The evening before we left, we checked the forecast again for the following day as we needed a good 48 hour window for our 182 mile passage. Once again we passage planned at 5 knots, and by leaving Menorca early in the morning we would have plenty of scope to arrive in daylight should we find ourselves going a little faster as the winds looked like they might dictate.
Reviewing the weather again on the morning of departure it appeared that we would have up to 20 knot winds for the first 24 hours, and then much calmer conditions for our arrival. This suited us as it meant we would be able to anchor at the bay inside Capo Caccia and we might get some sailing in rather than use the engine, at least for some of the passage. We weighed anchor just before dawn broke, hoisted the main sail and made a coffee hoping a caffeine boost would wake us, after all we are not used to getting up so early these days!
The sea was lumpy once outside the sanctuary of the Cala, but the wind allowed us to unfurl the genoa and switch the engine off. With the autopilot engaged we had breakfast and decided to put on our lightweight waterproof clothing as it looked like the sea would produce a fair amount of spray, which proved to be the case.
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| Sunrise day one |
About an hour into the passage the wind had moved round and was coming at only 40 to 50 degrees off the nose.
At this point of sail, a close reach, Scarlet heels over to 15 to 20 degrees, more in gusts.
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| Pelting along |
We can control the angle of heel to some extent, but it is a tiring point of sail for a long passage. To try and imagine what it is like, you may have been on one of those rides you sometimes see at funfairs. The 'simulator' looks like one of the shuttle craft from Star Trek and seats about 20 people. For added realism, they are mounted on various hydraulic rams to replicate the movement of an aircraft or racing car. Having been on a few over the years, they are good fun. Perhaps because they only last 3 minutes and not 30 plus hours!
So at 20 degrees on the boat, which is pitching and yawing, simple tasks like answering a call of nature and cooking become less straightforward and more of a challenge. Falling off a large wave somehow always seems to coincide with using the heads (toilet). Just at the point you are using both hands to pull trousers up, the boat crashes down and you end headbutting the sink! Making a hot drink is another favourite, as you are pouring the boiling water into the mugs, the boat pitches and the water goes everywhere but into the mug. This passage was especially notable later on in the evening as trying to open a tin of ravioli became a full fight between the tin, and man, and the attempts to get the contents into the saucepan. As the tin opener required one hand to hold the tin, one to turn the handle, and a third hand for holding on to the boat. It was a question of a quarter turn then brace, quarter turn then brace. After what seemed like ten minutes for two cans, sufficient of the contents finally made it into the pan to make a sort of meal.
By the time evening had arrived we had settled into a routine of reefing the sails, and then letting out again when the wind died down. We managed some respectable speeds during the night touching 7.7 knots for a short while. Scarlet goes just as quickly with the sails reefed as let out, and is more comfortable and safer that way especially at night.
After our smaller portion of ravioli dinner than expected, we started our night watches. The chartplotter showed plenty of shipping around, but none close enough to be a cause for concern. Occasionally we would see lights in the distance, but most of the time is spent just keeping a general lookout.
By the time dawn broke the wind had dropped and changed direction to a more comfortable beam reach. By this time the boat speed had also dropped to well below 5 knots and finally with only 15 miles to landfall, we put the engine on and motored.
Now that the conditions had improved, the Spanish courtesy flag was taken down and replaced with the Italian one.
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| Steve raising the Italian courtesy flag |
This is always a poignant moment for us as it gives us a chance to reflect that we have sailed our little boat all the way from England to another country.
Capo Caccia is an imposing site. Sheer steeply sided cliffs with a lighthouse atop can been seen from some distance away.
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| Capo Caccia |
We arrived at our anchorage in Calla del Bollo just inside Capo Caccia at a few minutes before 2 pm. The passage had taken about 32 hours. These 'short' passages are more tiring than the longer ones as your body does not get into a rhythm.
We stayed in the area for a while, occasionally moving to find shelter from the strong afternoon winds and relaxed into our 'usual' routines.
Lynne wanted to visit the nearby Neptunes Grotto, but the entrance to the caves was on the other side of Capo Caccia and the water too deep to anchor. We had seen tour boats heading that way with boarding ramps on the bow to drop visitors off, so we decided to pay a visit to nearby Alghero marina where some of the tour boats are based. We needed to take on some provisions anyway, as well as top up the water and fuel. This would be only our second marina this year as we have been able to anchor just about everywhere.
