Anchorage

Baie d'Ajaccio

Shelter: NW, N, NE, W
Seabed: sand, rock
Anchoring: Allowed

Large anchorage of about 160 buoys in the Gulf of Ajaccio, Corsica, off the Saint-François beach and the old town.

Pontoon

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Entry from the SW open to all craft. VHF 9 for the port authority. Watch for the shoals of Les Sanguinaires islands 5 NM west and the Citadel pier with the leading lights 164 degrees for Ajaccio harbour. Exposed to the libeccio from the SW that builds a short sea across the bay.

Practical

Holding is good in sand and sticky mud, but the bottom carries old chains, lines and buoys that foul anchors, so buoy the anchor and arrive by daylight. The roughly 160 buoys are private, so visitors normally anchor. The bay doubles as a tanker turning and gas-terminal approach area, and the port authority will ask boats to clear when a tanker is due, usually with a day or two of notice, so anchoring is tolerated rather than authorised. Mosquitoes bite at night. Protection from NW to NE and W, open from S to SE. Tender landing at the Dinghy Dock 0.3 NM SW and at Port Charles Ornano 0.3 NM W for fuel, water and chandlery.

Ashore

Citadel of Ajaccio at 400 m from the old pier, Maison Bonaparte where Napoleon was born on 15 August 1769 at 500 m, Fesch Museum with Italian Primitives paintings at 600 m. Market on place Foch every morning except Monday.

History

Founded by the Genoese in 1492 around the citadel built from 1554. Birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1769. Became the capital of Corsica in 1811 under the First Empire.