Cagliari

Julia, Gert and me

FRIDAY 26 JUNE - SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2009

We intended leaving Cagliari on Saturday but the Mistrale was still blowing and the forecast was for a Force 4 for the next 2 days, with gusts of 37 miles an hour, and as we were going to be at anchor, we decided to wait until Monday. 

The wind had eased by lunch time, but as a friend of ours once said “I’d rather be in here wishing I was out there, than out there wishing I was in here”. By late afternoon there was a strong Force 5-6 so we were definitely pleased we had stayed. It also meant we could go out with everyone for a farewell pizza (which was the best we had ever tasted) and join in with the marina Bar-B-Que on the Saturday.

Nouro to Cagliari

Fonni Street Scene

WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE 2009

After checking out from the hotel we headed for Fonni, which is another village with murals. At 1000 meters it is the highest village in Sardinia. The village seemed to be preparing for a fiesta as one of the main roads out of the village was blocked and green covering was being laid. We’d seen a lot of horses around the town, and we think they were preparing for some kind of horse race. 

 A lot of the men (more than usual) were gathered in various groups in smart clothes and there were a lot of children who’d obviously got the day off school. When we couldn’t find the right road out of the town (again) one of the locals told us to follow him in his car and he showed us to the edge of the town. We cannot get over how friendly and helpful everyone is.

We headed on to the main fast road to Oristano and went to visit the murals in San Sperate before going back to Cagliari.

Eastern Coast of Sardinia

TUESDAY 23 JUNE 2009

As we will be sailing up the Eastern Coast of Sardinia, we thought we’d visit Cervo, on the Costa Smeralda but managed to get lost in Nuoro, ending up in some extremely narrow streets, and then took a wrong turn and found ourselves about 6 miles up a mountain and the only route was back to Nuoro. The lack of signs is even worse in Sardinia than they are in Spain!

Once again, the scenery was fantastic, whether it was in the mountains or by the coast. Cervo is the playground of the rich and famous, but we were slightly disappointed by it. It seemed very artificial with no real heart to it – we’ve certainly seen better and livelier marinas.

Needless to say, we got lost in Olbia on the way back and nearly ended up on a ferry!

We called in to Oliena on the way to our hotel, where the women were out doing their shopping. Most of the older women in these mountain villages wear black, with a black shawl.

Golfo di Marinella, Costa Smerelda

Mountains of Sardinia

Monte Albo

MONDAY 22 JUNE 2009

Sardinia touches all the senses. The aromatic smells from the wild flowers, the sounds of the bells on the sheep cows and the superb views. Beautiful pink, red and white Oleander are everywhere. The mountains are so breathtaking it makes driving dangerous as it was difficult to keep my eyes on the road and not on the view. Some of the hairpin bends were hair-raising! 

After a visit to Dorgali, we drove to Monte Albo north of Nuoro, passing through the mountain towns of Lula, Sant’Anna, Lode and Bitti. Apparently, Bitti’s local dialect is said to be the closest thing to Latin! At one point we caught a glimpse of Isola Tavolara and the Mediterranean.

As all roads seem to point to Nuoro, we visited the town, but got stuck in a café for over an hour as it was pouring with rain.

Oliena and Orgosolo, Central Sardinia

Orgosolo Wall Painting

SUNDAY 21 JUNE 2009

Oliena is a mountain village where many of the houses seem to be falling into ruin, but others are well cared for. The older women wear black or dark clothes, with a black shawl. Some of the walls are decordated with murals, but the main centre for wall paintings is Orgosolo.

Murals first began to appear on the walls of Orgosolo in the 1960s and the practice has since spread to other towns and villages in Sardinia. The themes are usually political, but often deal with issues such as emigration and the tough pastoral way of life. The surrounding countryside was bandit country, in particular Orgosolo, and during the 1960s Orgosolo was the subject of a film by Vittorio De Seta ‘Bandits at Orgosolo’. Knowing this, it was rather disconcerting to notice that most of the signs on entering villages had bullet holes in them!

Central Sardinia by car

Main tower of 'Su Nuraxi', c 1500 BC

SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2009

We hired a car (quite expensive at over 200 euros for 5 days for a Fiat 600!) and drove through the middle of Sardinia, stopping to look at some of the wall paintings in Villamar. We also visited the impressive ‘Su Nuraxi’ near Barumini, where there are the remains of the largest nuraghic fortress in Sardinia, parts of which date from 1500 BC. It was amazing to actually walk inside the central keep and the four main towers. The whole complex had been buried until a flood in 1949 exposed part of it and it was then excavated. There are over 7,000 of these nuraghi dotted all over Sardinia.