On the approach to the marina entrance we were met by an enthusiastic young man in a rib from Ser Mar marina.
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| Marina rib Alghero |
Our friends on Moonstream had used this one and told us it was OK, so we followed him right into the marina where he kindly showed us to a vacant berth and arranged for helpers on shore to take lines. As Moonstream happened to be in that day, we popped along for a quick hello before booking in with Francesco at the marina office.
Francesco explained that he was originally from Sicily and had come to Sardinia for a temporary job. 16 years later he is still here and a more helpful person would be hard to find. He even drove us and picked us up from the local supermarket the following day. A fabulous introduction to a very friendly Sardinia.
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| All the chores done! |
The marina was an ideal place to explore Alghero, and of course enabled Lynne to go and visit the caves.
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| Neptunes Grotto |
The old town is very pretty indeed and having arrived at the height of the summer season, very busy. Apparently the name of the place comes from the stagnation of Algae along the coast!
The town was built around a fortified fort and some evidence remains today. We nearly decided to hire a car for the day but the one on offer was a little too small perhaps?
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| I want one! |
The shops appear to focus on fashion and jewellery, so a cheap experience for us, although we did treat ourselves to a meal out in the evening.
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| Alghero, window shopping |
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| Latter days defences, Alghero |
From Alghero, we headed back to Capo Bollo to await the arrival of good friends Neil and Hilary off Plane Magic, as they too were crossing from Menorca.
We had a pleasant few days with them and got to meet another British couple, Paul and Ness from the amazing catamaran Paradise. Paul and Ness will be sailing around the world and you can read about their adventures here: Sailing on Paradise
Soon enough it was time to move on, and we headed up and around the coast to the old fishing village of Stintino. Here we spent a few days at anchor which gave us a chance to look around the small town.
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| Part of the marina at Stintino |
It was whilst we were here during an afternoon of very strong winds, our anchor dragged in the weed below. It became evident that the winds would not be dying down anytime soon so rather than re-anchor, we headed out to sea and for several hours. As we had no sails up we layed ahull. This technique is normally more suited to really heavy storm force winds, and appeared to work well. Scarlet became more comfortable despite the howling winds and big waves. So much so we made dinner!
Once the winds had calmed we headed back to the anchorage along with many other boats. Once again we had to take pot luck on the holding.
As it grew darker we could see a huge electrical storm approaching, and the maritime weather forecast on the VHF confirmed that a storm was coming. We stayed put along with a dozen or so other yachts, and prepared to batten down the hatches. Despite some rain and strong winds, the storm passed about 20 miles or so to the North, and in the early hours of the morning with only a few knots of wind registering, we went to bed.
Our next stop was about 13 miles away at Capo Testa for a couple of nights before arriving at Liscia, close to the Maddalena islands.
Whilst at Capo Testa, we got a text from Hilary to say watch out for the meteor showers in the evening. This was the annual Perseid meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. We watched it last year whilst up the Guadiana river and it was as equally spectacular this year, despite having more light pollution.
At Liscia we spent a couple of days relaxing and even made use of the sun loungers on the beach for the 'proper' tourist experience.
Our wifi dongle was not picking up much signal here and with the boat swinging at anchor our 'good' signal was often lost, making picking up emails and weather problematic. So, we moved to the nearby town of Palau. It says in the Pilot Book that anchoring is not allowed outside the port, but seeing several other yachts there already we decided to give it a go.
Here we managed to pick up wifi and purchase and download a cruising permit for the Maddalena Islands. Having a printer on-board was a really good idea and to top it off, we even used our laminator to produce a waterproof permit.
On our first shopping trip in the port we only managed to find a few small and expensive shops for essential supplies like bread, milk and chocolate. We later tracked down a supermarket about half a mile away, and went back a few days later with the trolley.
This would be a good time to mention the 'sail' we had from Liscia to Palau. As newcomers to the area we had no idea that there was a 'rush hour'. It is only a short journey but goodness, we have never seen so many yachts or motor cruisers running engines at full tilt coming towards us. As they passed, often only a short distance away, they created 'Biscay' sized wash. Pop a cork into a half-full washing up bowl and shake violently from side to side, and up and down. The cork was Scarlet Lady that day!
