1.  5 October. Porto Conte to Alghero. 8nm

By the time we arrived in the anchorage at the top of Porto Conte right outside the marina there, our travelling companions were already well dug in and rested. We had a very peaceful night and felt fully recuperated the next day - Terry's birthday! We had new companions to help us celebrate on board Roam later in the evening and had a very jolly time squeezed into our saloon!

Overnight the wind turned and increased to the NW which made the anchorage a bit exposed. We motored the 8 miles into Alghero harbour and moored on the Town Quay next to a German boat. He advised us that the mooring was free for up to 5 days, so long as we did not use water, electricity or the provided lazy line. If we did use them, we would be charged 30€ a night - VERY expensive! Another cruiser tied up to the quay confirmed this, but he still had the lazy line attached although he had been asked to remove it and use our own anchor to secure the stern of the boat, but no-one had been back to check.

The next morning Full Flight and Hejira came alongside us and then the authorities turned up in force. Now the fun and games really began! A lady on a bicycle wheeled up and handed out registration cards for us all which we filled in, then she asked us for 30€ each. Fortunately Colette speaks some Italian and explained that we would not be needing water or electricity, so we did not need to pay. She wasn't happy, we said we would change the lazy lines for our own kedge anchors, so we would not be have to pay. She agreed reluctantly, but was constantly on the phone. 30 minutes later several men in very neat white uniforms turned up and started a discussion with us again - Colette doing the talking while the boys were out in the dinghy laying the anchors. One of the men was particularly officious and had very aggressive body language. Eventually after details of ships papers and passports had been taken again, they all went away, only for the lady on the bicycle to turn up again and ask for her 30€! We asked why, and we think she did not believe we had used our own anchors as there were still anchors on our bows - not realising that we have more than one! Even later a couple of guys came in a boat and checked that our stern lines were actually in place and secure. They could not find anything else to complain about, so left us alone from then on.

More new friends

There was a fishing boat on the quay next to us and one of the guys came over for a chat, unfortunately he had no english and our italian is only slightly better, so he went away with a merry 'buon giorno'. Tony decided this was not good enough, so went over to the group and tried to chat. 10 minutes later most of us, including Jazz were on the fishing boat having a look around. They came to look round our boats then we all had a drink or 2 or 3 or... and a bit of a sing-song. We had nick-named the original chap Danny de Vito (short, dark, bit tubby), and he was very amused by this. The skipper thought he looked like Sean Connery (i could see what he meant - the one with the glasses on the right of the picture), but he brought the house down when he said that Martin looked like Marlon Brando!

Even More new friends

While we had been mooring up the previous day, we noticed a young couple watching us. We eventually got talking and invited them on board. Paola and Paolo had moved to Sardinia recently to escape the hustle and bustle of Milan and find a better life. They turned out to be a very talented and interesting couple who ended up inviting us to their house in the mountain city of Tempio at the weekend, where we stayed overnight. Northern Sardinia, and especially inland, is very un-Mediterranean; the buildings are made of granite and there is a lot of agriculture inland - much more than we ever saw in Spain. Tempio itself would not be out of place in northern Europe. We had a great time with Paolo and Paola, going for a meal in a local restaurant where the chef only cooks locally produced food and individually selects the wine. The next day they took us to a rock that had weathered to look like an elephant and then to the coastal town of Castelsarda - an ancient fortified town on a hill over-looking the Bonifacio Straits. We ate a packed lunch on the cathedral steps with a stunning view over the cliffs and sea. We introduced our new friends to our other new friends when we got back to Alghero who immediately adopted them too and we all enjoyed a great sociable evening.

These types of 'encounters' with local people is a tremendous part of our new life and we are very grateful to Paolo and Paola for making us so welcome and feel so special.

2. 9 October. Alghero to Bosa. 21 nm

Not wishing to out-stay our welcome at Alghero and wind up the local officials any more, we left Alghero heading south towards Cagliari. We made a stop in a lovely beach anchorage at Bosa. The anchorage faces a wide sandy beach where tourisits were enjoying the autumn sun. We joined them for a dip in the sea which was very 'refreshing'! We had another beach barbeque and enjoyed a quiet night.

3. 10 October. Bosa to Oristano (Capo San Marco by Roman ruins of Tharros) 32nm

Friends Re-united

We attempted to sail in the weakening NE breeze, but ended up in a flat sea motoring south all day. Full Flight reported seeing a huge leaping tuna and some dolphins, but unfortunately other than the odd splash, we saw nothing.

We had been trying to contact Brian and Deborah on Chinook, whom we had last seen when we stayed on their boat in Gibraltar in March before our engine saga. We knew they were sailing north towards Alghero while we moved south. We had emailed them to say that we would try to make VHF contact, but whilst we had called several times, we heard no reply.

