We managed a good sail today from Pianotolli to Porto Pollo. We were underway for about eight hours, of which we managed to sail over five, tacking back & forth to clear Les Moines South Cardinal was the first job.
On the approach to the mooring buoys we were coming in on a nice beam reach with some great wind. The next thing we seen a kite surfer zooming towards us and very good he was too. I gave him a wave and on his return to shore he came up  from behind skirted us on our starboard side and did quite a spectacular jump turn which was going great till his board hit the water. But all credit to him he was up and away again before you really noticed it didn’t all go to plan. We gave him a round of applause and waved him on his way.
Nobody will be applauding our Genoa though, it developed a crease when reefed that we will need to sort out.

Porto Pollo was just a stopover, nothing much there to go ashore for so a quiet night, dinner on board and a 6.30 am departure which also allowed us to get off before they came round to collect mooring fees, if applicable . He He!   
 
Dinner , un verre de vin rouge & bed.

The original plan had been to head up the East coast of Corsica to Bastia and then across to Elba.
However since there seemed to be a settled patch of weather forecast we thought we would sail up the West coast which is apparently more scenic but also short of bolt holes if exposed to the strong NW winds.
First  we dodged the Sardinian Ferry arriving around the entrance to Bonnifacio as we left.

Leaving Bonifacio we were heading to Anse de Roccapina as recommended by Peter & Luccia who where also planning to anchor there. NE of Les Moines, a very dangerous area of islets, exposed awash & covered rocks. However a two plus metre swell was making it very uncomfortable to even reach the passage so it was a short motor sail of nine miles to Pianotolli in the Baie di Figari instead.
This is a two mile long inlet relatively deserted at its outer end and with many rocky patches and shallows on the approach. In strong S to SW winds the entrance would be dangerous. It looks nothing in the pictures though!
 
The pilot book says that on arrival, the harbour master will come out in his rib to help tie up – not today!  I did eventually manage to haul up the lazy line attached to a chain that would have done Nelson’s ships proud. We are getting better at this.
Anyway, it is a lovely wee place, quite remote but very pretty and the harbour masters pal did give us a lift into the village.
  
There was a “short cut” that led down & down to nowhere so back up ! You were able see the moorings in the distance though,through the rain forest!

As we were recuperating in the usual fashion and feeding the fish, Peter & Lucia arrived. They had decided to give the swell a miss too. That’s them tucked in behind the islet in the distance.
 
We would have liked to stay here another day or two but we’re getting on in the season and the prices are going up as we go along, so onwards and upwards quite literally.

We tried leaving for Bonifacio on the 16th May but eventually turned back to La Gavetta. We were flogging a dead horse, the wind was on the nose with a very confused sea. We tried motoring, with the engine revs set usually sufficient for an easy 5.5 kts  we were only managing 2.0-2.5 kts speed over the ground into the swell & wind. Another day!
 
On returning to La Gavetta we tied up beside a Moody  36 owned by an English couple, Sarah and Steve. We had drinks with them that evening and the following. Then eventually departed for Bonifacio on the 18th May, what a difference.
 
We managed a gentle sail to within four miles of Bonifacio entrance. Wow! what an entrance. I think Bonifacio harbour would be hard to beat for drama and majesty. Medieval houses precariously teetering on the edge of the imposing limestone cliffs.
 
The actual entrance to the harbour is equally striking with the Citadel looming above you.
   
The old town is a maze of irregular streets and alleyways with medieval houses five or six stories high yet often just one room wide, All this is enclosed by the ancient walls of the Citadel.
 
 
The town itself is a bit touristy but nice all the same. Some fairly expensive souvenir and jewellery shops are interspersed amongst the old houses, bars and restaurants. In the evening, the Citadel is lit up which is lovely to see from down in the harbour. Oh and a picture of our new boat only £160,000 to charter for a week , better chill the Krystal.
 
  
We had a nice couple of days here just wandering and soaking up the atmosphere. Another thing I loved was we were back to French supermarkets, the choice is so much better than in Sardinia. Mmmm, lovely French cheese!
  
The next day was blustery & overcast , so its not ALL sunshine tout le temps. We went for a walk along the cliffs.
 

The wind is still blowing a hoolie and as expected getting stronger as we approach the weekend.

However the sun was forecast to be out so we hired a scooter and set off on a tour of Maddalena & Caprera islands.

Peter Fonda eat your heart out

On route we spied a yacht hiding from the wind in Cala Francesi and took a detour down a dirt track and did some scrambling up some rocks to get a picture. On returning we bumped into two French guys who wanted to know how long it would take to walk into town… it was their yacht.

The morning was spent circling Madalena and then back to the boat for a coffee and some fleeces|

The frontage of La Gavetta is pretty with loads of restaurants to supply the daily visitors from the Palau on mainland Sardinia 20 minutes away by ferry. Some of the prawns are quite ferocious though.