The cruising permit allowed us to anchor and have free use of mooring buoys in the designated areas. Our plans to cruise however, we cut a little short with the forecast of very strong winds. We decided to seek a good spot early in the bay at Porto Palma, supposedly the most protected anchorage from the direction the winds where due from.
By the morning the winds were forecast, the anchorage was full and as the evening beckoned, you could hear the sound of many boats deploying a few more metres of chain. Like our fortunate experience in Stintino, the worst of the winds passed us by, and by the time morning came most of the boats were preparing to leave. We stayed on and later in the afternoon, took the tender ashore to go for a walk.
Not far from the shore was a vast hanger like building left over from Military use, when it used to be an American naval base. It was near here that the USS nuclear submarine, the Hartford, ran aground in an embarrassing navigational blunder. Thankfully, especially as it was a nuclear sub, no reported harm was done apart from the estimated 9 million dollars damage to the hull.
In the main derelict building we went in, was a rather odd display of old boats.
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| Modern Art? |
After nearly an hour of walking we headed back, it was mosquito feeding time and we were starter, main course and dessert.
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| Anchorage at Porto Palma |
We did not use our permit to the full, and hope to go back one day to do the islands more justice.
Our next stop was an anchorage to the south of the fabled Porto Cervo. Porto Cervo is one of the summer resorts of choice for the very wealthy. It was conceived back in the 60's when a group of property owners, headed by the Aga Khan, set out a plan so that the land would be developed in an environmentally and aesthetically way. No high-rise buildings here.
Our Pilot Book describes it as a place for the super-rich to show off their new floating toys, surrounded by hangers-on and minions!
As far as impressive goes they don't come much better than the Mega superyacht Madame Gu (which has a fully enclosed helicopter hanger), and the Maltese Falcon. Both very different, but jaw dropping at the same time.
Madame Gu has taken our award for the most impressive looking vessel at night, and the Maltese Falcon for one of the most expensive yachts you can charter. A mere 350,000 euros, wait for it..... a week!
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| Madame Gu a 99 metre mega yacht |
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| Madame Gu at night |
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| The Maltese Falcon |
And so back to reality. Our aim was to make a series of long day sails down the coast to reach Cagliari in the South. Cagliari has several marinas and we would need to take on water, fuel and re-provision for the crossing to Sicily. First we need some interim provisions as once again the supply of chocolate was running low. According to our Pilot Book nearby Olbia was just the place.
The main entrance to the harbours is long and wide, although it looked a little narrow when a big ship passed us heading in the opposite direction.
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| They look very big from the deck of a small yacht |
We anchored at the end of the port as far as we could go. However, it was near to the town and we found a big supermarket within a short walk of going ashore. We also chanced on a shop that sold camping gaz, and popped back later to replace an empty bottle. Each of the two cylinders is lasting us about 20 days, bearing in mind we are eating on Scarlet most days and having copious cups of tea, so it is not too bad. We paid 23 euros for this one which was in much better condition that the one we swapped, which has left rust stains in the locker.
Sailing down this coast was challenging for us. No wind one minute, 25 knot gusts the next, then no wind, and so on. We did manage to sail for some of the time, but it was hard work keeping on top of the wind and not letting Scarlet get over-powered in the gusts. After one 11 hour day and one 8 hour day sailing, we headed for the anchorage at Capo di Pula in the South West corner of the bay of Cagliari. Here we wanted to explore the ancient ruins of the town of Nora.
Nora proved to be a fascinating and worthwhile visit. Thought to be founded in the 8th century BC by the Phonecians the site contains a theatre, wonderfully preserved mosiacs from Roman times, as well as baths and various other buildings.
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| Mosaic at Nora |
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| The old theatre with new seating areas and stage |
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| Remains of the old bath house |
Like the ancient sites we visited in Menorca, they are very thought provoking trying to imagine what life for the inhabitants must have been like. Over the years the place has fallen into ruin, helped along the way by raids from pirates and the Vandals, from which the term is derived.
Next stop is a two night visit to St Elmo marina in Cagliari, and then it is off to Sicily. More of that in the next update.
Steve and Lynne xx
