Finally, Sardinia

Arriving in Olbia meant facing up to the fact that this season's sailing was fast drawing to a close. Thanks to the wonders of Brexit we would only be allowed to stay in the EU for a couple more weeks. Britons can only stay 90 days in every 180 days, unlike when we were in the EU when it was unlimited. The days run out quickly when you're enjoying yourself. You have to plan very carefully to make sure you don't overstay and incur heavy penalties or worse, a ban from entering the Schengen area.

We needed to find a safe place for Libra to spend the winter while we still had some leeway with our dates. Boatyards fill up rapidly once the holiday season ends, and word soon spreads as to which ones are better .  Our storage options were: here in Sardinia, or press on to the Italian mainland, or really push on and get to Greece as quickly as possible.

As is so often the case the weather decided our next move. Igor checked the forecast and the winds for the next couple of weeks would be unfavourable. This would mean slow progress and a lot of motoring on long non stop passages eg 30+ hours to Sicily.  There's also the inconvenience of having to buy diesel and store it on the boat. Better to find somewhere in Sardinia and do the next hop in the spring when we can wait for a weather window.

Our first thought was to keep the boat in Olbia. It's close to an airport, has lots of facilities and is altogether very convenient. The downsides were the expense and, more importantly, they didn't have any room. Time to head south.

Saturday 9th September 2023

For once there was no reason to rush this morning. We didn't have to leave the marina until midday so I took it easy while Igor cleaned the outside of the boat. I dropped the shower block key back to the office and while we were making ready to leave I got chatting to a woman who had noticed the boat's name, Libra of Burnham. She told me that she learnt to sail in Burnham and obviously loved it as she is now skippering a boat with 12 passengers around the Med.

We set off bang on 12.00.

There were lots of boats on the water, one of which caught my eye, a big sailing boat called 'Running on Faith'. It was sleek and beautiful, around 30m in length. I googled it and it's available to charter for a lot less than the floating gin palace motor boats you see but still sadly way out of my budget. Oh well, who needs a luxury boating experience when you've got 10 tins of chicken curry in your galley cupboard. I consoled myself by laughing at the name of the makers of this beauty, Wally. Probably means something different in Italian.

There wasn't much wind so we motored on and off until we anchored at La Caletta around 18.00. I was very organised and took advantage of the engine running and powering the batteries so I could cook on the electric induction ring while we were underway. I made a massive pot of pasta with tomato sauce and Emmenthal. Once it was ready I wrapped it in my beloved merino jumper to stay warm. I haven't needed to wear it much these last few months but it has definitely come in useful as an improvised tea cosy.  The less gas we use for cooking the less often we need to refill the canisters!

Once we anchored the three of us ate on deck. There was music coming from the nearby small town. After the pasta we sat around talking and eating cheese until around 11pm. It felt like we were on holiday.

Tonight we would sleep at anchor so it was important to make sure the boat was secure in its position. Igor spent last night on anchor watch so today was my turn. I studied the land carefully, finding transits. Let me explain what a transit is for anyone who doesn't know*.

When you are on the water by the coast you may need to check whether you are moving.  Looking at the water can be misleading, especially if there is a tide or current running. Instead you find two stationery objects on land, say the side of a building and a telegraph pole, which are in line with each other. Watch them carefully for a little while. If they don't move relative to each other you know that you have stopped.  If they are moving then you haven't. If you take a note of their relative positions you can check later on to see if they are still the same. If they are you haven't moved.  

*I explained this to Vik as we were eating our cheese but he informed me that he'd been lining up transits while sailing since he was an 8 year old Otter (junior member of our local sailing club) and didn't need me explaining again. He didn't say it quite as brutally as this.

Unlike Igor I didn't stay on deck overnight to keep watch. Conditions were calm so I went to bed but woke up at 1.30 and 3.30 and checked the transits, enjoying the cool air and the view of the sleeping town. The transits hadn't moved, which allowed me to sleep easy for the rest of the night.

Sunday 10th September 2023

I woke up at around 7.20, had a swim and by 7.40 we were away. Igor raised the mainsail as we were facing into the wind, such as it was, only around 6kt. It was cool, around 20C, very pleasant, but warmed up over the course of the day. We allowed Vik to sleep and he got up around 9.00.

