10:00 CEST from Capraia. Mid-morning, after the rest day on Capraia.
Arrive
About 15:04 CEST at Bastia. In the afternoon, with about 5 hours 55 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 20:58 CEST).
Tides
Range about 0.2 m: no practical effect
Wind
Sea breezes; the libeccio (south-west) funnels between Capraia and Corsica
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2
Track and waypoints 1 to 3.
Go or no-go
Decide at 09:00 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No libeccio above force 5.
Bastia berth confirmed.
Visibility 2 nm or more: ferries cross to Bastia from Livorno and Genova.
If the weather is wrong, stay on Capraia: it is a short leg that can go the next morning.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Porto di Capraia
43°03.0′N
009°50.3′E
10:00 CEST
Depart.
1
Capraia harbour approach
43°03.3′N
009°51.0′E
060°T
0.6
0.6
10:09 CEST
Out of the harbour.
2
Mid-channel
42°53.0′N
009°40.0′E
218°T
13.1
13.7
12:20 CEST
Between Capraia and Corsica. France.
3
Bastia approach
42°42.0′N
009°29.0′E
216°T
13.7
27.3
14:36 CEST
East of the harbours. Check on the chart
4
Bastia, Port Toga
42°42.6′N
009°27.3′E
296°T
1.4
28.7
15:04 CEST
Marina north of the Vieux Port. Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Capraia · Tue 8 Jun · CEST (UTC+2)
LW
06:53
0.2 m
HW
11:23
0.4 m
LW
18:29
0.1 m
From the Centuri station.
Bastia · Tue 8 Jun · CEST (UTC+2)
LW
06:53
0.2 m
HW
11:23
0.4 m
LW
18:29
0.1 m
From the Centuri station.
Tuesday 8 June 2027. Tides. The range here is 0.1 to 0.3 m: tides make no practical difference. Wind and air pressure move the sea level more than the tide does.
Capraia and Bastia use the Centuri station.
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Capraia 05:42 CEST. Sunset at Bastia 20:58 CEST.
Weather
Libeccio. Funnels between Capraia and Corsica.
Bastia. The harbour is open to the east; a strong easterly makes it uncomfortable.
Forecasts to check
Météo-France marine forecasts, meteofrance.com/meteo-marine: coastal zones Frontière espagnole to Port-Camargue, Port-Camargue to Saint-Raphaël, and Saint-Raphaël to Menton. Special bulletins (BMS côte) are issued for force 7 and above.
Météo-France coastal zone Corse (BMS côte 02-04), and the Bastia port forecast, meteofrance.com.
NAVTEX Roma: 518 kHz, station R, at 0250, 0650, 1050, 1450, 1850 and 2250 UTC. Cagliari: 518 kHz, station T. Check the times on the receiver.
Hazards
Ferries. Fast ferries from Livorno, Genova and Savona converge on Bastia. Keep a lookout and AIS watch.
Leaving Capraia. Keep clear of the Miglio Blu corridor south of the harbour and of zone 1 on the west coast.
Parc naturel marin du Cap Corse et de l'Agriate. The marine park round Cap Corse (decree 2016-963). Rules for yachts could not be checked. Check on the chart
Italy to France. Both in Schengen and the EU: no passport control.
Anchoring in France. The Mediterranean maritime prefecture's general anchoring rules apply along this coast (arrêté 123/2019), with stricter rules on seagrass (posidonia) meadows mainly aimed at yachts of 20 to 45 m and over, and a limit on how long a boat may stay at anchor (arrêté 77/2025). The limit itself was not checked for this plan. Check on the chart
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Capraia
Start
Within the first hour
Harbour.
Bastia, Vieux Port
Next to Port Toga
Port Toga full
Check the pilot book
Macinaggio
15 nm north of Bastia on Cap Corse
Alternative
Check the pilot book
Pilotage
Leaving Capraia
Leave the harbour to the north-east, then head south-west across the channel.
Entering Bastia
Approach from the east, keeping clear of ferries entering the commercial port.
Call Port Toga for a berth. VHF, phone and depths: Check the pilot book
Lights on the way
Capraia, Punta del Ferraione
Flash every 6 s, 16 M
Giraglia (Cap Corse)
Fl 5s, 85 m
Bastia harbour lights
Check on the chart
Communications
Porto di Capraia
VHF 69
CROSS (France)
VHF 16 · 196
Emergency at sea, Italy (Guardia Costiera)
VHF 16, DSC 70 · 1530
Contingencies
Libeccio rises. Stay on Capraia, or bear away for Macinaggio.
Person overboard. Shout, point, throw the danger buoy, press MOB, DSC distress alert, Mayday on 16.
Before leaving
Forecasts read and logged before the go or no-go time
Italian notices to mariners (Avvisi ai naviganti) and French notices to mariners (PING) checked for the route
Waypoints entered and checked against the chart
Ship's log started in UTC
Crew briefing: route, watches, safety gear, MOB, fog
Bastia berth booked
French courtesy flag ready
Fuel for 6 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 7 hours
Lifejackets with crotch straps, jackstays rigged, harnesses
Liferaft, grab bag, flares in date, handheld VHF
Radar, AIS and navigation lights tested
Passports, boat papers and insurance aboard
Sources
Cap Corse marine park: French Wikipedia, “Parc naturel marin du cap Corse et de l'Agriate”.
Giraglia: French Wikipedia, “Phare de la Giraglia”.
Préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée, premar-mediterranee.gouv.fr (arrêtés, AVURNAV).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory, France (ibiblio.org/lighthouse/froc.htm, frbr.htm, frvar.htm, fralp.htm).
Lights in Italy: Wikipedia, List of lighthouses in Italy (characteristics, heights, ranges); check against the Italian Navy list of lights (Elenco dei fari).
Italian harbour ordinances (Capitanerie di porto) could not be read for this plan: guardiacostiera.gov.it was unreachable. Check the pilot book
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.