July 24-25 was our 36 hour 220 nautical mile crossing from Menorca Spain to Sardinia Italy. The weather forecasted light winds for the first thirteen hours of the passage then building to 10-15kts for a beam to broad reach with just under a meter waves and following sea. Sounded good until 7am on July 5th when the following sea turned into a side swell with sea spray coming over the sides of 45NORTH. So much for Janine's herb garden, which is now a new task on the pre-departure checklist. After an hour, we decided to alter course to get a better angle on the 1.5 meter waves and updated our new destination from the port of Alghero to Torre Grande which was about 40 miles to the South.
Welcome to Sardinia ITALY. According to wiki Sardinia [Sardegna] is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia and immediately south of the French island of Corsica. It is one of the five Italian regions with some degree of domestic autonomy being granted by a special statute. Its official name, Autonomous Region of Sardinia, is bilingual in Italian and Sardinian:
The flag is composed of the St George's Cross and four heads of Moors, which in the past may not have been forehead bandaged but blindfolded and turned towards the hoist. But already well-preserved pictures from the 16th century clearly show a forehead bandage. The most accepted hypothesis is that the heads represented the heads of Moorish princes defeated by the Aragonese, as for the first time they appeared in the 13th-century seals of the Crown of Aragon – although with a beard and no bandage, contrary to the Moors of the Sardinian flag, which appeared for the first time in a manuscript of the second half of the 14th century.
July 26-27 Torre Grande is a very small sea port and we anchored in about two meters just outside the harbour entrance. The following day we took the bus into Oristano to tour around. In Piazza Roma is the Torre di Mariano. This tower was built by Judge Mariano IV (hence the name) for defensive purposes and is divided into three separate chambers. At the time of its construction, the 19-meters-tall tower was one of the main gateways to Oristano and was, therefore, part of the defensive walls.
Restocked the wine lazarette and refueled 45NORTH. We averaged about 2.5 liters an hour running off one engine at 1800rpm. Check out the prices. You can get a five liter "Jug" for 5 Euros.
July 28 Porto Mandriola.
The passadonia (sea grass) was piled about two meters high along this shoreline.
As we attempted to pull up our anchor, we found that it was all tangled up in an old fisherman's anchor and remaining chain. It took almost two hours using several lines and water time to get it untangled.
The chain was very corroded. There were also pieces from other's who had been caught up too. We decided to be a good samaritan and take this out to sea and drop it a mile offshore. These are probably the last pictures anyone will have of this bad boy.
July 29-30 Bosa
Bosa is situated about two-thirds of the way up the west coast of Sardinia, on a small hill, about 3 kilometres inland on the north bank of the Temo River. The town has maintained a population of around 8,000 people for a significant amount of time, but has an urban character that has differentiated it from other locations in Sardinia.
This is the first of several Italian towns we visited that have inlaid beach rock as part of the roads. Thank goodness they also have flat stone to make it easier to bike on.
The area was inhabited since prehistorical times, as attested by the presence of several domus de janas and nuraghe. It was probably founded by the Phoenicians, although little is known about the original settlement. Under the Romans it was a municipium. The present town of Bosa was founded in 13th century by the Malaspina family, 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the site of the ancient town.[4] In the early Middle Ages, as part of the Giudicato of Logudoro, it was a provincial capital. After the construction of the Malaspina Castle, the population gradually moved from the seaside to the hills.
And behind door number one is...
July 31-Aug 1 Alghero
The area of today's Alghero has been settled since pre-historic times. The Ozieri culture was present here in the 4th millennium BC (Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju), while the Nuraghe civilization settled in the area around 1,500 BC. Due to its strategic position on the Mediterranean Sea, Alghero had been developed into a fortified port town by 1102, built by the Genoese Doria family.
The old city is surrounded by a wall and ancient roadway. The first ramparts system looks back to the 13th century and was imported from the Genovese system
Trebuchet or catapult? Checkout the size of those projectiles.
Alghero CIvic square
Sant Miquel's Dome
View from the Maracaibo beach bar. Highly recommend stopping by here for one of their amazing cocktails like ....
Check out this drink. Called a Gavinuccio. Rum, Maracuja, Ginger Ale, Lime, Orange, Sugar and gummy shark on top.
Low tech but affordable bike. Look closely
Alghero waterfront.
Tonight's sunset looks like a painting.
