40 56.3N 08 13.9E

Stintino  Nuevo Porto 12^th -13^th June

Stayed in this harbour for a couple of nights as the wind was quite strong and we didn’t fancy anchoring. We took the dinghy across the harbour to Porto Mannu the original marina and eventually found a spot to tie up and go ashore to explore. The town is quite pretty with narrow alleyways and steps leading down to the two callas it is built around- the fishing port and the main one. There are numerous cafes and restaurants and gelaterias! Found a good small fruit shop and a butchers shop. The pontoons where we were berthed had no showers or toilets there was water and power but the latter only worked when the generator was on and it went off regularly! We had to keep asking for it to be restarted! There used to be an anchorage inside the harbour wall but the marina staff now turn boats away from this – we saw several boats anchor off the entrance to the smaller fishing port which was sheltered from the SW winds.

There was a Boxing competition going on in a small arena set up on the edge of the main port this was accompanied by loud music and much vocal commentary – fortunately it finished around 2200!

 14^th June

We left the harbour and motored west to the bay near Isola Piana the water here is azure blue the depth varies from 8 – 2 metres –we found a suitable spot and dropped the anchor and I was in for a swim almost immediately! The water was 22.7 degrees. We stayed here for the night and although we had at least 50 other boats anchored around the bay during the day all but 4 had gone by dusk! The holding was excellent but we were disturbed by fishing boats going to and from Stintino during the night. Spoke with an English couple on an older Amel called Balouga – they gave us some good information about the area as  they have been cruising here for 5 years.