Vessel Data and description:
Cadeau is 13.5 metres long and displace 14 tons wwa (without wine aboard). Her 100 sq. mts. of sail can push her to 8 knots or more when surfing. The spinnaker is 170 sq. mts. and gives a lot of emotions as well as work. Swan's typical companionway is horizontal and gives access to the main living area. The woodwork is impeccable, of semi-satinated teak. The lay-out is classic: navigation area to starboard, the galley to port and the saloon in front of the mast. The front cabin has plenty of storage room, a huge double bed and a private companionway. The aft cabin has a single and a double bed, and is warm and luminous. The heads, with warm shower, are very wide for its category. Originally designed for the Members of New York Yacht, it did not take much to win many races at Cowes. As in the first whitbread, where a Swans arrived 1st, 3rd and 4th, a series boat was calling the shots. All thanks to the legendary hands of Rod Stephens mingled with the proverbial finish seriousness. As the same Nautor says, "no one can afford to build a boat under S&S specifications any more...." Cadeau is a classic Swan 44, designed by Sparkmann and Stephens, intact in its style and with just few modifications (double beds in each cabin, improved teak interiors, full optional and top class upholstery) to the original design. To the legendary superb way of sailing, Cadeau add of her own the safety of experience. She is one of the few Swans to round Cape Horn 3 times, and a long list of enthusiast guests reference her cruises in Alaska, the Caribbean, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, Brasil and Chile. Cadeau cruised between parallel 60 North and 56 South, with an immaculate record for safety in the worst waters of the world. Cadeau has her pictures on magazines, her name on newly surveyed patagonian channels, her voyages in some of the best memories of guests from USA, Canada, Germany, England, Spain, Argentina, New Zealand, Italy and Belgium. Cruising in Cadeau means Italian cotton linen, first class gourmet dishes and glasses, 24 hours service, personalized itineraries. Cadeau always cruises a single party only, be it a couple or a family. No one else to share your plans and desires. If it is safe, we go when and where you want.
The Crew:-
Sandra: Years in a charter agency teach basically two things: that doing all the job for others is pointless, and that you cannot put your own ideas into work. Certified broker, graduate in marketing, she speaks English, Italian, Croatian, French and Russian. She loves the job and is an excellent problem-solver. Her business partners are convinced she crosses to many Ts and dots too many Is, but this is arguably a minus in business.
Marco: Italian expat, MBA, 39, sailed the equivalent of two round the world voyages. He still believes that the poetry of small European havens can be found in other continents, and he keeps searching for them anywhere. His dream has been deluded so far, so he is now back in the med, the only cruising destination where he can be 5 minutes from a decent piece of cheese and glass of wine. He suffered from the TMT syndrome and sailed for years among icebergs and seals. But now he is back among the humans and prefers warmer waters and more frequented places. He should definitely buy new bibs...
Always to follow the LLLL rule: lead, log, longitude and lookout. Keep an eye around and always be sure of where you are and what you are supposed to have below your craft.
Corsica and the Mistral:
Like every famous expanse of water, the Bonifacio Strait and the Corsican Sea provide both, stunning natural beauty and a remarkable amount of difficulties: these come in the shape of a northwesterly wind called Mistral, which may flow in every month of the year with fierceness carrying along high seas raised all the way back in the Lion's Gulf. When it is funnelled between Corsica and Sardinia and plays with the currents of the strait, a certain amount of fun must be expected. A good forecast (channel 79, 3 times a day), attention to the barometer (it's a cold front, therefore watch out when the glass stops to fall) and knowledge of the good shelters are the main ways to face it. Like every cold front, it follows a warm one, ending a possibly long series of hot, sticky and squally days. The other dangerous wind is the Libeccio, the southwesterly, usually less fierce and much warmer but again capable of raising decent rollers. The interesting side of Corsica is the west, therefore wide open to both bad winds, and not many are the coves providing good shelter to both winds.
Here is a list of those providing protection from at least one of them, of choosing the most beautiful ones. We decided to list the harbours according to the shelter they afford to westerlies because the last month of august saw 5 westerly gales in Corsica, and not many of the sailors had much fun.
We start from the beautiful SE side, all sheltered from the high seas of the west side, therefore providing a safe area to sail and anchor. . Santa Giulia, Rondinara, Isola Piana and Porto Nuovo: the seas are flat but the wind howls down the mountains with increased fierceness, especially in the beautiful Porto Nuovo. A good anchor, maybe two, and long chains are necessary. This whole stretch of coast is red, spectacular and inviting. The bottom is generally thick grass, therefore providing poor holding ground. Set your anchor very well.
Lavezzi Island: this incredible mass of scattered pink rocks lies right in the middle of Bonifacio Strait and deserves the title of most amazing island in the area. Winds can be fierce and only a very small cove in the east side provides good shelter, with lines ashore and anchor set manually in the rocks in the NW side. Watch for a rock awash just 100 m off the entrance, slightly to the S. This is probably one of the most amazing anchorages in Corsica. In good weather the coves in the SW sides are simply marvellous, with the pink and grey rocks just standing on white beaches and blue lagoons. The island is a national park and hosts the cemetery of the victims of the Semillante, a ship sunk here with all 753 hands while carrying troops to the Crimea War in the 19th century.
