Leg 37 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Bastia to Solenzara
South down the straight, low east coast of Corsica, past the lagoon of Biguglia and the Roman site of Aléria, to Solenzara under the mountains of the Bavella.
08:30 CEST from Bastia. 2 hours 45 minutes after sunrise (05:44 CEST).
Arrive
About 18:28 CEST at Solenzara. In the early evening, with about 2 hours 30 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 20:56 CEST).
Tides
Range about 0.2 m: no practical effect
Wind
Sea breezes from the east in the afternoon; the libeccio blows offshore here
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 5, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 07:30 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No easterly above force 5: this coast has few harbours and faces east.
Solenzara berth confirmed.
No firing notice for the area off Solenzara (PING).
If the weather is wrong, stay in Bastia. Campoloro (Taverna) is the only marina on the way.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1.5 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
Bastia, Port Toga
42°42.6′N
009°27.3′E
08:30 CEST
Depart.
1
Bastia approach
42°42.0′N
009°29.0′E
116°T
1.4
1.4
08:51 CEST
Clear of the harbours. Watch for ferries.
2
Off Biguglia
42°36.0′N
009°34.0′E
148°T
7.0
8.4
10:01 CEST
3 nm off the beach.
3
Off Alistro
42°15.5′N
009°37.5′E
173°T
20.7
29.1
13:28 CEST
3 nm off the light (Fl(2) 12s).
4
Off Aléria
42°06.0′N
009°36.5′E
184°T
9.5
38.6
15:03 CEST
3 nm off.
5
Solenzara approach
41°51.5′N
009°25.8′E
209°T
16.5
55.2
18:04 CEST
East of the harbour. Check on the chart
6
Solenzara marina
41°51.5′N
009°24.2′E
270°T
1.2
56.4
18:28 CEST
Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Bastia · Wed 9 Jun · CEST (UTC+2)
LW
07:51
0.2 m
HW
12:15
0.3 m
LW
19:21
0.2 m
From the Centuri station.
Solenzara · Wed 9 Jun · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
01:12
0.9 m
LW
07:18
0.8 m
HW
14:16
1.0 m
LW
19:41
0.8 m
Wednesday 9 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.
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 Bastia 05:44 CEST. Sunset at Solenzara 20:56 CEST.
Weather
An exposed coast. Straight beaches with only 1 marina between Bastia and Solenzara. Easterlies send a sea onto it.
Libeccio. Blows offshore here, often gusty off the mountains.
Forecasts to check
Météo-France coastal zone Corse (BMS côte 02-04), with microzones Bastia to Solenzara, Solenzara to Chiappa, Chiappa to Sant'Amanza, and Bouches de Bonifacio; port forecasts for Bastia, Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio. meteofrance.com/meteo-marine.
CROSS: the Corsica sub-centre at Aspretto (Ajaccio) handles missions within about 20 nm of Corsica. Emergency 196 or VHF 16.
NAVTEX Cagliari: 518 kHz, station T. Roma: 518 kHz, station R. Check the times on the receiver.
French notices to mariners: PING, portail.ping-info-nautique.fr.
Hazards
Solenzara air base. Base aérienne 126 at Solenzara is a NATO air-to-air and air-to-ground firing training base. Any danger area at sea off it could not be checked: look at the chart and PING before sailing.
Ferries off Bastia. Fast ferries from Italy and the French mainland.
The shore. Low and featureless, with fishing gear close in. Keep 3 nm off.
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
Bastia
Start
Within the first hour
Port Toga +33 4 95 34 90 70; Vieux Port +33 4 95 31 31 10.
Campoloro (Taverna)
3 nm from waypoint 3
Weather turns
Marina. Check the pilot book
Solenzara
Destination
First choice
Marina, +33 4 95 57 46 42.
Pilotage
Leaving Bastia
Leave Port Toga and head out east, clear of the ferries, then south.
Entering Solenzara
Approach from the east.
Call the marina (+33 4 95 57 46 42). VHF and depths: Check the pilot book
Lights on the way
Alistro
Fl(2) 12s, 96 m, 23 M
Solenzara harbour
Check on the chart
Communications
Port Toga, Bastia
+33 4 95 34 90 70
Solenzara marina
+33 4 95 57 46 42
Emergency at sea (CROSS)
VHF 16, DSC 70 · telephone 196, free, 24 h
Emergency on land
112
Contingencies
Easterly rises. Stop at Campoloro.
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
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
Solenzara berth booked
Firing notices checked on PING
Fuel for 10 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 11 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
Solenzara air base: French Wikipedia, “Base aérienne 126 Solenzara”.
Météo-France: meteofrance.com/meteo-marine (Corse, port forecasts).
Lights in Corsica: French Wikipedia lighthouse pages (Alistro, Chiappa, Lavezzi, Pertusato).
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.