Aug 2 Porto Conte
Abandoned and derelict resort.
Aug 3-6 Stintino. It was one long spinnaker run up to the West coast of Sardinia all the way to the top.
Route going through the narrow and very shallow Fornelli Passage. There were two transits to use to guide you through.
We have been monitoring this Mistral and decided to book ourselves in the marina in Stintino to wait out this storm . 4 days of 30-35kts of wind (55-65kms).
Biking around Stintino as we wait out the storm.
This is the Fornelli passage in the background. Huge sea state and winds off shore from the Mistral. This is day 3 of the storm.
Aug 7 Port Torres
We had to check in with Coast Guard to register for being in Italy waters and pick up a constitutio. According to our other sailing buddies they all got theirs for no fee. The guards in Port Terres charged us 16Euro each. We have been instructed to get it stamped at each major port and on departing the last port in Italy it is to be turned in. Sort of like a boat passport. They are controversial amongst the cruiser community with some Coast Guard offices declining to stamp them.
Aug 8 Vignola Mare. A one night stop over and not much to explore here.
Moving day. Is that France over there?
Aug 9 Corsica FRANCE. We were so close to Corsica that we took a detour and spent a night with about 100 other boats in a crowded anchorage. This was only the first of many days in over crowded anchorages.
Back to Sardinia Aug 10-16 The Maddalena Archipelago is a group of islands in the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica (France) and Sardinia (Italy). The whole archipelago makes the territory of the La Maddalena comune in Sardinia. The archipelago consists of seven main islands and numerous small islets. The largest one is the island of La Maddalena (Italian: Isola La Maddalena), with a homonymous town, which is the largest settlement in the archipelago. The other six islands, in order of size, are: Caprera, Spargi, Santo Stefano, Santa Maria, Budelli and Razzoli. Only Maddalena, Caprera, and Santo Stefano are inhabited; Budelli had a single caretaker until 2021.
The anchorages were all very stunning.
Billionaire tech tycoon Charles Simonyi new 89 meter yacht: the man behind Microsoft Word and Excel owns Norn, a US$250 million megayacht with an open-air cinema and pool-slash-dance floor. Costs $10Million a year to operate NORN
Party night with the Ausies - Justin & Cindy off Rays of Sun, Roddo (not in picture) and Carolyn off Plane Sailing (he is a A380 Pilot) and Chandra skipper on Serendipity.
Chandar and his crew Tanya and Abby (not in picture) off Serendipity.
Exploring the island and town of La Maddalena
And then we passed by this $450 million Superyacht called Opera. The incredible vessel accommodates 48 guests across 24 staterooms and has a crew and staff of 80 in 40 cabins (estimate). The owner is Abu Dhabi-based Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is the son of the founder of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, I did not know that the establishment of the United Arab Emirates was in December 1971,
This superyacht is one of the largest in the world and boasts an impressive range of features and facilities. Her annual running costs are around $45 million.
Heading to Olbia. Another narrow and shallow passage way. Janine is on lookout.
Hair Cut Day. She said to cut it as it was four months too long.
Aug 17-18 Olbia
This was an interesting arrangement. The building on the right is derelict. To hide it someone built a beautiful garden arrangement.
After touring the town and picking up supplies, we were met with high winds and waves on our 4 nautical mile dingy ride back to the boat. Needless to say we were totally soaked, including the new basil plant. We had to wash the salt off of everything.
Even the bikes that were in bike bags were soaked. It was the worst tender ride ever. And yes we did check the forecast before we left and this was not what PredictWind was calling for.
Another amazing sunset. Tomorrow will be another sunny day with temps in the mid 30's. Every day seems to be sunny and mid 30's.
Heading South along the coast.
Aug 19 Cala Cinta
Twenty five horses just walked by. So cool.
We have used the Wingaker three times more than the Code-D. So glad we added this to our sail inventory.
Aug 20 Cala Luna - love the layers of mountains
Sardinia did not disappoint with amazing scenery and coast lines.
Up before sunrise to explore the caves and watch the sunrise.
Waiting for the world to turn so we can see the morning sun.
It was a spectacular sunrise. We are so lucky there were no clouds.
Aug 21-22 Arbatax
An awesome little town. We had wanted to stay until Saturday and then do the big crossing to Sicily but the coming Mistral had advanced and we made a quick decision to leave immediately and it was the best choice we made.
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