The wind didn't increase and yet again the scenery was stunning. Rocks and cliffs, all of them different and endlessly fascinating. The sky was blue with the misty vistas of hills going away into the distance. A few small towns were scattered along the coastline with an occasional beach, but most of the way the shore would only be accessible by boat.

At 14.15 we reached Cala Luna, where there are a series of caves right by a sandy beach. Some of them apparently extend up to 5km into the cliffs.  It's a beautiful and impressive place and the bay was very busy, a lot of power boats and tourist boats, plus a few sailing boats.

We took the opportunity for a swim before lunch. The light reflected from the movement of the waves formed fascinating patterns on the white sand sea bed, an abstract study in blue.

Once we had eaten, the usual bread, cheese, sausage and tomato, we took it easy for the afternoon.

Igor decided to swim to shore. I worried because of the number of power boats which didn't always seem to be very well driven.

Vik kept an eye on him and reassured me that all was well. When Igor got back he told us about his explorations. There was a small restaurant onshore and he suggested exploring the caves then getting a bite to eat.  Good plan.

By 5.30 most of the boats had gone, just leaving us and a couple of sailboats at anchor. We got into the tender and Igor rowed us to shore, a couple of hundred yards. The beach was very steep to and pebbly. Igor and Vik jumped out, my effort was an inelegant scramble, which coincided with a wave hitting the tender and filling the boat. Luckily I was holding the bag with Igor's phone well out of the way of the water.

We hauled the tender onto the beach, away from the waves, and explored the caves. To reach the biggest one we had to walk around the base of a cliff that extended into the water. It was only about ankle deep except when the waves hit. I was glad I was wearing my board shorts that dry out quickly.

The cave was the size of a cathedral going way back into the cliff. Everywhere we looked there were cairns that people had built, stacks of stones of all sizes, some simple, some elaborate.

Vik went right to the end. I chickened out, it felt a bit claustrophobic.

I never feel very comfortable in caves but am generally so impressed by what I see that I don't allow myself to be bothered by it.

The other caves were smaller and emptier, though we saw bats circling outside when the sun started to set.  We had a look in them then carried on, following a path over a small, shallow, mucky looking pond with kids pedaloes floating on it.

It led past some flowering bushes to the bar. They were serving cheese, sausage and tomato sandwiches.

We decided we'd just have a beer as this was what we were subsisting on (bread, cheese and sausage, not beer, just to clarify).

On the way back we spotted a pair of cats, possibly a mother and her almost grown up kitten. We haven't seen many cats recently and these were really pretty.

Igor rowed us back to our boat with no mishaps. It was so quiet with nearly everyone else gone.

I made tinned curry for dinner, improvising some garlic bread from a stale loaf which I moistened with water, spread with butter and sprinkled with garlic salt then fried for a few minutes. Vik suggested adding a sprinkle of curry powder. It tasted much better than it sounds. Purely in the interests of tidying up we drank the last few cans of beer from the fridge.

The night was calm and quiet and the sky full of stars so there was no need for a formal anchor watch. We'd been securely moored all afternoon, the forecast was good so it seemed a risk worth taking.

Monday 11th September 2023

We all felt a bit tired when we woke up but after a swim the world felt clearer.

Vik had been kept awake by the noise of the anchor but after some encouragement from Igor and me he jumped into the sea which blew all his cobwebs away. I wish I could do that, just launch myself, instead I always feel the need to go in slowly. This is partly because I usually wear my glasses and sometimes a hat too. Perhaps I should live a little.

Today was Vik's last day with us so he decided to take the paddleboard and explore the caves before we left. By the time he got back to the boat the bay was once again filling up with tourist boats and motor boats.

We set off motoring just after 9.00am and once we were underway I made coffee. We have an excellent little gadget for this, a Melitta filter funnel with two holes at the bottom so that you can make two large cups of coffee at the same time. We set it up over an old glass coffee jug so we can make a whole potful and the components take up a lot less space than a dedicated coffee machine.

