Episode 16: Aranci

1925: we need bacon

Wishing to make a stopover in north-eastern Sardinia, they found themselves in the middle of the night surrounded by 32 ships from the English fleet in the Mediterranean! They arrived in Aranci around 2 a.m. The next day, with the sirocco wind picking up, it would not have been wise to continue sailing along the coast.

They decide to take a break, but in the evening curiosity gets the better of them! How can they visit these imposing English buildings? A message is sent out: ‘We're running out of bacon.’ When there is no response, on 21 July, Bonita sets off to take them by storm! The sailors break down in front of the battleship Marlborough and signal: ‘Can we visit?’ The answer is yes!

The young women are invited on board: bathing, dinner, dancing and toasts await them! In his speech, the commander notes that this encounter is unique in the annals of the British Navy! Then, the next day, it is the turn of the submariners of the Lucia to visit them. Next, officers come to help them polish their brass instruments, and in the evening, they are invited to dinner on the destroyer Montrose, where a masked ball is improvised to the sound of bagpipes!

The next day, dressed as tennis players and wearing Maltese hats, the officers came to help them finish repainting the Bonita's deck! After a final dinner invitation aboard the Malborough, maps and a sextant for the captain were given as gifts to the Bonita's crew. And it was with laughter that the English agreed to meet the Gipsy Bonita around 15 August in Kefalonia... ‘Ok girls, see you there?’

Carinne Bertola based on Marthe Oulié, Quand j'étais matelot (When I was a sailor), 1930

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2025: Aranci - we need the Royal Navy!

Every trip has its storms. The girls encountered the Sirocco in Aranci, and we were stuck in La Maddalena for three nights due to strong north-easterly winds.

This morning we left the magnificent islands of La Maddalena, which we explored by bike yesterday.

9:45 a.m., all hands on deck, manoeuvres to leave the port are in full swing. The square catamarans are playing Tetris in the harbour.

We force our way out and hail Angelo to clear the way for us. Like a modern-day centaur, he cuts through the harbour traffic on his dinghy and grabs a bar of Swiss chocolate that we hand him as he passes. He brandishes it like a trophy, driving his colleague crazy with jealousy. Jumpy jumps into the boat to give him a bar too. He rushes towards us with his dinghy, performs a controlled skid, grabs his bar and disappears towards his colleague, taunting him. At the end of this epic rodeo, we find ourselves in our pyjamas and life jackets, eating breakfast as we sail between the rocks of the various islands.

At the time, the girls had to sail along the coast without an engine. Thanks to modern technology, we spent 45 minutes on a video conference with class 10VP1 from EPS Cugy while we were battling rough seas and no wind (but with an engine). Our budding journalists were able to see the Sardinian coastline live, visit our boat, its toilets and various nooks and crannies. We loved sharing this moment with them.

One more large cliff before we reach Aranci Bay.

But where is the Royal Navy? Our bacon is out of date and the Royal Navy isn't here to resupply us or polish the ship's deck. However, the bay is so large that one can imagine a whole fleet of battleships around us. Today, the only battleships in the area are painted yellow and at night look like big floating birthday cakes lit up with dozens of candles (ferries).

And that's perfect timing, because today is our Jumpy's birthday, and now he has a mini Jumpy to keep him company every day!

And the sun sets behind the hills of Aranci for our last anchorage. After two weeks, we are in the flow of the trip. And as Alain Linder, one of our guardian angels, would say, there is nothing more beautiful than a crew that gets along well and lives in harmony.