Sunday 1st August 2010

We're getting to know this little stretch of Sardinia quite well now, and it is amusing to see how close the mega yachts all stay to Porto Cervo; as soon as you venture a short distance away, they are all left behind, congregating around the most expensive hotels and crowding just a short bite of the Costa Smerelda!
Our search for a peaceful anchorage took us back northwards and we spent the day anchored off Taverna but our frequent checks of the forecast told us that we'd need somewhere more sheltered for the night if we wanted peace, and so we ended up back in a familiar spot, Cannigione - a small town and marina set deep into a winding inlet north of Porto Cervo. Although we'd anchored near the marina in the past, this time we opted to pick up a buoy, much to the disgust of a small and noisy seabird which had made it his perch and shrieked at us to go away! He eventually conceded that we were bigger and flew off in disgust as the marineros helped us to tie up and warned us that we were in for a blow over the next couple of days. We had hoped to go out to the Madalenas the next day but sure enough, the wind was rising and instead we just moved into the nearby port where we had managed to book a berth for two nights. With no hope of going out to sea, instead we hired a car and saw a bit of Sardinia from the road, driving back to the north coast one day and down to Porto Cervo - home of the really big boats - the next. And boy were they big! Dilbar is even more impressive up close than she was when we passed her on the water, and there were several other super super yachts alongside her.
When eventually we managed to find beaches - they seem to be accessed from roads and tracks without signposts! - it invariably clouded over five minutes after our arrival and we even had a downpour of rain on Friday afternoon, our first proper rainfall for six weeks! Fortunately it passed quickly and by the time the skies cleared, the wind had also blown itself out and things were set fair for a final full day on the water with Bob and Janet.
Again, we hoped to get over to Madalena and again the wind prevented us from doing so, but the anchorage we found, south of Olbia, more than made up for any disappointment. We were tucked into a sheltered bay divided into several coves, very close to Puntadias, and had a glorious, lazy, sunny afternoon. In the evening we all hopped on the dinghy and went over to the port for a very good dinner (Gianfranco Zola was at the next table), followed by a moonlit trip back to Zaffina over an oily calm sea.
It was still calm at ghastly o'clock this morning when we had to get up as we wanted to get back to Olbia in good time for Bob and Janet to get the ferry back to Italy, and we were one of the few boats out and about at that time. As we approached the town, a solitary dolphin slowly turned through the water but, alone at the helm, I was the only one to see it.
We dropped out guests off after a fabulous, laughter filled week together, and headed back to Tavolara (the island which looks like Gibraltar) but after an hour or so there, we were so fed up with the amount of wake being generated by day trip boats and small craft that we moved back to the anchorage we were in last night and were relieved to find it almost empty.
We've had another brilliant day but now there's a bit of wind come up from the southeast which is coming straight in here so we're off again, and when we find somewhere suitably sheltered we'll drop anchor for our last night at sea for a while; tomorrow is cleaning, washing and packing day and then on Tuesday we're heading home for a couple of weeks.