I assembled everything in the galley sink for safety so that, if the boat heeled, any hot liquid would be contained. I wasn't properly awake though, and decided to do this just after pouring some boiling water in. This meant it was even more unstable than usual and inevitably the funnel fell off, scattering coffee grounds all over the two basins and the whole sink area.  Luckily we have a seawater pump which I used to wash everything away, it would have been a terrible waste of fresh water otherwise. I set it up again, paying attention, and this time it all went smoothly.

A little later, as we cruised along the beautiful coastline Igor asked me if I'd take down a towel which was drying on the lifelines. I reached over to get it, not realising that it had got caught up with the broom we use for sweeping the deck. I pulled the towel and the broom landed in the water with a splash. 'Broom overboard!'

There's a well documented procedure for dealing with a man overboard situation. The person who spots it must point to the 'casualty' as it's very easy to lose sight of someone in the water especially if it's rough or the visibility is poor. I pointed at the broom as we moved further away from it.  We decided to treat this as a man overboard drill but I made the mistake of looking away for a moment and when I looked back the bright yellow broom head was nowhere to be seen. We searched for about ten minutes but decided that the metal tube handle had probably filled with water causing it to sink. It was quite sobering, to realise something can disappear so quickly. Lucky it was only a broom.

We carried on until around 12.30 then anchored at a massive rock called Pedra Longa which rises out of the sea in the shape of a bishop's mitre. Again, a spectacularly beautiful area, clear sea and cliffs. As Vik said, 'There are cliffs all the way but they're all different.'

I made a simple lunch of scrambled eggs, we had a box of six and they needed to be eaten, along with the last of the sausage and some tomatoes.

We set off again at around 13.45. I realised that this would be the last anchorage of our trip this year and felt sad.  

When you're in the middle of an adventure it feels like it will last forever, then suddenly you reach the end and all that beckons is home and routine,

Our destination was Arbatax. The town had been recommended to us by the friends we made in Porquerolles as it has a good marina and several boatyards.  

Once inside the marina we were guided to our mooring by marineros. They squeezed us in between a bigger sailboat and a big motor yacht.

Up until now we have positioned the boat close to the pontoon so that I could climb straight onto it. These marineros weren't allowing that. They insisted we kept a distance of at least a metre from the pontoon which meant we needed to use our passerelle, the fancy name for a gangplank from our boat to the land. The plank of wood that had acted as a fender board through the canals was finally promoted to a new role. I found walking across it utterly terrifying, convinced I'd fall into the drink.

Once moored we had showers. There were several boatyards in the town so I contacted each of them to see which could take Libra for the winter.  Either no room or no reply. We called it a day and took a walk into town to find a restaurant for one final dinner with Vik. He had to catch the bus at 5.00 am to the next town, Tortoli, then another bus to Cagliari, then from there a train to the airport so before we ate we located the bus stop. Just as well we did as it wasn't obvious.

We also found a small grocery which sold a beer called Viktor. Of course, we had to get a couple of cans. As Vik said, it had his name on it.

The town of Arbatax is small but there are at least four restaurants. We chose the one nearest the bus stop. Igor and Vik had pizza, I had seafood with local pasta, a bit like giant couscous. Excellent. We walked back, past a mouth watering display of ice creams at a gelateria but somehow resisted the temptation.

Back on the boat we chatted on deck for a while over the Viktor Beer but went to bed early as poor Vik had to be up at 4.15. A pretty good day despite the coffee and the broom.

Tuesday 12th September 2023

I woke at 4.15 to make sure Vik was up but I needn't have worried, he was away by 4.40 with only a 10 minute walk to the bus stop so well before the bus arrived at 5.00am.

His flight wasn't until mid morning so he'd have a long time to wait at the airport but this route was his only public transport option. I went back to sleep until 8.30.

Once I'd had breakfast I started tidying the boat, assessing what food we had left and thinking about packing.

Late in the morning we decided to walk to the boatyard that had the best reviews. They had told us via email that they had no space but we thought if we went in person we might be able to change their minds. The yard was only a couple of hundred yards away as the crow flies. Unfortunately we aren't crows, so had to walk a couple of km in the midday sun to get there. We arrived just as the manager was locking up for the lunchbreak. She explained that there really was no room at all. We turned to walk back and she said something to her colleague, an older man who was about to get into his car. A brief conversation between them and he gave us a lift back to the marina. What lovely, kind, thoughtful people.