The rest of the drive was magical through mountain passes, passing through quite large mountain towns such as Aritzo and Fonni. It took a lot longer than we expected because of the mountain roads, and we didn’t arrive at our hotel until about 9 p.m. The hotel we stayed at is about 5 kilometers from Oliena up Monte Maccione, with superb views of the valley, Oliena and the mountain opposite with the town of Nuoro.

Calgiari, Sardinia

Cape arriving back from their trip around Sardinia

FRIDAY 12 JUNE - FRIDAY 19 JUNE 2009

Over the weekend we met up with Sarah, David & their two children Bryn & Bethany who are sailing on ‘Cape’. We first met them in the Rio Guadiana in Portugal last year, and later met up briefly in Barbati in Spain and then Morocco. They had overwintered in Calgiari and had just arrived back after a month’s cruise to Corsica. They’re planning to get to Turkey by the autumn in order to join the rally to India.

Roger and I enrolled on a week’s Italian course to give us a kick start as we will be in Italian waters for quite a while now. We also have a couple of excellent Italian courses on board which we have started.

Pula to Cagliari, S. Sardinia - 18 Miles

Cagliari

THURSDAY 11 JUNE 2009

We are now sailing in the Tyrrhenian Sea and motor sailed to Cagliari, arriving about lunch time, where we were met by Gary who has lived in his boat in the Marina del Sole for about 6 years. We met Gary about 6 years ago when we first sailed ‘Susannah’ to Northern Spain for a summer holiday, and that was the year Gary had set off to see where the wind took him. We had a couple of drinks with him and his girlfriend, Julia, and then went off in search for a new Italian ‘dongle’ to give us internet access. In the evening we went out with Gary and Julia for a Chinese and met up with some others later on in a restaurant for drinks. Late to bed!

Malfanto to Pula, Sardinia - 17 Miles

WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE 2009

We sailed to Pula which is on the southern coast of Sardinia and anchored in the bay about lunch time. We tried anchoring in the corner but the weed was too thick – we also had to avoid getting the anchor tangled up with underwater rocks and underwater remains of the Roman city of Nora. The impressive remains of Nora are on the Cape of Pula and include a forum, a marketplace, houses, some with mosaic flooring, a temple, roman baths and loos!

A yacht called Gipsy Rose anchored near us and we recognized them from Ibiza last year, so we ended up having drinks with Norman and Pam on their boat

Remains of Nora, Cape Pula 

.

Calasetta to Malfatano, S. Sardinia - 49 Miles

Malfatano Anchorage

MONDAY 8 JUNE - TUESDAY 9 JUNE 2009

It was a lovely calm day, with a smooth sea, although there was a slight swell. We motor-sailed down the coast of Isola di Sant' Antioco and were approached by the Italian coastguard telling us there were military operations in the area and we had to go 5 miles out to sea around Capo Teulada – this added about 8 miles on to our journey! Not only that, as they passed behind us they managed to cut Roger’s fishing line with his hooks and ‘chinaman’ on! I’m sure replacing lost fishing tackle has been far more expensive than eating in the most expensive seafood restaurants! 

We arrived at Malfatano about 6.30 p.m. which is a beautiful unspoilt bay with a few campervans parked on the shore, and we spent the next day there at anchor.

Carloforte, Isolo di San Pietro to Calasetta, Isola di Sant' Antioco

Susannah in Carloforte, Sardinia

THURSDAY 4 JUNE - SATURDAY 6 2009

Thursday morning we went to see the friendly Marina Manager, Andrea, and negotiated a price to stay an extra night. It should have been 30 euros a night, but he offered a price of 50 euros for the two nights as it is not the height of the season and he had plenty of space. He also said he would get our gas bottle filled for us.

Carloforte is a lovely town with pastel painted houses and winding back streets on the island of Isola di San Pietro, about 7 km off the coast of Sardinia.. Although ferries run to and from the island, tourism is very low key. Eating out is more expensive now, so we will have to start cooking more on board. However, it is very enjoyable shopping in the local stores and trying out our Italian.


