All good things come to an end and it is with sad heart that the day has come to leave Sardinia and return to the U.K. The only good thing is that we are returning to 25 degrees from a baking 38 degrees.

Massimo, Marta and Arba took Alex and me to the airport for our flight back to Gatwick.

We had such a great holiday and cant thank our friends enough for an unbelievable and unforgettable experience. One that will stay within us forever.

We managed to reach our furthest point of our Sailing Odyssey and now its time to say farewell to BoniFacio and Corsica and set a course back to Cagliari, with hopefully some stops on the way.

We slipped lines at 1400, a little later than we planned, but that’s what this holiday has been all about. Compromise, no planned locations and if there are they are can be changed, and anything is possible. On this basis, we all voted for a last stop in the Maddalena’s, and stopped in a small anchorage that Ed and I pulled into a few weeks ago, to stow our tender, before entry into Maddalena. This time we were stopping overnight, and as usual participate in our usual beach landing and swim. We had a cracking sail here, all the way into the bay, Cala d’Alga, on the Isola Spargi.

The Cala was almost empty when we anchored and certainly became empty, by the time we landed on the beach. Yet another experience of a beach all to ourselves. Privacy in Paradise is wonderful. We walked on our newly found territory and then donned flippers and snorkels and explored the undersea world of this paradise. Many fish and sea urchins, and I explored some underwater rocks and small crevices for octopus, but sadly found none. Still, it was interesting exploring.

So, yet another night at anchor. Not a movement on the yachts and slept like babies. Next morning, another quick swim, before heading south and for Cagliari.

On route we caught a glimpse of two dolphins, a treat for Alex, although they only stayed with us for 2 minutes and were soon gone. But better than nothing.

The first part of our journey was under sail, but soon the wind died and we had to engine all through the night. We popped our heads into Marina Di Gairo, a lovely anchorage that I saw some weeks back. Very, very pretty and sheltered with a lovely beach, but because it was only 0700 and Massimo was still sleeping, we headed further south for Foxi Manna. This is where we anchored on the way up and swam many kilometres to and from the yacht. This time we went the 280 mtrs by tender and had breakfast at the beach cafe.

After breakfast we headed south and were beating into wind. We tried some tacking in 22 kt winds, but soon opted for an inland coastal route, under engine and back to Cagliari.

As we entered the harbour, in darkness, the yacht ahead of us suddenly stopped, and as we were passing, those on board were calling for help, as their engine had just failed. We pondered what to do and eventually, I suggested, we throw them a line and tow them in. It wasn’t easy, especially at night, but I managed to take them onto the end of a pontoon walkway, where we let loose and they drifted onto the pontoon. My good deed for the year ?

And so we moored up, and quickly made our way to Club Sportif and a delicous pizza for all, apart from Alex, who wanted a steak. Bless.

Alex and I went back to Arya for a very restful and peaceful night, while Massimo and Marta and Arba, went home. It was very strange waking up the next day and not seeing turquoise waters all around and going for our early morning dip. Still, there will be other times.