We had an appointment at 3pm to see a guy called Luca at Cantieri Mulas, the only yard with any space.  We carried on with boat cleaning etc until it was time to meet him then went to the yard's office.  He was a muscly Italian man wearing tight t-shirt and trousers reaching just above his ankles and shoes without socks. We discussed the cost of the winter storage.

The yard's quote had included doing the antifouling. Most boats are painted every year with a special paint full of biocides that (in theory) kills any marine life that tries to grow on it. The reason this is necessary is that things like growing on any surface in the sea. If your boat doesn't have antifoul you get algae growing. This attracts crustaceans like barnacles. Seaweeds join the party too. Before you know it your boat's bottom is an octopus's garden which slows you right down and, if you're motoring, uses a whole lot more fuel. Walk round any marina and look below the waterline and you'll see what happens if you don't pay attention.

We use a different approach. Libra is painted with silicone. This is non toxic and when wet is too slippery for any weed or barnacles to get a proper grip on it. A gentle wipe and they all come off. Best of all you only need to paint it every few years, not every single year. We explained that we wouldn't need the antifouling renewed or for the hull to be pressure washed. This brought the cost down very considerably.  

Luca told us that they could lift the boat on Thursday morning. This wasn't great timing. I'd checked flights and the only one available was Thursday lunchtime which meant we couldn't be present for the lift. Also, we wouldn't be allowed to stay on the boat once it was out of the water so we really would have no choice but to fly on Thursday, unless we were able to book an hotel. The next flight was Monday but at the same time so we might as well trust the yard and do it quickly.

We went back to the boat and I carried on sorting things out. Vik messaged us to say he was safely home in the UK. As evening fell we decided to walk into town for dinner. We walked a slightly different route to yesterday and noticed a road going further into town so of course we wanted to see what was there.

A short walk across a car park and we were by the water, huge red porphyry rocks jutting out of the deep blue sea, glowing rosy in the setting sun. The biggest of the rocks had a square hole cut all the way through it a few metres high. Inside this frame were a young couple, him in a white top and trousers, her in a long red silk dress, dancing and posing for a photographer. It was quite beautiful.

We watched for about ten minutes then it must have been judged that the photos were taken. The poor young woman then had to tackle the steep scramble down from the rocks in her evening dress. I felt for her.

We carried on further. The light was starting to dim and the red rocks faded to  shades of grey. The slopes down to the water were covered in tall cairns, piles of rocks, no explanation as to why they were there but there were loads of them.

Pity we hadn't walked there with Vik, he'd have liked them.

We went to a different restaurant than yesterday as otherwise we'd have had to wait half an hour for a table. We had pizza and the local Ichnusa beer. It was all excellent and not at all expensive.

I wondered how it had taken me this long to realise how fantastic Italy is!

Wednesday 13th September 2023

Today was the day to pack everything away. We had breakfast. There wasn't much left to eat, some aging processed type bread with peanut butter. It was dead calm so we took advantage of this to drop the sails. First we dropped the jib, folding it once it was down on the deck of the boat and then putting it into a sail bag. We'd arranged to meet Luca at 10.30 to discuss final details but had to put it back by half an hour.

It was hot work so I went for a shower but there was only a dribble of lukewarm water from the showerhead so I couldn't even wash my hair. Also, the shower wouldn't drain properly so by the time I'd finished the floor was covered in water. I wrapped myself in a towel and went to the cubicle next door to dry off. I was so relieved we weren't in one of the unisex shower blocks we'd encountered in France, where I'd have risked bumping into a man using a urinal.

We went to see Luca. Igor explained in detail how the hull will need to be supported once the boat is out of the water. It has to rest on the keel as there is a risk that it will become deformed otherwise. After this it was back to the boat to carry on cleaning. All the perishables in the fridge had to go, though we kept the weird shaped cheese and a block of aging gorgonzola. Lunch was a tin of tuna nicoise left over from the French leg of the journey, served with the weird cheese which we finished.

We also finished off the box of white wine, just a glass each, which nearly stymied my motivation to get everything done in the afternoon.

