A warning for navigators

Closeby there was another obstacle to avoid, but this was reminiscent of home as it was P&O’s Oceana cruise liner, anchored outside and discharging its human cargo via jolly boats.

Usually I try to avoid this aspect as such close quarters but the anchor chain gave some reassurance.

Before turning the corner to go North, we had to pass Cappo Caccia, which has an impressive lighthouse upon it.

One wonders just how large the light keepers’ families used to be to warrant such a sizeable house.

The Fornelli passage lies between the mainland and the Isola Asinara and is passable in settled conditions but we had heard about folk who had touched bottom when there was a sea running. It was therefore with some anxiety that we witnessed the wind strengthening as we travelled northwards with, naturally, the wind coming from that direction. The alternative to taking the passage is another 20 miles around Asinara, however, there is another passage just before Fornellicalled the Pelosa passage but this only has something like 1.3 metres clearance and a number of awkward rocks. As we approached we were overtaken by a fishing boat who took the Pelosa route and we were glad that we had a decent pilot book with us so that we were not suckered in to following him.

Asinara was populated by fisherfolk until the island was annexed for a penitentiary and a quarantine station. The islanders moved to Stintino on the mainland and re-created their Asinara town there. It seems that, in addition to fishing, one of the town’s employment bases is to transport trippers to Asinara, which is now a Marine Reserve,and where there are guided and marked walks around the island, including one to a lighthouse.

The route through the Fornelli passage is a dog leg and one needs to follow transits on each leg. We picked up the first set reasonably easily but the second were more difficult as the back marker board was apparently missing, although we were able to spot its stone mount. More concerning was the rising wind and our concern about swell. In the event we cleared the shallowest part, with a minimum of 1.8 metres below the keel, before we encountered swell, which increased to about one and a half metres.

We had intended to find a sheltered anchorage in one of the islets close to the passage but there is a general lack of depth there and the swell decided it for us that it would be much more sensible to carry on to the marina at Stintino.