, and ten-foot seas in the forecast, we took BE into a marina at Ajaccio for some stability, and sushi. Corsica […]
North West Corsica, France We had not stepped foot on land in four days, but as we pulled Berkeley East into the small bay outside Calvi, Corsica, we spotted the beach café on shore and smiled at the thought of some time on terra firma. We made sure BE’s hook was dug in and she […]
Saint-Tropez, France The first time we visited Saint-Tropez it was May, before the summer season began. The legendary town and the notorious beaches were quiet. While we enjoyed our time there, we wished we could experience the Saint-Tropez that we had heard about, the wild and crazy Saint-Tropez of the rich and famous. Just 62 […]
The French Riviera We never intended to spend nearly two weeks around the French city of Antibes, the plan was a few days at best. But one thing led to another, and we zigzagged Berkeley East from marina to anchorage, to a different anchorage and back, and so on. We settled into a routine, a […]
25 June 2018 | Nice, France We had just left the Chagall museum, and were trying to get our bearings on a confusing three-way corner, when a woman approached us speaking in French. It was clear she was trying to help us find our way, so with our best French accent, we replied very slowly, […]
Cap Ferrat, France We had been on a roll, taking Berkeley East back to favored places in Italy and finding the same wonderful locales. So it was a shock when we arrived in the Bay of Villefranche and discovered that our beloved French anchorage was no longer the utopia we once knew. The Bay of […]
