39 07.1 N 09 30.4 E

Villasimius Sardinia

The night hours on passage were tedious with a wind still increasing (F 6 from the SE) and worsening sea state (a swell in excess of 2 meters at times)! However as dawn broke the wind began to ease and we were soon able to pick out some high bluffs on the SE coast of Sardinia. We did encounter some shipping on the passage but fortunately no refugee boats! A very large pod of dolphins played around us for a good 30 minutes and we also saw whales – we think they were probably Pilot as they were small. We were pleased to see the sun and when we arrived in the bay outside the marina at Villasimius it was hot and the wind had all but disappeared!

We were soon moored up stern to the pontoon despite having a minor problem with the engine not functioning properly in reverse! (We think it was the blades not opening properly).

We were all pretty tired so once we had checked in it was a lazy siesta for everyone.

We really liked this marina and it certainly is clean and modern with toilets and showers located close to the visitors pontoon (albeit we had to pay 1 E for a shower! But it gave enough time for 2 people) and a great self service laundry including a very large machine that will take pillows and duvets. We made use of these facilities needless to say. There is a café/bar and 2 restaurants on the marina complex and a few shops including a pharmacy and a small chandlery.

Close by were several bike trails which Wiz and Watson explored on the following day. They also discovered some lovely beaches and some ancient building – one a castle dating from the 16^th century.

We launched the dinghy and had a test run of the outboard engine and Jacky and Watson took it to the nearest beach where they landed on the white sand and had a swim – the first of the year, in the crystal clear turquoise water!

We also took the opportunity of rubbing off the slime on the water line of the hull and Jacky donned her snorkel mask to check the prop which seemed fine when reverse was engaged.

The one major problem we had was that the gimble attachment on the right side of the cooker broke off towards the end of our journey from Sicily. A makeshift propping of the cooker has proved successful but when we tried to lift it off to carrying out a more substantial repair we discovered that the other gimble piece was breaking off too. So we now have to find a specialist to mend it all and hope that when we get to Cagliari we will be able to do this. Otherwise it will have to be a new cooker we think!

All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our 3 nights in this marina and would certainly go back.