The start. Hyeres - Ajaccio

We had about 10 knots of wind, the evening sun and a comfortable air temperature as we sailed away from hyeres. Dinner was served, and a bottle of red opened in the cockpit. Nelson the auto pilot and our most appreciated and respected crew member was doing the steering. We had finally set course towards Ajaccio Corsica and were ceasing the moment.

As the sun slowly disappeared, so did the land and the sea was pitch black to be lit only by a million stars. We split the night three ways, and the first watch was mine. I couldn’t see much, but some faint lights in the distance. The lights closed in, and I started to distinguish cruise ships, big tankers and other little sailboats. Everything seemed to be the way I had imagined it. Using the radar, I was able to predict the course of other vessels, and alter course in advance to avoid collisions. Forget Second life people, this is the real thing.

The next morning we encountered dense fog, close to the coast of ajaccio. One behind the wheel, one behind the radar, and one running back and forth between the two for communication seemed to work best for us. Pure excitement it was.