Leg 38 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Solenzara to La Maddalena
South past the Gulf of Porto-Vecchio and the Cerbicale islets, across the Strait of Bonifacio into Sardinia, and round Caprera to La Maddalena, the town of the island archipelago and national park.
08:30 CEST from Solenzara. 2 hours 45 minutes after sunrise (05:47 CEST).
Arrive
About 17:42 CEST at La Maddalena. In the late afternoon, with about 3 hours 15 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 20:55 CEST).
Tides
Range about 0.2 m: no practical effect
Wind
The Strait of Bonifacio funnels any wind: westerlies there are stronger than anywhere else on this coast
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 6, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 07:30 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No westerly (mistral or ponente) above force 5 in the Strait of Bonifacio: it accelerates through the strait and raises a short steep sea.
La Maddalena berth confirmed and park permit bought.
Visibility 3 nm or more.
If the strait forecast is wrong, stop at Porto-Vecchio instead and cross the next day: La Maddalena has a rest day planned on 12 June.
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
Solenzara marina
41°51.5′N
009°24.2′E
08:30 CEST
Depart.
1
Solenzara approach
41°51.5′N
009°25.8′E
090°T
1.2
1.2
08:48 CEST
Clear of the harbour. Head south.
2
Off Pointe de la Chiappa
41°35.5′N
009°25.5′E
181°T
16.0
17.2
11:28 CEST
2 nm off the light.
3
East of the Cerbicale
41°31.0′N
009°25.5′E
180°T
4.5
21.7
12:13 CEST
Outside the Cerbicale islets, a nature reserve.
4
East of the Lavezzi
41°20.0′N
009°19.0′E
204°T
12.0
33.7
14:13 CEST
The Strait of Bonifacio. Cross the traffic lanes at right angles, listening on VHF 16 and 10. Italy.
5
East of Caprera
41°13.0′N
009°30.0′E
130°T
10.8
44.6
16:02 CEST
1.5 nm off Caprera. La Maddalena National Park: permit needed within 300 m of the coast.
6
South of Santo Stefano
41°10.3′N
009°24.5′E
237°T
4.9
49.5
16:56 CEST
Into the channel between the islands and Palau. Check on the chart
7
La Maddalena, Cala Gavetta
41°12.6′N
009°24.3′E
356°T
2.3
51.8
17:42 CEST
Town harbour (light Fl R 3s). Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Solenzara · Fri 11 Jun · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
02:13
1.2 m
LW
09:27
1.0 m
HW
16:10
1.2 m
LW
19:53
1.1 m
La Maddalena · Fri 11 Jun · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
02:13
1.2 m
LW
09:27
1.0 m
HW
16:10
1.2 m
LW
19:53
1.1 m
From the Solenzara station.
Friday 11 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.
La Maddalena uses the Solenzara 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 Solenzara 05:47 CEST. Sunset at La Maddalena 20:55 CEST.
Weather
The Strait of Bonifacio. Westerlies funnel between Corsica and Sardinia and can be 1 or 2 forces stronger than the forecast for the open sea.
East side. The route crosses the eastern mouth of the strait, sheltered from the west by the islands.
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.
Italian forecasts: Aeronautica Militare Meteomar and gale warnings (avviso di burrasca), meteoam.it. Forecast area Mar Ligure. Zone names and issue times: Check the pilot book
Hazards
Strait of Bonifacio traffic. A traffic separation scheme and a particularly sensitive sea area. Ships report to Pertusato (France) or La Maddalena (Italy) on VHF 16 and 10. Which vessels must report, and the call sign, could not be checked from an official source. Cross at right angles and keep clear of ships. Check on the chart
Bouches de Bonifacio nature reserve. The Lavezzi and Cerbicale islets are in a nature reserve (decree of 23 September 1999). Its anchoring, mooring and landing rules could not be read. Keep 1 nm off the islets on passage. Check on the chart
La Maddalena National Park permit. A ticket is required to sail, moor or anchor within 300 m of the coast in the park. Buy it online at autorizzazioni.lamaddalenapark.it (pagoPA). 2026 rates: €3 per metre of length per day for boats of 10 to 24 m, or a flat €101 for 7 days for 10 to 14 m; sailing boats get 40% off and online purchase 5% off. 2027 rates were not yet published. Navigation, mooring and anchoring in the archipelago for the summers of 2026 and 2027 are set by the La Maddalena harbour office's Ordinanza 33/2026, which could not be read for this plan; nor could the park's zoning map.
Rocks. The archipelago is full of rocks and shoals. Do not take short cuts between islands without the large-scale chart.
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Solenzara
Start
Within the first hour
Marina.
Porto-Vecchio
5 nm up the gulf from waypoint 2
Strait forecast worsens
Marina, VHF 9, 150 visitor berths.
Bonifacio
6 nm west of waypoint 4
Emergency
Check the pilot book
Pilotage
Leaving Solenzara
Leave the marina and head south, 2 nm off the coast.
Into La Maddalena
Pass east of Caprera, then west along its south side.
Enter the channel between Santo Stefano and Palau, watching for ferries to Palau.
Call the harbour at Cala Gavetta. VHF, phone and depths: Check the pilot book
Lights in Corsica: French Wikipedia lighthouse pages (Alistro, Chiappa, Lavezzi, Pertusato).
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.