Bonifacio: this is the writer's favourite harbour in the Mediterranean. A mile-long inlet between white cliffs and a medieval citadel. If you want to find a place in summer you must arrive before 1 pm. Good supermarkets and a great fishmonger. Eating out here is a challenge, because all restaurants are basically the same, catering tourists for high prices. Some are good but awfully expensive (Jules, Caravelle). When we have to eat out, we choose the cave of the Kissing Pigs, with Corsican cheese, salami and superb meat. Bonifacio is probably the best place to provision.. SW coast: there are no safe anchorages, except Figari, between Bonifacio and Propriano in case of strong westerlies.
But the coves at Roccapina and around Punta Senetosa are certainly among the best around. Wild and rocky coast, long white beaches, amazing water, in good weather you can sail around here for days. Roccapina cove provides decent shelter from the NW, but swell can get in. Watch the two rocks awash in the middle of the entrance. North of Punta Senetosa 3 or 4 coves, Anse D'Arana among them, provide a stunning stop. Other good places are the coves at Ventilegne and Tizzano. Watch for the Monks and the Priest, extending for some miles off Roccapina. . The Valinco gulf is not that inviting, and in case of bad weather you can choose the Campomoro bay by the S entrance (open to NW) and Porto Pollo by the N end (open to the SW).
The Ajaccio Gulf: the town of Ajaccio is certainly the most interesting place to visit. Napoleon was born here but you won't take long to discover that yourself. Try to find place in the old harbour downtown by the only trick of arriving soon enough. The old Genoese alleys and palaces around the main square are very nice, especially when, as it often happens in summer, the bars invade the walkways and bands play everywhere, and everyone dances in the streets. Good shopping and a real fish and food markets by the square: that's the place to buy saucissons!! Just S of Ajaccio, on the other side of the Gulf, the Saint Barb cove is a great place to swim around. The Sanguinaires Islands by the N entrance of the gulf do not afford shelter but are certainly nice to sail by. The Sagone Gulf: this is the least inviting and sheltered of the four, and the only exception, even if exposed to the SW, is Cargese, the village at the N end. The small harbour and the village are both nice and are a good place to stop between the stunning north and the south.
From Capo Rosso to Gargalo: this is the place in Corsica, especially if you love nature. The shores rise up, play with colours and become in places of an intense red. Pillars, caves, sheer cliffs, tiny passages among rocks and deep, I mean really deep-blue waters. Coming from the S, Capo Rosso stands as imposing as a lighthouse and marks the boundary between the white and the red rocks, a colour that will follow the coast as far N as Scandola. This magnificent cape creates two bays, in the S and N sides, the latter more protected (not from the mistral) and spectacular, especially in the tiny cove just in the N end of the cape. Capo Rosso is the S entrance of the Gulf of Porto, and the whole coast of it is worth a close sail, apart, funnily enough, Porto itself. The most famous spot in the gulf is the Girolata Cove, once a pristine bay but now slightly built up with restaurants. Most of the cove is shallow (below 2 metres), and now they put moorings, so the number of boats that can stay well sheltered inside is rather limited.
In case of mistral there are several small coves (use shore lines) like Cala Muretta and Cala Vecchia, between Girolata and the Scandola National Park, where anchorage is prohibited. The Scandola National Reserve begins at the Cape that bears the same name and ends after the Gargalo Island. Apart from a rock just off the Scandola Cape and around Gargalo, vessels can really have fun going very close to the majestic red pillars. Anchoring overnight is prohibited. The passage between Gargalo and Corsica is at least 4 metres deep, but is always breathtaking. DO NOT try it if the weather is not calm. Otherwise it's a must. . Gargalo to St.Florent. Most of this splendid coastline is open to the westerlies, but several coves afford some shelter. Marina d'Elbo is right E of Gargalo and acceptable in a SW blow. The writer's favourite anchorage here is Porto Vecchiu, a wonderful cove a mile or so SE of Punta Revellata, the NW corner of Corsica, but I wouldn't try it in a strong NW. Calvi is a spectacular (and popular) citadel and cannot be forgotten easily. Harbour, moorings, anchorage, discos, supermarkets and so on.
The coast E of Calvi is rather uninteresting but it soon becomes stunningly beautiful around the Agitates desert, especially by the beaches in the NW Balance, like Lotto and Saleccia, where the desert landscape, the white sand and the boats floating on crystal waters makes you pray for a calm day. Indeed there is absolutely no shelter here. St.Florent is another very nice town with its citadel, its markets and restaurant, and a protected harbour.. St. Florent to Macinaggio. Going N along the Cape Corso (the Corsican ‘finger'), 13 miles fro St.Florent, stop and visit the tiny village of Centuri (but beware of a very dangerous rock right in the middle of the bay) with its small harbour and old Genoese style houses. Capo Corso is among the stormiest places in the Mediterranean, but it affords excellent shelter in the east side, between Macinaggio and a line of Islets extending NE from the E corner of the Cape. The Cape itself is 5 miles wide and packed with bights, beaches, two small villages, the island of Giraglia and a stunning, Scotland-style and barren landscape where trees are not abundant. The Macinaggio harbour is safe and welcoming, and the two bays just N of it afford very good shelter from the westerlies, but keep in mind that is can blow 70 knots in august, and you need and very safe anchor for that.
FoodLike Sardinians, the locals never loved the sea too much, because that's the place where invasors come from, and therefore chose to build many villages up in the mountains and build a culinary traditions on the land rather than on the sea. Corsica is the kingdom of salami (saucisson), goat cheese, lamb legs and chops (gigot d'agneau) and wild herbs. We know it is a challenge to the diet, but who cares on holiday? Local mussels and oysters are good. Hard to find local fish in summer.Marinas They are reasonably priced in Corsica, at around 50 euros for a 12 metres boat. Arrive early.
