We never saw the rain except high up in the mountains and that made everybody happy. Those rain clouds did bring some cooler air and that brought perfect sightseeing weather to the port. Sunny but with temperatures around 24oC. And with a little bit of a chill in the air it never felt too warm while walking around and about. In all words, a perfect day which started at 10 am. when the Rotterdam approached Ajaccio for an 11.00 gangway out.
I think the port of Ajaccio holds the record for the fastest arrivals and dockings. We were on dock nbr 1. and that meant straight in and hard a port to turn 90o to the north and put the brakes on. Dock nbr.1 is right inside the breakwater and thus there was no sailing in. The pilot could barely make it to the bridge before the ship was sticking its nose inside the pier. A captain can only wish for more of these ports. If one just thinks about Tampa which has a 3.5 hour sail in & out, then this is heaven.
A much more simpler port for an approach is not there.
The only drawback is that the port is fully open to the elements from the SW, south and SE side. One big open bay and no protection from the elements what so ever. So when it blows then you just have the hope for the best. At least when you get close to the port you know that it blows as hard at the pilot station as it will at the dock and that helps making up your mind about going in or not, a little bit easier. What you see is what you get and no interpretation by the pilot is needed.
Today we did not have that issue. There was a gentle breeze blowing which just lifted the flags (Beaufort force 2 to 3) from hanging completely limp. It did not affect the sailing and it kept the outside temperature very nice.
Ocean liner row Corsican way. The ferries are docked stern in for the car deck ramps.
Ajaccio is a fairly simple port in the way the docks have been laid out. It looks a bit as Ocean Liner Row in the New York in the old days with all the docks nicely in a rows and all perpendicular on the shore and the city. And it looked a little bit like Ocean Liner Row today as well, or maybe better called Cruise & Ferry row. With us in port were two ferry’s, One based in Marseille and sailing for the French side and one based in Ajaccio and sailing for the Corsica side. The fact that Corsica is part of France does not matter very much as a lot of Corsicans believe that France belongs to Corsica and not the other way around. They gave Napoleon to France and the mainland should be forever grateful for that.
Around 12.30 the Horizon of Croisieres de France came in. This ship was built in 1990 in Papenburg as the first of the new builds for the revitalized Celebrity Cruise Lines, which was based on the traditions and experience of the Greek Chandris Shipping Company. When the ship became too old she was pushed on to new markets and now it serves the French Cruise Market. The French are a little bit more reluctant to cruise than the Germans; hence there are a lot less cruise ships dedicated to the French Market than to the German market.
You cannot park much closer to the city than this.
Ajaccio is walk-able, the town/city is built up against the mountain ridge which provides the boundary of the harbor and the view from the ship is one layer after layer of apartment buildings. All nicely painted and giving the impression of a contented Mediterranean life.
The good ship Rotterdam had to get all its contented guests back on board by 6 pm. as we then started to make the hop to Livorno about 180 miles away. We will be arriving there before 0700 hrs. in the morning as the full day tours for Florence and Pisa have to leave on time. We have a lot of guests who want to see the leaning Tower of Pisa, as you never know whether it will topple over the next day or not.
Weather forecast for tomorrow: The expected rain has been moving north quicker than anticipated and now we are expecting a dry day, at least after 8 am. with temperatures of around 20oC / 68oF. Good weather for looking at leaning towers.
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