Colombine

You know how much I love water and boats, and going through my photo archive this week, I came across those taken during a memorable sailing trip.

It was in 2010, suffice to say that it goes back and yet I remember it as if it were yesterday.
I had just lived a year in Morocco, and I was about to move to the other side of the planet in Australia!

Also, when one of my best friends asked me to join him in the Mediterranean, I booked my flight in a few minutes.

Departure: Cagliari in Sardinia!!

Colombine - that was the name of my friend's sailboat - was going to make us sail from Italy to Corsica... Well, for me, because my friend would continue his journey.

And when I say "we", I'm talking about 4 people, 2 girls and 2 boys, with the only common denominator being the captain. Yes, we didn’t know each other and we were going to spend 10 days on a few square metres of space 24/7. That would have made a good TV-reality show lol

And no, I wasn't worried, because I embarked with a calm sea and a magnificent blue sky, nothing could have altered my good mood and my thirst for discovery!

 
With a limited space, it was a small sailboat, no doubt that promiscuity was a challenge, but you discover people more quickly too. Fortunately, they were great and no incidents to deplore.

Obviously, it’d not have been fun without a major issue: no bathroom and even no toilets!
There was a technical problem and it couldn’t be repaired immediately.

We were in October and the sea was far too cold for me. I was washing myself with micellar water, I had long hair at the time and I didn't take a shower for 10 days, imagine!

For the toilets, it was quite an exercise to do that overboard, especially when the sea was rough. Which shows that we get used to everything, we are far more capable to do without modern comfort than we think.

Fortunately, we had enough chocolate, saucisson and other food to make us forget these inconveniences.

We went along the coast without ever stopping in a port.

It was beautiful, wild and us with it!

We had a very good weather most of the trip but 2 days of big storms too, including seasickness.

We explored the land according to our desires, we only met a few people, some of them welcomed us (even rescued I’d say) on their luxurious spacious sailboat and let us use their toilets, a blessing lol
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The immensity of nature to regenerate me, me a sign of water (Cancer), a magnificent moment of meditation to rediscover myself, stop time and enjoy the moment.

The Strait of Bonifacio is a 11km (6.8mi) international strait that separates Sardinia from the French island of Corsica, and I had the honour of steering this part.

For those who know about sea navigation, this area is known to be dangerous to sail because of the rocks and strong currents.

Luckily, the sea was very calm that day and I had an incredible pleasure, a memory that will remain etched in my memory. I still feel the breeze on my face, the sun above me and Bonifacio looming in the distance...

Arriving by sea is absolutely magical, a feeling that I relived in Santorini, after my Solo Wedding during my Honeymoon.

Some islands are nothing but beauty and splendour…

​Bonifacio, a fortified town in the southernmost of Corsica, rests on a limestone cliff of 1,600m long by 100m wide.

Inhabited since the Neolithic, it crossed all the times not without difficulty, numerous massacres and battles annihilated it on several occasions.

It took its current name in 832, thanks to Boniface II of Tuscany, who rebuilt and fortified it.
Later, the Genoese added a citadel.

A strategic military place due to its commercial port and its geographical location, it has been disputed, destroyed and repopulated.
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Today, it has about 3,200 inhabitants.

We laughed, we cried, we changed the world, we also decided on my new haircut: short this time!

The kind of friends who stay in our lives forever despite the distance and the years without seeing each other.

A magnificent nautical adventure, human and personal, confronted with nature and the elements, technical hazards, to finally realise that we are one with the universe...😉

Have a fantastic week everyone!
 
Love & Joy,
L.