We busied ourselves in final preparations for Peter, Debbie and family the next day. More trips to Lidl, and sorting the stowage of gear normally in the aft cabin (Rompatorium). Bikes, sewing machine, printer, torches, cameras, spare roll of upholstery fabric etc. all had to come out and be found temporary homes. We collected the car, and afterwards drove to the airport as a dry run, and then returned by way of Sassari. The town has two superb churches: in the cathedral was a memorial service led by firemen for the 9/11 victims (5 years ago now).
John picked up the family from the airport, and we returned straight to the boat. They were all fairly shattered from the 0300 hrs start, preceded by a heavy weekend sailing and socialising at Upper Thames. He then managed to track down the Camping Gaz supply (Gas in Bombole) at Via Antonelli 2F (left off the road to Sassari, at the first traffic light, 300m on lhs opposite Caribinieri).We set off at 1630 hrs, and the family went down for a kip, as we motored with no wind to speak of and with an awkward and uneven NW swell to Castelsarda, where we berthed in the marina. Hand Basket (USA, met in Almerimar) was on a nearby berth, but appeared all packed away and there was no sign of Jim.
We decided on a walk up the hill to see the village and castle. The visit to the castle was very rewarding (2€) and the views were magnificent. The surrounding old town was also lovely.
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| The challenge ahead | Refreshments were necessary to keep the troops moving! |
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| A view of the bay, beach and marina | JP taking a break |
On our return after lunch the men took the kids to the beach just outside the harbour. We were vociferously warned off as we approached, and so landed the children with some difficulty on the rocks and anchored the dinghy in the middle of the bay. Although there were no buoys, taking the dinghy in was frowned upon. The guy making the noise came over and a fairly friendly discussion ensued: rowing would have been acceptable to him. In the Mediterranean Almanac there is reference to a law that it is illegal to anchor or motorsail within 300m of the shore: could this have been one manifestation of it? The marina rates were very reasonable at 22€ a night, and the facilities were good, so we were happy to settle for a second night.
It had rained heavily overnight and for much of the morning, and the forecast was uncertain and unsettled. It seemed sensible to make a move west while we had the opportunity, so we set off about 1200. There was no useful wind, what there was blowing from the East, so we motored the whole way, deploying the jib to add a quarter of a knot. The swell had fortunately died down, so the only interest was the shipping going to and from Porto Torres. We arrived in time to enjoy a swim off the boat, and once the kids had eaten their tea they went ashore for a run around to expend some of their energy before bed time.
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| The family take a swim | And return smiling |
During the night it had blown up somewhat, and the British boat anchored nearby had disappeared elsewhere in the early hours. In the morning it was our turn as we found ourselves approaching the bow of an Austrian boat anchored behind. We picked up the anchor and moved away, re-anchoring with some difficulty. Afterwards, John remained on anchor watch, while the family with Mo went ashore to Stintino to pick up fresh supplies and run off. On their return we had lunch, then left to anchor near the beach off Ancora Yacht Club so that the family could have a swim. Later in the evening, as the wind had swung NW and we were slightly exposed we moved around to the lee of Isola Piana as close inshore as we could get.
The following morning was looking fairly grim with grey clouds and thunderstorms threatening. We decided that with a NW wind we might as well bite the bullet and go for the journey around to Capo Caccia and Alghero, as it was hardly beach weather. Having observed yachts taking the Pelosa Passage as well as local fishing boats, John could see no reason for not using it, as it was shorter than going around by the Fornelli passage where we had already come to minor grief earlier in the season.
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| The Pelosa Passage, from the south, overlooking Isla Piana, Fornelli Passage and Asinara |
In the morning we found ourselves exactly where we had left matters the previous evening, but decided to move back to the beach at Cala Dragonera (at the south end of Cala del Bollo) so that an expedition could be mounted to go to Neptune's caves, near the lighthouse on Capo Caccia. When the family returned rather promptly, having walked the 1500m up and back, it transpired that the caves were shut because of the height of the seas near the entrance making it dangerous. They missed out on the 600 steps down the cliff and back again, but on the caverns too. We then set off back to the head of Porto Conte, where there was a good beach for swimming and sand castling. It was still blowing fairly freshly, and so John decided to move to another anchorage halfway back but under the hill and in a corner, where he had noticed other boats before. It proved to be secure holding, but the shelter was really no better, especially as the wind had backed SW overnight.
Given our mixed luck with anchoring, we decided to try out the pleasures of the harbour at Alghero, but on the way stopped off at a very nice beach west of Fertilia to allow for swimming and snorkelling. After lunch we set off for Alghero. We were beckoned over to the Sol Mar pontoon as we entered, but John loudly let them know that they were too expensive. We were mooring up on the newly re-vamped public quay next to another British boat, when the 'Port Control' dinghy came and tried to persuade us to go to the marina for its allegedly better facilities. We explained why we would not, and made fast where we were, with electricity and water both available. Peter and Debbie took the children off on a wander about town, while we went to the EuroSpin supermarket near MacDonalds, coming back with some essentials and some sample wines.
On Tuesday, the family took themselves off to the Aquarium, and then the beach, while we returned to EuroSpin for a large load including some of the sampled wine. We busied ourselves in various ways, Mo with her galley purchases, and John attempting to write a couple of letters for Peter and Debbie to take back to the UK: this necessitated another expedition in pursuit of a printer ink cartridge as it had dried up.
The next day, Wednesday, was the final day of the visit. The walk to the beach had been a bit lengthy, so Peter used the dinghy, and Mo and John walked for the exercise. While Mo returned via a supermarket to get some bread, John swam a little and then returned with everyone else in the dinghy. Unfortunately we had run out of video tape for the video camera, so that necessitated a sprint around the shops to procure some more while Mo produced lunch. While John abortively attempted to pull together the video and photos onto a DVD, so that they could be taken back to the UK, Debbie completed packing and then they went out on the town for a while. After tea, we all set off to the park and playground to await the 7 pm bus to the airport, timed to coincide with the Ryanair flight. This apparently worked well, although the flight was delayed 30 minutes. After they had gone, we watched the sunset over Cabo Caccia from the walls, then had a drink to relax.