A Tantalizing Preview of Sardinia

We made a pre-dawn departure from Favignana for an overnight passage to Sardinia, 32 hours of sailing.  

Pre-dawn departure from Favignana, Sicily

This overnight passage was not quite as peaceful as our passage from Corfu to Sicily.  Although there were no big winds (about 8-12 kts for most of the passage) the seas were quite rocky-rolly and we had a bumpy ride of it.  For most of the night we were crashing through the waves with a fairly insistent headwind.  Finally in the last few hours of sailing, as we approached Sardinia, the seas had flattened out a bit and we arrived in Villasimius feeling a bit more comfortable.

Land ho.  Good to see Villasimius

Villasimius beach was a quiet, pleasant resort area.  While we were there it was filled with Norwegian families enjoying the last of the summer.  Early October is the Norwegian autumn school break.  We spent a few days catching up on laundry and walking along the beach watching the families swimming and building sand castles.

Nature's strange rock sculptures

Next we sailed across the Gulf of Cagliari to the main city of Sardinia, Cagliari.  About an hour out from Villasimius a nasty storm with lots of lightning was brewing south of us.  The lightning kept its distance but we did get rained on for about an hour.  The storm stirred up the seas and we had another bumpy ride into Cagliari.

Storm brewing

The stormy weather continued all night with a spectacular lightning show and throughout the next day but we were nicely tucked up at the Marine del Sole.

Approaching Cagliari harbour

We spent a few days in the marina at Cagliari, doing some minor repairs and provisioning.  We decided to haul out Songster for winter in Cagliari, which has plenty of chandleries and facilities for any work that may need doing.  But it was still a bit too early to end the season so we decided to take a bit of a trip around the southwest of Sardinia before returning to Cagliari to haul out.

Our first stop was a pleasant little bay near Capo Malfatano.  We had a fantastic sail there in near perfect conditions – a rare treat in the Mediterranean.

Nuraghe, bronze age edifice, which dot the coast

Beautiful end to a great sailing day

The next day we rounded the corner of Sardinia to Carloforte, a small island off the southwest coast.  Again we had good sailing conditions over the 35 nm passage, even though there were some rough seas.  We were flying along on a beam reach with just a handkerchief of a genoa.

Rough seas

Scooting along at 7.8 kts in 18 kts of wind apparent

We spent 5 days in this wonderful town. Pastel coloured buildings and palm trees lined the waterfront.   Around every corner was a charming narrow street or interesting shops.  We stumbled upon an open air market that had wonderful cheeses, small goods and fresh fruits and veggies. 

Cafes along the waterfront in Carloforte

Market full of cheeses, tuna and speciality oils

Pecorino cheese - a speciality of Sardinia

Pretty pastel coloured buildings

Then we had one of those amazing serendipitous encounters.  Bob had gone to a nearby grocery store while I stayed on the boat cleaning.  While there he met this vivacious petite elderly lady who noticed the Antarctica badge on his coat and started up a long conversation about Antarctica. Bob mentioned it when he got back but didn't think much more of it other than a pleasant encounter.  Then two days later we bumped into her again just outside the marina.  Apparently she had been trying to find Bob but only knew him as an Australian with a boat in the marina.  The office couldn’t help as Songster is British registered so it wouldn’t be apparent that we were Australians.  She then had enlisted the help of some friends who also had a boat at the marina.  This determined lady wanted to invite us to dinner at her house in the hills outside the town.  So two hours later we were being driven to Manuela's house by Paolo and Sylvia and another of their friends from the marina.

We had a wonderful meal and fantastic conversation. Manuela Cadringher is quite an amazing woman.  At 83 she is feisty, vivacious, has a love of life, engaged and engaging.  She said she worked as a journalist at RAI - the Italian television station.  We found out later (after doing Google searches) that she was in fact the editor-in-chief of RAI, won many awards and considered a major international environmental journalist.  She stands only about 4 1/2 feet tall - I tower over her - but she is quite an impressive presence.  We were very much reminded of our other older friend, Tazeena.  It is odd how these 80 something remarkable women somehow latch onto Bob!

The evening was special on so many levels.  After almost 5 years in the Mediterranean this was the first time we spent an evening at the house of a local without any other native English speakers.  (We had been to the homes of expat English but this was the real thing.)  I was struck at how knowledgeable and insightful the company was on world affairs.  The Italian hospitality was fantastic.  The fact that this all came about with two chance encounters (meeting in a supermarket then bumping into them outside the marina) is just boggling. I might just start thinking there is some hand of destiny working on us!

Old city wall

View from the marina

Sadly it was time to leave Carloforte but we vowed to return next season.  We sailed (motored) to a beautiful anchorage off Tuerredda Beach and spent several days swimming, walking along the beach and now watching the Danish families enjoying their autumn school break.

Tuerreda Beach

Songster at anchor

Another Nuraghe - looking forward to exploring these and finding out more about the Nuragic age next year

Full moon rising in Tuerreda

I didn’t want to say goodbye to the season but Mother Nature insisted and it was time to return to Cagliari to get Songster ready for her winter sleep.