VIDEO The off-season Elba according to Matteo

Every summer, as has become tradition, we hold a photo contest on Instagram. In the 2015 edition(#crocieragdv2015 the referenced hashtag), in addition to prizes provided by our partner TAG Heuer, the top three finishers won a weekend boat trip to the Tuscan Archipelago, provided by Globe Sailor through its partner 43rd Parallel. Matteo Poce, the winner of the contest, got on so well that he sent us a passion-filled article attached to a logbook and a beautiful video shot with the action-cam. How nice it is to sail around Elba out of season!

ELBA ACCORDING TO MATTEO
Sometimes it’s not just about the wind.
You need to breathe Passion.
We left for a weekend won thanks to a photo, never expecting to be incorporated into the world of those who have chosen passion as their reason for living.

The previously experienced Elba has never been so intense in the season when you meet only lovers, matched, more or less from the sea… few tourists, good windy days, lots of edges and engagements whenever a boat approaches-the perfect combination for all those who sail to feel alive and to push their limits further and further.

A special toast goes to Alberto, skipper made available by 43° Parallel, who turned out to be the perfect companion for those who love to go to sea for the sake of experiencing the thrills of sailing to the fullest, and especially a toast for not letting us know the noise of the engine.

From the logbook of “Keba”:
3 p.m. Friday – ditch the tops
We set sail on course 245° in the direction of the island of Elba and more precisely towards the village of Porto Azzurro, toward the center of the channel, shortly the air strengthens as expected on 10/12 knots, we can then turn off the engine and sail with a wide windward gait keeping the course. Time passes quickly and, the only flaw of going to sea out of season, darkness falls early. But this, too, is a spectacle, as the sun sets behind the mountains of Capoliveri, and the lights of Elba slowly come on just as we are about to enter, gliding under sail, the gulf of Porto Azzurro. The Mola Cove roadstead has few boats at anchor, and we decide to spend the night in the roadstead as well and go ashore in the village with the tender. In fact, dinner, amid wine, tales of the sea and good music, lingers on, and fatigue overwhelms us. Ashore, to visit the town of Porto Azzurro, one of the most quaint and touristy on Elba we go ashore the next morning, mooring comfortably at the dock of the marina run by the municipality.

Saturday – good wind is expected –
After breakfast in the town’s main square and a stroll through the narrow streets of the center still semi-deserted due to the off-season and the early morning hours we cast off our moorings determined to go out for a little bit of edging sailing. Sometimes we sailors are lucky and the wind, the weather, and the sea ally to give us the excitement and joy that make us love this sport or, for some, this way of life. Today is one of those days. The wind is weak but, almost without understanding why or from where, in the magical Piombino channel it strengthens, with nice gusts though very variable in direction and intensity. And what could have happened on a sailboat with a crew of sailors/photographers/creatives/crazy people holding a Go Pro in between edging, tacking and tense gusts? Lurching boat, gennaker halyard, bansigo, and … lots of fun. The video we shot is more eloquent than many words…

SAILING OFF-SEASON IN ELBA… WHAT A SPECTACLE.
Then the wind, as it had appeared, disappears, it’s time for rotation and, lunch too! Set course for Punta dei Ripalti, drop anchor, and as preparation in the kitchen clicks off, a nice swim. Outside a few boats pass by with full sails, here redoubts can’t be heard but the wind is coming in and…. off, we set sail for new edges and navigation to the W, we have to round Punta della Calamita, cross the Stella gulf, the Lacona gulf and enter the gulf Di Marina di Campo where we will spend the night. As soon as we rounded Calamita Point, as often happens with NW wind the wind comes down powerful from the mountains and spreads into the Stella Gulf, we have too much canvas and have to reduce both mainsail and jib. But these are the optimal and hoped-for conditions for any sailor, a nice taut wind with a few gusts and completely flat seas. We give two coats of reefing, roll the jib a little, and off we go, windward edges to enter the bottom of the Stella Gulf and then to the leeward to exit. In Marina di Campo there is a wide roadstead in front of a long sandy beach and a harbor for local boats and very few places for transit that, even in the low season, are already all occupied.

Sunday – do we point westward? –
Sunday morning, already? Should we already be thinking about the return route to Scarlino Marina? Often, these moments trigger the fantasies of us, sailors/children, who would like to lose ourselves in the sea and wind to endless horizons, but in reality still have roots firmly planted on the ground. No come on, let’s not go back to Scarlino, let’s head west, let’s go to Corsica and then even further, to the Balearic Islands, then, then out of Gibraltar…sails set to endless horizons, discovering new ports!!! Okay let’s head east and return to Scarlino.

Even today the wind is from the NW and gusty. Sails set and again set course for Punta Calamita, lunch stop, Punta dei Ripalti and the crossing to the Tuscan coast and Scarlino Marina. As we move away from Elba Island and enter the Piombino Channel, it rotates NE then E and finally SE, forcing us to edge upwind toward the marina. During the crossing yet another regatta with another returning boat is triggered, and this time it is a little more serious than yesterday. As soon as they saw us gaining water quickly, they started adjusting the sails, maneuvering with tacking and crew in the hawser. We, of course, were already in hawksails and sails on the mark….
In the end we enter the marina first, happy not so much that we have won a challenge against another crew, but that we have had a beautiful we sailing and with the certainty that this, for us, is a beautiful passion.

Sailing is not just about great ocean crossings, extreme challenges, crowded harbors in August, or roadsteads as full as the IKEA parking lot on Sundays… sailing is also about a fall weekend with 4 friends on the island of Elba, hoping, each time you disembark, to soon re-embark for new routes and always new excitement.

Matthew Poce