Catch up

Mor Toad / Moy Toad
David and Jocelyn Fawcett
Thu 18 May 2017 08:42
Having recovered from our rather uncomfortable crossing between Menorca and Sardinia we spent a very pleasant day wandering the streets of Calaforte on Isola Di San Pietro - a pretty town of pastel coloured houses and wrought iron balconies narrow streets and historical monuments none of which appeared to be open and all the notices explaining them were in Italian - a challenge. A busy harbour with ferries going in and out to Cagliari and ? elsewhere. The marina staff could not have been more helpful and delightful answering any questions , recommending places to eat and even booking us into the marina in Cagliari where we are now and have been for a week but I'll come back to that.

CalaForte is know for its Tuna industry and now there is a huge buoyed area outside the harbour on the entrance in. Motoring into the harbour when we arrived was a challenge as very shallow - unnerving to see the sandy bottom through the clear turquoise water as one slowly made your way and you had to be sure to follow the route in on the plotter which was quite stressful after the crossing when you are tired. In fact one kept hearing messages on the radio telling yachts they were going too shallow - obviously being watched from on shore!

So most restaurants had Tuna on the menu and we were recommended one which we eventually found tucked in a narrow street away from the harbour front and tourist area. Well it. was certainly worth the hunt and every course ( other than dessert! ) had Tuna or parts of Tuna in it. They served us little pate to start, I then had dried heart of Tuna In salad as a starter - very tasty followed by a pasta with Tuna followed by the main of straight Tuna - all delicious . Everyone had something different and we were well pleased with our choice of restaurant as recommended by the lady in the marine office. Sardinian wine is going down very well too in whichever restaurant we have been in.

As we needed to get our crew to Cagliari to catch their flight home we had to move on the next day and left Calaforte in the sunshine in flat calm seas. Different story once outside the island - wind on the nose waves breaking over the boat and not sure where the sun had gone to but all pretty grey. The coast line was very stark volcanic cliffs (unlike the lighter coloured limestone cliffs of Majorca and Menorca) and after 4 hours with very wet and cold helm and crew we decided to try and find a calm anchorage if we could and abandon the original destination which was about half way along the south coast of Sardinia. Tucking ourselves into a bay on the north side of a promontory we managed to get out of the SE wind and swell and had a calm anchorage overnight with a good sunset. We are spoilt and no we are not a super yacht but with a washing machine on board and generator we were able to get our visiting crew clothes washed and hung out to dry' This is a luxury we are very pleased to have as it saves those endless trips to the marina or town launderettes plus the arguments I used to get into in The Baltic as to whose turn it was to use the washing machine - in the height of the season you had to book your slot!)

After a good nights sleep we set off to finish the journey along the south coast across the bay Golf Di Cagliari to Cagliari. The wind was still from the south east but the sea had calmed down, still grey in fact slightly misty and we motored hard this time without getting wet or too uncomfortable. Two flocks of flamingoes flew over the boat and we passed a huge naval ship at one point and nearer to Cagliari a lot of anchored vessels out at sea .

CAgliari is a large port and there are a lot of cruise liners and ferries going in and out all the time so gingerly we slowly motored in and finally picked up someone on the radio at Marina Karalis which is where we had been booked in. Helpful guy who told us where to go and we finally arrived and David skilfully reversed the boat into a our spot alongside a pontoon 2 people waiting to receive our lines and help us tie up the boat. Again they couldn't have been more pleasant or helpful.

So we are right in the centre quite noisy though much to our relief does quieten done at night . We can sit in the cockpit and watch the he world go past quite often eating an ice cream as there is Gelateria just across the road and we are impressed with the number of ferries and cruise liners going in and out too.



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