I washed all the clothing and bed linen. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more, if you don't you attract mould and other nasties. Igor deflated the paddleboard and tender. He attempted to wash the deck but the water pressure was too low for this to be effective. He tidied all the ropes away.  We took down the mainsail.

As it started getting dark the water pressure improved so I washed the deck. It was very mucky, possibly dust from the work being done in the various boatyards surrounding the marina.

Darkness fell. We were still working. Around 8.30 we went for dinner, having decided that a lump of gorgonzola by itself really wouldn't hit the spot. We went back to yesterday's pizzeria and today's choice was even better.

As we walked back to the boat twenty or thirty feral cats appeared by the marina cafe. Where had they been during the day? There hadn't been any sight or smell of them.

We needed an early night. We had tried to get in touch with a taxi/transfer to the airport which would leave at 5.30 and take us all the way without the changes Vik had to make but they hadn't confirmed that they could take us.  We went to bed early, my alarm set for 4.00 am to catch the bus at 5.00.

Thursday 14th September 2023

My alarm went off as planned. I didn't feel too bad, over 5 hours sleep, adequate as I knew I could sleep on the bus and the plane.  I checked my WhatsApp. There was a message from the transfer taxi - 'Confirmo'. Whoopee,  this gave me an extra half an hour! I thought about grabbing a few more minutes rest but decided that a shower would be a more effective wake up. I walked through the dark marina to the shower blocks and when I turned on the tap a dribble of cold to lukewarm water came out. On the plus side, it woke me up after a rather sweaty night but I'd have preferred a bit more pressure. It wasn't what I wanted but it was what I needed.

We gave the boat a last minute check then walked to the marina car park to wait for the transfer taxi. As we approached the steps to the main street a herd of deer passed by, twenty or thirty animals, their hooves drumming on the ground. Pretty surreal.

We'd got to the car park early to wait for the taxi. After about twenty minutes we started to get a bit worried as there was no other public transport, we'd missed the only bus at 4.30.  A car pulled into the carpark, an ancient Fiat, but it was just a couple of old guys going fishing. Igor walked up towards the high street to see if he could see the taxi but at this point it arrived. It was a big minibus, with seats for maybe 20 people.

It went through the residential streets of Arbatax and Tortoli, picking people up and dropping them at the railway station and a variety of medical clinics along the way. The airport was the final stop and we arrived around 8.30. It was an effortless journey. I slept most of the time we were on the road.

We were going to get a McDonalds breakfast but it didn't open until 9.00am so we had a wander round the airport. There was no point in going through security just yet, we had hours to wait until our flight and Vik had told us there was nothing, no refreshments or shops, once we went airside. Near the McDonalds was a makeshift 'library', where travellers could leave books they had finished with and take one for their journey, all for free. There was an English book there!

When McDonalds opened they weren't serving breakfast, just burgers. We got coffee and croissants instead. Incidentally, when we did go through security there was a much better selection of food available on the other side. When we asked Vik about this he said he was talking about the area after passport control, the departure gates.

Igor decided to look at the live CCTV footage from the security camera on the boat. He was horrified. He'd spent a long time yesterday connecting solar panels to our battery bank to ensure that they could continue to run his onboard computers and not run out while he was away.  We saw the yard guy start to move the boat, then decide to sit down. He disconnected one of the panels and moved it out of the way. He only had to move the boat a hundred yards or so, how totally unprofessional to start unplugging things.

I messaged Luca and asked him to make sure the panel was plugged in. We saw him talking to the yard guy, and from the hand gestures could tell he was saying something like 'You're being watched on CCTV' which caused a definite change of attitude.

A little later we checked and the boat was sitting propped up in the boatyard as per Igor's instructions.

From now poor Libra is on her own, out of the water, until the weather improves in the springtime.

Our journey home was uneventful, apart from an hour or so's delay on the runway.

When we got back to England we had our traditional curry at the Mill Hill Tandoori with Max and drove home.

We went back to Arbatax for a few days at the beginning of October to make sure everything was as it should be. We stayed on a 'boat and breakfast' motor yacht in the marina, ate far too much and generally had a great time when we weren't working.  It's weird to think we won't be sailing again for the best part of 6 months. I'm missing it already.

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