41:08.22N 009;32.0E

In 1962 the Aga Khan formed a consortium of property developers and set about this corner of Sardinia.  They agreed strict planning requirements and commissioned the best architects and planners to produce a master plan for the area that would be in harmony with the landscape.  Every detail; street signs, gardens along the roadsides, house design, shops, the marina, everything is incredibly perfect and indeed pretty harmonious.  The Rough Guide is very sniffy about it ‘pretending to be a fishing village and not succeeding’ but it does what it does very well we thought.  It certainly is the playground of the rich and famous but as low key as you could probably get.  We liked it.

Our first contact was in a delightful bay called Calle di Volpe.  Stunning houses nestling in the trees but you could have a good old look through the binoculars.  The hotel at the end of the bay costs from £650 per night so you can use your imagination! 

We notice here that the houses were built to blend with the landscape and so had a Middle Earth look to them.  We gave them the name Hobbit Houses.  Worth millions though.  More on this in a separate blog.

We knew that gales threatened so we chose our next anchorage carefully and the best was Porto Cervo.  The heart of the Costa Smeralda and not somewhere we had particularly planned on visiting.  £200 a night for a yacht our size in the marina but we could drop the hook in the harbour for nothing. 

We had seen quite a few very fabulous, and very large yachts of both the sailing and motoring variety but we were astonished to see about 30 under full sail as we turned the corner.  As we got closer we realised we had stumbled upon a superyacht regatta.  Excellent, out with the binoculars again. 

We were having a great sail too.  Sun shining, wind just right, this is how it is meant to be.

We put our new oven through its paces and baked bread on the move for the first time.  Fantastic success.  Yippee.

So we stayed and enjoyed our safe haven with so much to see.  The yachts passing within 20 metres of us on their way in and out, the houses and gardens on the headland, the comings and goings into the marina, all very entertaining.  We took the dingy ashore and explored the town.  Delightful.  Sure it was built from scratch but it was well done with lots of nooks and crannies and gorgeous gardens.  We walked along the pontoons and watched the superyachts preparing to race.  Fascinating.

Our biggest surprise was how friendly and accessible everywhere was.  We had expected lots of security and barriers and for scruffy oiks like us in a very little yacht (relatively) with a teeny, tiny dingy to be at best ignored and quite possibly asked to move on.  Not at all.  The website says it is a friendly marina and so it is.  Well worth Googling – Porto Cervo Marina and when you have had a look at that, follow the link to the Superyacht Regatta website.  The photographs and videos are stunning.

Some photographs:

First to finish that day while others still sail.  The weather was pretty stormy.

Our view by night.....

A 100 ft yacht needs very big fenders....

And a lot of crew......

And a cannon!......

This was a fabulous schooner called ‘Marie’.  Pretty sure that that is the owner in the baseball cap.  She had a cannons port and starboard that were rolled out onto the deck to start the races. 

The wind stayed up so we stayed put.  Well, up to the point where our anchor dragged – see next blog.......