👉Riding Out the Storms in Ajaccio

Storms, lightning, cruise ships, Napoleon, a broken bilge pump and a pontoon being dismantled around us... just another perfectly normal week aboard Novera.

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10/18/20266 min read

After our overnight anchoring, we finally arrived in Ajaccio and, true to form, the wind decided to put on one last performance just as we entered the marina. It's becoming something of a tradition. The sea can be perfectly manageable all day, but the moment we need to squeeze Novera into a marina berth, the wind remembers we're coming and starts showing off.

Being October, the season is winding down and there were no marina staff waiting on the pontoon to catch lines. It was just the two of us. A year ago that would probably have raised both our heart rates considerably. This time, although there was the usual rushing about and a few shouted instructions, we slipped into our berth without incident.

One of my personal victories was jumping ashore and securing lines myself. It sounds like a small thing, but when we first bought Novera, stepping confidently onto a pontoon and tying the lines felt like something only experienced sailors did. Now I'm doing it without thinking too much about it. If only we'd had a camera running because, in my mind at least, it looked extremely professional.

More than anything, moments like that remind me how much Tim and I have developed as a team. Months of sailing together have a way of teaching you how each other thinks, reacts and communicates. There is a lot less 'discussion by me' these days and a lot more instinctive teamwork.

With weather warnings stretching across Corsica and storms forecast for much of the week, there wasn't much point planning any more stops. Instead, we decided to enjoy being land-based for a few days.

Ajaccio feels completely different from Calvi. While Calvi has the relaxed atmosphere of a picturesque coastal town, Ajaccio feels like a bustling city. There are busy streets, shops, cafés and enough things to do that being storm-bound doesn't feel too restrictive.

We spent our first afternoon wandering through the old town, getting pleasantly lost in narrow streets and stumbling across a lovely little restaurant for lunch. One of the joys of travelling slowly is having the time to chat to people, and over lunch we met a family visiting on one of the enormous cruise ships currently stopping here.

Earlier that morning we'd actually taken a photograph comparing Novera to one of the cruise ships dominating the harbour. The difference was hilarious. Novera looked less like a yacht and more like a dinghy size wise 😂

When we told the family which boat was ours, I suggested they look down from their balcony as they sailed away and see if they could spot us among the masts below.

That evening the weather arrived.

We'd heard the forecasts and expected heavy rain and thunderstorms, but it was still spectacular to watch. The sky flashed continuously for hours, lighting up the harbour like a giant strobe light. It genuinely rivalled some of the Bastille Day fireworks displays we'd seen earlier in the year.

As conditions worsened, everyone around the marina went into preparation mode. Extra lines were tightened, fenders adjusted and loose items stowed away.

One thing I've noticed throughout our travels is how quickly boating communities come together when conditions deteriorate. We told neighbouring boats to call us if they needed a hand and received exactly the same offer in return. There's something reassuring about knowing everyone is quietly keeping an eye on everyone else.

It's also been so much fun understanding sailing expressions as there are so many like "Batten down the hatches" is one of those phrases I'd heard all my life. Now I know precisely what it means and why sailors say it.

Perhaps the funniest sight during the storms was watching the cruise ships depart completely unfazed. While we sat uncomfortably in port nervously watching the lightning dancing around all the masts and reassuring ourselves it was a good decision on not being out at sea, these floating cities simply switched on their decorative lights and glided away towards Barcelona as if hundreds of lightning strikes were the most normal thing in the world. 😂

The weather wasn't bad all week. Between showers, we enjoyed some surprisingly warm October sunshine and took the opportunity to explore more of Ajaccio.

With our trainers on we decided on taking the local bus and cable car high above the city. The views from the top were stunning. Looking down across the bay gave us a completely different perspective on where we'd sailed and just how dramatic Corsica's coastline really is.

It was also a chance to appreciate how lucky we'd been with the weather this season. October can be unpredictable, but we'd enjoyed far more sunshine than storms.

Back at the marina, visiting yachts were gradually disappearing as crews headed for winter berths. We found ourselves among only a handful of remaining visitors. The cruise ships, however, continued arriving with military precision, delivering thousands of passengers while the rest of us quietly accepted that the sailing season was drawing to a close.

Although our visit was relatively short, Corsica left a real impression on us. We've only scratched the surface of what the island has to offer. Everywhere we went felt welcoming and relaxed. The local people were friendly and there seemed to be a genuine sense of trust and respect in daily life. Seeing motorcycles parked around town without chains or security locks said a lot about the atmosphere.

It's also an island that commands respect from sailors. The scenery is beautiful, but the weather can change dramatically and strong winds are never far away.

As we began planning our return to the mainland, we spent a lot of time studying forecasts and weighing options. By this stage in the season, there is no prize for bravado.

Eventually we made our decision. The forecast offered two choices. We could leave immediately and face strong winds with two-metre waves, or wait for calmer seas but accept a largely windless crossing and considerable motoring. We opted for the conservative approach and delayed departure by another day.

That decision seemed very sensible until we uttered the two most dangerous words in boating: "Let's just..."

Let's just do a few maintenance jobs.

Let's just freshen up the bilge.

Let's just get organised before tomorrow.

Any boat owner reading this already knows where this story is heading. The bilge pump stopped working. Not ideal when you're preparing for an overnight passage.

Even less ideal when the marina staff had informed us that we absolutely had to leave by 8am the following morning because they were literally dismantling the pontoon around us once we departed.

There followed a period that involved a lot of awkward contortions, several 'Roy Kent expressions and some inventive problem-solving. Fortunately, Captain Tim worked his engineering magic yet again. After much investigation and a great deal of getting filthy, the problem was diagnosed and fixed.

The bilge ended up cleaner than it had ever been, the pump was fully operational again, and both of us eventually emerged looking vaguely human after exhausting Novera's entire supply of hot water and a generous quantity of sanitising soap.

As ever, life aboard Novera continues to prove that there is never such a thing as a quick job. Still, by the end of the day, the boat was ready, the crew was clean, and we were prepared for departure. Again.

And after all that, I think we've thoroughly earned a dolphin escort on the way back to the mainland. 🐬⚓