In the afternoon we headed back over to Caprera Island, though it is now joined by a causeway to Madalena.

This is Stagnali a wee village on Caprera

There are some fantastic beaches and old fortifications

Spiagio Rellitto and the fortress on the southern approaches.

Nelson wanted the admiralty to use this as the Mediterranean base because of the wide natural harbour but they turned him down in favour of Malta. The Americans had a naval base here until very recently.

We were successful in visiting Casa Garibaldi this time.

The house is far bigger than you would expect. It was a very interesting tour and the place very peaceful. The big tree in the early pictures was planted in memory of his daughter who died very young. The calendar shows the date of his death & the clock has been stopped at the time 6:21 PM. He wanted to be cremated but this wasn’t allowed at the time so he was entombed beneath a big chunk of granite.

The boat in the final picture was a gift from the Sardinian navy that he used to cruise the surrounding waters and also to visit Madalena before the causeway was built.

It was a bit overcast and blustery, but never the less we thought we would walk the 8 mile return trip to Caprera Island and visit Garibaldi’s house. It was closed, it was Monday, trust us.

The next morning after a visit to the local Jungle Wash laundry, always good for a laugh, we headed off on the bus to the beach at Cala Spaltamore. There were only a few people there, the sun did come out and we ventured in to the crystal clear sea.

 

 On our return Felice, a marinero we had been chatting to when he was fishing for squid earlier that day, motored over in his tender and presented us with a big bowl of squid & pasta cooked in the squid ink. It tasted lovely even though it takes a bit of looking at. Gordon had three bowlfuls!

  

We left Cagliari on 14 April 2016 to begin the next part of our adventure which is to go up the East coast of Sardinia. This will mean we will have gone round the whole Island partly by car and party by boat.

Leaving Cagliari

It was a 38 mile sail to Porto Corallo, which is nothing to shout about but a helpful night stop going North. The next day was a further 30 miles through fog part of the way on to Santa Teresa Naveresse a nice village and good wee marina. Gordon had to return home for a few days so I just chilled and enjoyed the peace and quiet on the boat on my own.

Approaching St Maria Navaresse

Marina St M Navaresse

Hull scrubber M St Navaresse

Hill top view of St Maria Navaresse Marina & Arbatax in distance

Rock stack North of Navaresse

We are now heading up towards Olbia as our friends Iain and David are coming out on the 3^rd May for four days, so we are taking the chance of some quiet anchorages, peaceful days and early nights before they arrive. Our last Marina stop was La Caletta for a ridiculous 7 Euros 30 cents a night!

La Caletta

That won’t last we are now headed into Aga Khan Territory with super yachts the size of cross channel ferries.

There was some fine sailing on the way to La Calleta and then on to our fist anchorage this year Porto Brandinchi.

We spent last night in a beautiful bay in Porto Brandinchi that actually turned out to be quite rolly during the night but very beautiful all the same.

Anchorage Porto Brandinchi

Today we moved along to an anchorage just off Isola Tavolara. It’s a great time to be doing this as in the Summer it seemingly gets very very busy and we currently have these bays to ourselves. Bliss! We are also having some great sailing here, so far the Med hasn’t disappointed us in that respect.

Next we headed for Olbia Marina as this was a good place to pick up Iain and David. Well, did I get the shock of my life when they arrived. They had what I can only describe as a very large suitcase bag type of thing on wheels plus two small hand bags. They were also having four days in Rome and said they needed the extra clothes for that. Can I say now, anyone coming out to visit must only bring a small SOFT bag, their own towel and Tetley Tea Bags, yes, I know, its stricter than Ryanair baggage rules.lol

As usual, we had a great time with the guys, visiting some of the areas on the Costa Smerelda . Portorotondo who do great cocktails but have crap toilets, no pun intended and Porto Cervo which is where” those and such as those go”.

Day sail to Portorotondo

Afternoon cocktails

And then evening ones !

To be honest, we were all a bit disappointed in Porto Cervo, we had gone there as we thought the boys would like the abfab reputation -it was dead. However we had a belated Birthday party for Gordon with balloons, banners and sparkly things which the guys brought out, followed by a fantastic meal which we were treated to by our guests. Thanks guys

The boys also put in some work this time with some sail training as they are constantly talking about getting their own boat. I think they’ll need a few more visits before they venture out on their own but all in all, they both did well.

The winds here can be quite strong and come from nowhere so you are always on your toes. The day Iain and Dave left it was to blow up a bit, so as soon as they got into their taxi to the airport we jumped back in the boat and headed out to Isola La Maddalena before it got too strong.

We arrived here two days ago and are in Marina La Gavetta. We needed to get some provisions and this is one of the few places in this area with a supermarket. However, it looks like we will be holed up here for about a week as another Cyclone is on its way. We would have time to nip across the Bonifacio Strait to Corsica, but that would mean not seeing anything of La Maddalena Archipelago and I have been really looking forward to this part. So nothing else for it, stay put till the wind eases at the weekend and then explore for a few days in some of the beautiful anchorages off the Islands in the Archipelago.

