The usual pre departure duties. Ed washed down Arctura, whilst I went shopping for provisions. The local Spar had everything we needed and a small diversion to the local Boulangerie and Patiserie, completed the shop with fresh baguette, croissants and cakes.

We slipped lines at 1252, in glorious sunshine and headed to Cavallo, on a parallel course to the Corsican coast, admiring the wonderful scenery of chalk cliff shaped and sculptured by the sea and winds.

We arrived at Cavello after passing Lavezzi and tacking northwards. Our second visit to this wonderful island was better than the first. Beautiful sunshine filtered down through the still waters, making them turquoise and throwing defracted sun rays onto the sandy bottom, some 4 metres below the surface.

We readied the tender and headed for the beach. According to some reports, you can’t go beyond the wooden fence, but we saw no signs that this was forbidden. In fact, yards from the beach, there a concreted road that seems to go the whole length of the island. We turned left and followed the road for about half a mile, passing what appeared to be hotel staff accommodation, before eventually coming across the beautiful hotel and spa, “Des Pecheurs”. A beautiful setting, with a restaurant facing the sea and with its own private beach, with a terrace to match. Had a look at the menu and the dishes on offer, started from around €30 for basic pasta, we weren’t tempted and after a brief walk around the restaurant and bar area, we returned to the beach. It was so warm in the sunshine and after testing the water,I decided to go for a swim in the crystal clear waters of the bay.

The waters were as warm as any indoor swimming back home in Anglettere. I was tempted to swim all the way back to Arctura, but was persuded to drive the tender home, to Arctura.

Back on board, for a pleasant supper of sausage, potatoes and salad accompanied by a fine Muscadet sur Lie.

27th May 2019

We slipped lines at 1002 a set sail back to Olbia, as Elaine was heading back home the next day.

Unbelievable sail, in winds exceeding 25kts, as we close hauled our ways through the islands of Maddalena.

The trip seemed to fly by and in no time at all, we were back in our familiar port of Olbia and back in our yacht club.

We sought out a restaurant, recommended by Tito, the marina manager. It’s was called “Ristorante Barbgia” and although my spaghetti vongole and traditional Sardinian suckling pig was fantastic,, Ed and Elaine seemed not to enjoy theirs as much as I did mine. Perhaps I was lucky with my choice. We finished the evening in our now familiar Malp restaurant , with the owner Pietro, drinking grappa until the early hours.

Elaine, left next day and we waved her off as she caught a taxi to the airport some 3 kms from the Yacht Club.

Ed and I spent our last evening in Olbia, in a very good pizza restaurant called, Giropizza, a 1.3 km walk from the yacht club. As usual in Sardinia, the pizzas were delicious.

Back to Arctura, for an early night.

Well, what started as a peaceful anchorage turned into rough night. The wind had picked up and by 1 o’clock in the morning Arctura was being pushed up and down by the easterly wind and swell coming into Cala di Zeri. That’s the price one pays for overstaying our welcome and not taking a close look at the upcoming weather. For those at the bow, especially, it was a rough night and even in my stern cabin, it wasn’t too pleasant.

We eventually weighed anchor at 0923 and because the winds were predicted to increase, decided against visiting Budelli and set course for La Maddalena, arriving at 1334, after a cracking sail.

We moored up in Marina Gavetta, a pleasant marina, in the centre of town, with great staff taking our lines and helping us moor up. At €35 per night, it’s pretty good, but not as cheap as anchoring.

There is nothing to do here, apart from restaurants and souvenir shops and you can view the entire town in under an hour. We found a pizzeria for lunch “Sergeant Peppers”, which was average, but on our walk through town, we discovered a restaurant, which looked interesting for an evening meal. Although closed for lunch, I called later and booked it for 2100.

Whilst here and with not much to do, I took advantage of the free time and had a haircut.

The restaurant “Del Genovesse” was a good choice. family run with pleasant staff and full of locals and no tourists insight, apart from us. The food was excellent, with a spaghetti vongole starter and swordfish main course.

The next morning, it was raining heavily, so we decided to stay another night. After a few hours on board, we ventured out for the afternoon, into the heavy rain and were soaked through within minutes. Another restaurant beckoned and another Vongole.

La Maddalena, is a good place, as a retreat from bad weather, but apart from that there is nothing here to write home about.