From Corsica the voyage continued towards the Italian coast. One of the more demanding legs was the 89 nautical mile passage from Elba to La Spezia.

Passagemaking

We left just after first light. It was too far for a comfortable short day sail, but the exposed coast offered few useful refuges in a strong westerly, so we chose to make the full distance to the sheltered bay of La Grazie.

Cinque Terre

From La Spezia we explored the Cinque Terre — Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso — villages perched along a spectacular but difficult coast. The walking tracks and railway made it much easier to explore ashore than trying to use the tiny exposed harbours with Malua.