Tuesday 5th October 2010

After a couple of hours at anchor on the way back to Olbia, we duly dropped Christian, Adam and Leonie off in readiness for their trip back to the UK, then went and sat on the bow until their flight departed. I choked back a little sob as I watched the plane soar up into the blue sky and head northwards, then five minutes later I choked back another one when I realised I'd been focussing all my attention on the wrong plane first time round! Zaffina seemed very quiet and empty once they'd gone.
We had a few odds and sods that needed doing on board, so the following morning we took the boat over to the Nauseaca yard just across the harbour entrance and then discussed when we would start our trek south; checking the forecast, we realised that we were likely to have to delay the trip for a couple of days but as we were resigning ourselves to another stay in Olbia, we realised that we had several hours of daylight left and a calm sea, so we popped back to the marina to settle up and then set off without further ado.
It was a fairly overcast afternoon, but we enjoyed seeing a new coastline, one which was far less developed and much more rugged than the Costa Smerelda. As the afternoon wore on the sea, which was pretty good to start with, just got flatter and flatter and eventually even the clouds cleared and it turned into a beautiful day. About ten miles short of our destination, there was a commotion on the surface of the water and two or three large tuna suddenly appeared. As we were slowing our Azimut to watch them, we were suddenly surrounded by dolphins! They gave us a wonderful, wonderful performance, dancing through the waves, playing in our wake and diving under the bow. We have hardly seen any dolphins this year, and on the rare occasions that we have had a sighting, they disappeared pretty quickly but this was something else, and in the end we had to drag ourselves away from it - they were quite happy to keep playing!
We stopped for the night at a tiny port, Santa Maria di Navarasse, eating on board the first evening and then, the following morning we decided we'd stay for another night. We went for a walk around the town and along the coast - it wasn't especially pretty, but it was far more of a living town than some of those we've visited which clearly just come alive during the summer months. We earmarked a restaurant for dinner and when we returned in the evening we had what was probably the best meal of this entire trip. The small hotel where we ate was run by 3 sisters, one of whom is a fisherman (fisherwoman? fisherperson? fish?) who brings in a fresh catch daily. My prawn and pumpkin soup was out of this world and the lamb that followed was utterly delicate and delicious.
With another good forecast, we moved on the next day which happened to be our 4th wedding anniversary, and I was delighted when Frank organised a flypast by the Italian Air Force! That was until I saw the expression on his face and realised he hadn't organised it at all! The chart warned of an exclusion zone due to explosives, and as we were making our way out of the area, we were approached by a customs boat which instructed us to move 10 miles to the east. Even as we were complying with the instructions, there was a disturbance overhead and a helicopter appeared, zooming towards us across the wide blue sky!! It hovered overhead, one of the crew holding up a sign with an arrow and "10 miles" written on it - obviously we weren't moving out of the way quickly enough! They called us on the radio and very politely explained that there was firing practice that day so we were best advised to be well out of the way. Although the coastline was beautiful, it was a relief to be well clear of it for once!
We came into the little port of Vilasimius in the late afternoon and moored up then went out for an anniversary meal which turned out to be rubbish! The following day, exploring on foot, we wandered down a remote dirty track towards the beach. A car pulled up, the window slid down and a head poked out..."Frank? Fiona? Is that you?" Roland and Ruth Heaven (from Georgetown Methodist Church in Jersey) were on holiday in the region and by complete coincidence heading down the same dirt track, on the lookout for wild flamingoes! We all went back to Zaffina for a coffee and discovered that they had just moved south after staying for a few days at the same hotel where we'd enjoyed such a splendid meal two nights earlier!
We enjoyed Vilasimius, especially as there were some absolutely gorgeous beaches in the area. The wind was up and it was prudent to leave Zaffina in port, so we hired a car and explored the coastline, enjoying some lovely afternoons on the clean, golden sands and swimming in beautiful, utterly clear water. There were next to no British tourists in the region (apart from the Heavens, of course!)
Frank had to return to Jersey for three days, so we moved Zaffina on to Capitana, a tiny port far more convenient for the airport, and he headed off on Wednesday evening. It was a bit spooky being on my own on board, especially as there was no one else staying in the marina but after a noisy first night, with the wind up and waves slapping against the hull, I got used to the sounds and the port. Although there are no shops in the village apart from a supermarket, there is a quite good hotel with a rather nice spa so I spent a morning being pampered and a couple of afternoons on the hotel beach which helped to pass the time.
Once Frank returned on Saturday evening, we started checking the forecast again in readiness for our long crossing to Tunisa. We had hoped to leave today but the port we want to head for, Sidi Bou Said is full tonight, so weather permitting we'll be off at crack of dawn tomorrow, finally leaving Sardinia after a glorious, memorable, special summer, and my next post should (hopefully) be from the African continent!