We turned into the large bay at Oristano having noticed a yacht coming north, but it looked much too big to be Chinook. Full Flight and Hejira had reported that moderate SE winds were forecast which would make the anchorage under the Roman ruins of Tharros on Capo San Marco unadvisable as they would be open to a long fetch from winds in that direction, so they were looking for a more sheltered spot to anchor. We kept looking behind us at the yacht through the binoculars, still unable to see her clearly, although we could now see a wind generator on the stern and a sizeable bowsprit, all commensurate with Chinook. We tried on the VHF again, still no reply. We decided we would turn back to have a closer look, it would be so disappointing if it turned out that it had been them and we had been so near. As we got closer, everything indicated that it was Chinook....and indeed it was! We both decided we would use the free mooring buoys under the Roman ruins and move later if we had to. We launched the dinghy and rowed over to say hello properly. it was great to see them again and share some time with them. They were keen to get north so were not planning to hang around at Oristano so we tried to limit our re-union party.

4. 11 October. to Carloforte, Islo St Pietro. 45nm

The wind did blow a little during the night and the sea got a little bumpy, but seeing as we had to get up early to start the next leg south, it just served as an early alarm call. The ruins of Tharros looked spectacular in the pink light of early morning.

We set off in a decent breeze and were able to sail for a couple of hours, but the wind again died away to a warm sunny day. The coastal scenery along this part of the coast is spectacular. The stunning granite mountains, exposed rocky cliffs and golden sandy beaches and dunes. Paolo and Paola had told us that Sardinia attracts geologists from all over the world as the island has rock types and formations from a wide range of geological eras.

Carloforte is on the Island of San Pietro at the SW end of Sardinia. The bay between it and the mainland is very shallow and it was difficult to see the best way in from the chart, but really the depths were more than adequate for a yacht - ferries and ships ply up and down the straits. We went over to the Town Quay, where we found a couple of boats already moored, so we joined them. One boat said they had been there for 3 days and no-one had come to ask for any money. However it seems that the port police were not going to allow the same deal as in Alghero, but allowed us too stay one night with no charge. If we had wanted to stay longer, there would have been a charge of 30€ for up to 15 nights - a much better deal than at Alghero! Carloforte looks like a lovely town, so we would like to stay a bit longer but since the forecast for the next day was not so good, we went into the marina.

5. 22 October. to Calasetta 4nm

We actually set out with the intention of starting out to Cagliari, but the recent winds had left a nasty sea at the South end of San Antiocco island, so we turned back and took the opportunity of going to the nearby port of Calasetta which lies at the north end of I d San Antiocco. Carloforte was quiet, but Calasetta was asleep! It is very much a holiday and fishing town, with most of the holiday makers gone home, there were not many people left in town. We got the bikes out and had a ride round in the afternoon. This 'island' (it is joined to Sardinia via a narrow isthmus) is much bigger than San Pietro, so we only managed a small part, but we found some cliffs about halfway down the island and stood watching the swell pound against them throwing spray high into the air.

6. 23 October. to Carloforte 14nm

The next day we tried again, but still the sea was a little strong and the wind was right on the nose, so after about 1.5 hours, we turned back again - back to Carloforte this time - where we could better check the weather on the internet (couldn't find any in Calasetta). We went to watch the flamingos again in the marshes behind the town - what strange birds. The marshes run beside a busy road, yet when we stopped on our bikes, the flock would get very nervous and sidle away in a very furtive manner - almost as if they were hoping we would not notice. Occasionally one would get a bit jumpy and take off to do a bit of flying, revealing their bright pink wings edged with black.

7. 24 October. to Cagliari 65nm

Third time lucky! With a better forecast and a calmer sea, we made it passed the southern capes of Sperone and Teulada. We had intended to split the journey into 2, but the forecast for the following day would have made all the anchorages exposed and a difficult first leg round Capo Spartivento. we were making good progress, mixing a lot of motoring with a bit of sailing, so we decided to press on. We were advised that the night approach into Cagliari was easy and well lit; we checked the charts, plugged in some waypoints and kept going. The sun set at 1845, half an hour later it was pitch black and no moon. All the lights we expected to see at our waypoints were not there and others we passed were not on our chart! This was a little more difficult than we thought. At 1930 a patrol boat passed us, then turned and motored alongside us. They asked us questions over the VHF about registration numbers and call signs, persons on board etc, asked us to standby, then peeled away and motored off. There have been numerous incidents with illegal immigrants and they were probably just checking us out to make sure there were only the 2 of us on board. We plugged on and eventually were able to make out the navigation lights on the end of the breakwaters of the harbour entrance and worked our way over to the town quay, where we tied up next to the ubiquitous blokes fishing, chatting and smoking the evening away.

The following morning we motored over to the Marina del Sole where we were met by Martin and the news that there was to be a barbeque that evening - what good timing!