On Friday, after getting our filled gas bottle back from Andrea and filling up with diesel in the fishing port, we sailed the 4 miles to Isola di Sant’ Antioco and anchored in a lovely wide bay by Calasetta. Although there was about a 20 knot wind, we were quite sheltered. Also anchored there was another British boat, and French, Dutch and Swedish boats.

The forecast was not very settled for the Saturday, so we decided to stay at Calasetta and took the dinghy ashore. Calasetta is even more low key than Carloforte, with almost every corner being a surprise, culminating in the lovely ‘main’ street and piazzo a few streets back from the sea front. We stopped to talk to the people on the British boat, Gin Rummy, Simon and Katie, and they came over for a drink in the evening.

We stayed at Calasetta for three nights altogether, as I had a migraine on the Sunday.

The heat has definitely been turned on and most days are about 30 degrees.

Diesel - Carloforte: 1.12 euros a litre – 137 euros.

MARINA MARINATOUR, Carloforte: 50 euros for 2 nights.

Fornells, Menorca to Porto Torre Grande, Sardinia, then Carloforte, Isola di San Pietro

SUNDAY 31 MAY - WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE

The lazy line we had to cut

We left Fornells when it was still dark at 5.15 a.m. It seemed strange to be leaving Spanish waters behind us, as we have been in Spain on and off for the past 18 months. We’re heading for a new culture, new cuisine and a new language.

As I was sick on the last night passage, I decided to put on an anti-seasickness patch – they last about 72 hours, so are great for longer journeys. We motored the first 100 miles and had to transfer diesel from our containers, but we were then able to sail most of the way.

During the night there was thunder, lightning and rain. It was quite enjoyable tracking the rain squalls on the radar and watching the sheet lightning light the sky but when the fork lightning started, I got worried. The only tall thing for miles around was us and if it was looking for something to hit, ‘Susannah’ could be the target! During the whole journey, we only picked up one ship on our AIS – and that was 35 miles away! I turned the radar off and contemplated turning the chart plotter off and putting both of them in the oven for protection, but in the end I didn’t want to be without the chart plotter. I’ve found the best way to pass a night watch is with my i-pod listening to Faithless and Metallica – it’s even better when you have your own light show to watch!


As we were nearing Sardinia, a securite message gave a strong wind warning of 7 – 8 for the area, which decided us that we would have to go into the Marina tonight. The Pilot Book says the charge band for Torre Grande is 3, which is quite high, but the charge was only 22 euros a night. We arrived in a strong Force 5 and booked in for 2 nights because the wind is forecast to remain strong until tomorrow lunch time.

We spent the next day doing the washing and trying to get to grips with the Italian language, now we’re in Italian waters.

Our exit from the Marina on Wednesday was slightly embarrassing as we managed to catch our own lazy line – although we were right in the middle of the marina when it got caught in the prop. Roger had watched it sink, but it must have sunk very slowly! We called the Marineros to help us rebirth and Roger managed to untangle it – not easy with the Marineros watching as they didn’t want any more of their line cut! We finally left about 10.30 a.m. and motor sailed about 50 miles to Carlaforte, arriving about 7.30 p.m.

MARINA TORRE GRANDE: 44 euros for 2 nights, including water, electricity and showers. No internet.

Barcelona to Fornells, Menorca - 120 Miles, 22 Hours

Fornells, Menorca

THURSDAY 28 - FRIDAY 29 MAY

We left mainland Spain for the last time to go to Menorca, ready for our crossing to Sardinia. We managed to sail over half the way there and only used about 40 litres of diesel. Small sail jelly fish accompanied us the whole way to Menorca. We had only seen these once before when we sailed to Tenby a few years ago. The only other wildlife we saw on the trip was a dolphin which jumped right next to the boat as I was looking into the water and scared the life out of me! I was feeling a little seasick late afternoon and couldn’t eat any tea. I took the 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. night watch, during which I was sick. It was a very clear night and the stars were magnificent, although I was feeling too ill to enjoy them.

We picked up one of the free buoys in Fornells about 8.30 a.m. and after a bacon and egg breakfast (I was feeling better by then!) had a siesta. There didn’t seem to be so many buoys as last year, but it may still be a little early in the season. Luckily, the wonderful cheap restaurants were open, still serving excellent Menu del Dias during the day and evening for about 8 euros.

Diesel: 1.05c, 40 euros.

Wildlife: Dolphins, Sail Jellyfish