Time seems to fly here in Sardinia: another week and a half gone, and only a short while before our sailing season ends and we return to the UK. Fortunately, Sardinia continues to delight us.
Leaving Cagliari, we have been travelling anti-clockwise around Sardinia, heading for the archipelago of La Maddalena on the northeastern corner. First stop was Villasimius, a resort town at the foot of Sardinia. The sailing season was very much still in progress as we entered the bay: it was the World Cup GC32 race series: incredibly fast foiling catamarans tearing around the bay, with numerous support boats making sure we stayed well out of the race path!
Checking the internet for “things to do in Villasimius” we stumbled across a recommendation for a tour of a local vineyard, complete with wine tasting. That confirmed our plans for an extra day in this lovely spot, and we duly signed up. The vineyard is owned by Gianluca, a very friendly and relaxed man, who met us in the local supermarket carpark to drive us out to the vineyard. In true Italian style, Gianluca had an obsession with “romance”, and was very impressed with our “romantic sailing voyage”, as he described it. We enjoyed a wine tasting like no other. After a tour of the vines (Vermentino for white wine, and Cannonau for the red), Gianluca treated us to a full-blown Sardinian feast: numerous tasty antipasti, followed by suckling pig spit roasted on an open barbecue, all washed down with unlimited quantities of his wines, and finished off with his own digestif of Mirto – not for the faint-hearted.
Waking with suitably sore heads, we decided on a “rest” day in Villasimius – a chance to clean the boat, as well as fix a puncture on one of the bikes. By the 20th of the month it was time to move on – next stop: Porto Corallo, now round the tip of Sardinia and on the Eastern coast. This area has a wilder, less touristy feel, and a lovely beach with some of the warmest water we have yet swum in.
The next day we moved on again, this time heading up the coast in gusty conditions to Arbatax, an industrial harbour mid way up the Eastern coast. This is where he have decided to leave Merryn for the winter, so our stay on this occasion gave us the chance to visit the boatyard where `Merryn will be laid up, to get further provisions, and to book car hire for when she comes out of the water when we will be left to fend for ourselves. It was good to be able to confirm that the boatyard looks ideal and safe for our boat, and we have fixed (at least provisionally) the date of the 11th of October for the lift out.
We also took the opportunity to spend a night at Santa Maria Navaresse – a small and friendly marina on the opposite side of the bay from Arbatax, with a walk up a hill to a viewpoint just above the marina. The picture at the top is the view – you might be able to spot Merryn amongst the other boats in the harbour. Just half an hour after that picture a massive super yacht came into the harbour and berthed right across from us – completely blocking our view and making for some tricky manoeuvering the next morning when we left!
Continuing up the coast, the next stop was La Caletta, really just an overnight stop to break the journey as we headed north, but a pretty and quiet place to spend the night, and a excellent meal ashore including tuna tartare, swordfish carpaccio, roast squid and culurgionis (a Sardinian filled pasta specialty in a tear shape).
We have now reached the north eastern tip, and have spent the last couple of nights at anchor in sheltered bays (Cala Sabina and now Porto Sole), sitting out some strong winds before we (hopefully) visit the La Maddalena archipelago. Even from our anchorage on the mainland, we are just a couple of miles from the archipelago and the beautiful landscape is all around us. Autumn is here (the sea temperature is dropping – or at least it felt that way on my last dip from the back of the boat!), and it won’t be long before we head back south to Arbatax.