19th June - Malfatano to Capo di Pula (visiting old Nora)
Bali Hai
Neal Stow
Fri 19 Jun 2009 22:44
(much to Jackie's dismay as she had already spent much of the trip
bemoaning the lack of sailing). However it turned out to be a great day
as we motored the 15 miles to Capo di Pula and the ruins of the old Roman
city of Nora.
The anchorage was fantastic as the ruins could be seen from the boat and
as much of the city is under the sea it is a popular dive site. We tried
snorkeling over the ruins but while there were plenty of rocks that could
once have been a Roman temple after 2000 years under water one rock looks
pretty much like another. Later we took the dinghy ashore and went and
explored the ruins (this turned out to be free as they did not have a
ticket office on the beach).
From the ruins we saw that the bay on the other side of the cape was much
more sheltered and so we motored round and anchored off a large sandy
beach. The holding was also much better on the sand, rather than the rock
and weed of the ruins (there was also less chance of damaging any of
Sardinia's archeological heritage by dropping the anchor on some old Roman
amphora).
After a brief trip ashore for a beer at a beach bar we returned to the
boat for a final barbeque. In the morning Jackie and Ian went for a final
swim in the beautiful clear and calm waters. I was washing up when Jackie
appeared looking rather dismayed - she had dropped one of the pins
supporting the swim ladder into the sea. Fortunately she was saved by Ian
who spotted the pin and swam down and rescued it.