2022 July: Sardinia (once again)
2022-07-09Mercedes stayed 5 days in Olbia to supervise MR moored on the public dock, while Richard went to Bordeaux for his periodic visit to the hospital.
Having no other mission, she was finally able to free up time to devote herself to her passion of transforming shells into objects (paintings, jewellery, etc.).
For the evening she was also in charge of tasting the productions of all the glaciers of the city in order to extract the best. Of course, all this in order to make Richard taste the best ice cream on his return.
It’s already July 1st and Richard has arrived. After a good nap, as he got up at 3:30 in the morning to catch his plane back, we plan our departure to Corsica and end the day at the restaurant.
By lack of luck, the “Bouches de Bonifacio” are animated by a strong Western wind resulting from the Mistral and Tramontane that blow in the Gulf of Lion. There is no question of going to fight against a strong wind raising a rough sea and roughing up MR where we can wait and enjoy the idyllic places that Sardinia offers us.
The next morning, we make a stop at the supermarket to fill the refrigerator and then set a course (modestly) towards Golfo di Aranci 8Mn away, just outside the channel.
It is a large bay on a sandy bottom, well protected from the West wind, which borders the small town of Aranci and its 5 beaches.
Then we go down to find for tomorrow Sunday a bar that broadcasts the F1 GP of Silverstone, Mer is a fan of Leclerc and Carlos SAINZ, drivers at Ferrari.
And we end our afternoon with a swim…
On Sunday, we dedicate our day to cleaning the teak and stainless steel of MR who are in great need of it. This teak is a real chore, but we haven’t done it since we left Corfu in March. At 3.30pm, we reach the bar chosen the day before to attend the F1 Grand Prix.
In the late afternoon, walking along the harbour, we discover a restaurant that serves oysters. We decide to ask him where we can buy it. The boss sells us 6 oysters for an unreasonable price, but we wanted it so much. So, tonight oysters on the menu! They are very good, although those of the Paliquey hut remain our favorite.
Monday morning, we leave for the nearby bay of MARINELLA, from which MER takes the train to Olbia to receive his new phone, his is at the end of his breath. She bought a waterproof, shock-proof one, which says ‘mom dad’ and especially has a lot of memory to record all the images she will take with the 4 built-in cameras.
The Bouches de Bonifacio are always ‘red’ on Windguru (one of the weather software that guides us in this region of the Mediterranean).
So we make another jump to NIKKI BEACH (opposite PORTO ROTONDO, which is the port that hosted this year the CNB meeting). The place is overcrowded and the bar is the local place to be with its heady music.
We go to the beach to take a bath.
Then you resume your path to PORTO PEVERO where you spend a night in calm despite the wind that always blows strong. In this superb bay, there are beaches that are strictly forbidden to motor annexes, but there is also the whole middle of the bay that is reserved for the anchorage of super yachts. We saw NGONI carbon sailboat of 59 meters for sale used 45 million euros. AWESOME! and a black Wally with a Spanish flag, and another Perini Navi…. we are surrounded by floating millions !!!!!!
We are in the heart of the COSTA ESMERALDA, here the boats are huge, the yachts are bigger than each other and the sailboats compete in mast height.
We knew these places from past them in 2020 during the lockdown, but they don’t look the same during and after the lockdown. They came back to life.
The next morning, there’s still this strong westerly wind and we continue our chip jumps. 2 more minutes, you pass in front of the entrance of PORTO CERVO and you head towards CALA GRANU where you can moor in peace.
In the evening we change and leave to join PORTO CERVO on foot. On arrival we admire the motor and sailing yachts moored in the port, then we lick windows and on the way back we dine at the HIVAOA restaurant which is full and offers an excellent value for money.
Last night we resume our slow progress towards the North towards PORTO RAPHAEL.
We chose this stopover because there is a supermarket less than 2km from the beach. We shop there for the next two weeks.
It is already Friday, July 8, the days pass very quickly. The wind begins to calm down on North Sardinia. We make a few more miles to get to SPAGIA PORTO LISCIA. It was our first stop in Sardinia in November 2020 when we fled lockdown in France. This will be our starting point for Corsica crossing….once wind will be good for it.
Since OLBIA we have covered 34Mn in one week. This is the distance we usually cover in half a day of navigation, that is to say whether we have enjoyed the region thanks to the bad weather prevailing in the “Bouches de Bonifacio”.
A pleasure to live free and enjoy without the need for a calendar…
See you soon in Corsica…