Even at that, it’s going to be a whistle stop tour of here, Corsica and the West Coast of mainland Italy. It’s a horrifically expensive area in high summer for marinas, and it’s meant to be extremely busy, so we are trying to get to Sicily by mid to end June and we will decide where we go from there. So that’s the thinking at the moment, but it’s only the current plan and that can change on a daily basis. All part of the fun!

La Gavetta berth – Camira the smallest as usual

La Gavetta

We weren’t planning to go home this winter as we had spent a bit more on the boat than expected. However in February we went to stay with Diane and Harry for a few weeks, well five to be exact! We thought our tenants were moving out so we decided to return to arrange new ones, but they changed their minds and decided to stay, after we booked our flights. However, it was brilliant to see Diane and Harry who both did so well putting up with us for that length of time. Bowling night with Harry Guess who won ? It also gave us a chance to catch up with friends. As usual though you run out of time and somehow don’t get to see everyone, you forget most of them only have weekends to catch up, so five weekends isn’t really that long in that respect. While we were back it was my Birthday so we had a few days away, mainly to give Diane a break, but also a nice break for us. We had a luxurious night in The Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh.

The two intrepid Sardinian sailors Followed by a few nights in Glencoe and surrounding area.

Beautiful. Apparently we were very lucky with the weather it had been raining cats & dogs for weeks prior to this. Gordon’s haunt in the 70’s when he had umpteen motorbikes, him & his pals used to camp near by. This was their watering hole. View from our hotel bedroom window. Glen Roy Laggan Locks Fort Augustus
Nessie
 
We also managed a day at Nevis Range with Diane skiing in the most amazing conditions.
 
All too soon it was time to return to Cagliari. Well we did but some of our luggage didn’t! lol. But that’s another story. Oh, I nearly forgot, Gordon became a pensioner this year as well. He decided he wanted a quiet Birthday, so we had our last tour of Cagliari in the beautiful historic old town. We went for ice cream and a beer followed by a lovely meal out at night. The auld yins can really enjoy themselves you know! Birthday boy & his bike So bye bye Cagliari

We then headed for Buggerru; well we had too didn’t we? …… apart from which we were under orders from our pal Susan that she wanted a post card sent to her from there.

This is in the Costa Verde a dramatic and deserted coast line.

On the drive South flocks of small birds for some reason diced with death in front of the car. Perhaps it was a bit like dolphins riding the bow wave, perhaps it was fun for them?

Aye sand always goes between your toes

Buggerru in the distance

Bugger me what panoramic view leaving Buggerru.

We were then off to Cala Domestica

Although not prepared, Louise couldn’t resist the beautiful water in the bay. Bear in mind this is still 28^th January

Our last place to visit on the way back to Cagliari was Portoscuso where we had planned to get the ferry across to Caloforte, just across from Calasetta where we had first landed in Sardinia last year with Susan .Unfortunately the ferry times just didn’t work out for us so we just had a wee look around Portoscuso and a coffee before driving back to the boat in Cagliari

Back in time for cocktails in the Antioch cafe in Cagliari

West of Alghero across the bay of Porto Conte, the panoramic coast road takes you to Capo Cacia.

Just before the tip of the promontory a road leads to Escala di Cabirol, a dramatic stairway of 656 steps down to the Grotto di Nettuno.

The pictures that follow just don’t do it justice, for those of you who have read Lord of the Rings , think of the Dwarves Halls under the mountain.

Once again we had this completely to ourselves! Magic

We then headed to Bosa .Castello Malaspina towers above the old town of Sa Costa.

It is a maze of alleyways and tumbledown houses. On the left bank of the Temo are abandoned tanning buildings ,19^th century travellers who praised the beauty of Bosa also mentioned the foul smell of the tanneries who used a mixture of water & dog poo in their processes.

Castlesardo & Santa Teresa Gallura

Next stop was Castlesardo a drive along the North Coast of Sardinia, a fortress village perching on a high promontory

It is famous for basket weaving and formerly formed the occupation of almost every female in town.

On the road out there is a rock formation that looks like an elephant

The countryside is very mountainous and not unlike certain parts of Scotland, especially on a dull day like today.

From Castlesardo we headed as far East as we planned by to travel car (the remainder was going to be covered by boat once we set off again in the Spring).

Santa Teresa Gallura. The Northern tip of Sardinia is buffeted by the Mistrale resulting in strange rock formations. The resort of St Teresa looks across to Corsica, one of our destinations later on this year. You can see it in the distance across the Bonifacio Strait.

Santa Teresa is pretty, the oldest part dates from the 1800’s but expanded into a holiday resort in the 1960’s. Off season it is quiet but come the summer will be teeming with tourists. I think we are lucky to see these places when quiet.

The rock strewn coast and Bonifacio straits in the distance