Equinox_2019

We are flying home today for two months, so the blog will be continued from 1st September. Until then.......... arrivederci!

We woke very early as there was still much to do in preparation for leaving the boat, but we worked our way steadily through the list.  On the dot of 08:30 a guy came and said that they were ready, and he would guide us round to the lifting dock.  All very straightforward.  By 09:00, the boat was out of the water and having the bottom cleaned.  Once this was done, they moved the boat to a location in the car park, and assembled the frame to support her when the travel hoist put her down.  The frame was substantial and should be well capable of holding Equinox. It was a very hot day, but there was still work for me to do on board to complete the preparations for leaving.  All of the batteries have to be disconnected and I had to fit the deck cover.  This was a bit of a challenge as we had never seen it fully installed before, the riggers had removed it in Aguadulce before we arrived. The first piece that covers the foredeck was relativ...

The day started well, with Fabrizio who is the local representative of a club that we are members of, coming to say that he had secured an alternative location for us to leave the boat while we return home.  This was at a site about 16 miles away, so we knew that we could comfortably get there in the day. This was an enormous relief, after the problems of yesterday. Tom and James packed in preparation for leaving and then at around lunchtime they headed to the airport.  Tricia and I left at about the same time to head to along the coast. There was not much wind and for once we decided to just motor rather than getting the sails up.  There was a little confusion when we arrived.  There are two marinas in the town and Fabrizio had not been specific.  We headed to the one we thought it was which turned out to be the wrong one.  We were taking to the marina on the radio, but were making an assumption that we were talking to the one we were outside, and...

The first of July broke with beautiful clear blue sky again, and glass calm water. The sea bottom 5 metres below us, was really clear. There were no jelly fish and a swim round the boat, before breakfast, was just tops. Shortly after breakfast, a dinghy approached us, with us thinking that maybe he was a park ranger. He turned out to be and English guy, whose boat carries a French flag, and he was wanting to know if we had any books that he could have or exchange. His boat is based in the Gulf of Leon, so he obviously doesn’t come back to the UK often. Being now mainly Kindle users, we didn’t have any books we could give him, but we had a nice chat and, he having spent the last six weeks in Sardinia, gave us a synopsis of the places he had enjoyed. We were a able to sail round to Fertilla, where we were due to leave the boat, as a nice breeze had filled in. To cut a long story short, and not going into details, we had about three hours outside Fertilla, but couldn’t...

A prompt start today as Chris had to get to the airport to fly home. Fortunately, the taxi rank was close by and the airport was not too far away, so all of this was managed quite straightforwardly. After Chris’ departure we slowed down a little and worked our way through the various chores needed before departure. Although there are only a few days of the trip left, we needed some additional food, so headed to the shops. At around lunchtime headed off out of Alghero. We went to an anchorage at Porto Conte, in the next bay to where we had first arrived in Sardinia. It was gloriously peaceful, but incredibly hot, so on arrival we all resorted to swimming to cool down.  Unfortunately, in the process of completing his final lap of the boat, Tom was stung by a jelly fish, and I think spent an uncomfortable night as a result. The evening was otherwise very tranquil, and we relaxed to enjoy what would be our last night at anchor on this part of the trip. Dista...

We woke to another absolutely beautiful morning, but had to get a move on rather than just being able to relax and enjoy it. We raised the anchor and made the short trip to Alghero. We needed to be there for some of our crew to return home, and we wanted time to explore the city, we were also starting to run a little short of some fresh food, having been away from shops for 4 or 5 days. Alghero is a large port, with 4 or 5 marinas, but we had booked a place in one. As we headed in, we radioed the marina and a rib was dispatched to direct us to our berth and assist if necessary. Once we had docked, James and Tom set off in search of the bread and fresh fruit that we need for lunch. James is a student doing a degree in yacht design, and we were amused by the interest that he showed in our passerelle (boarding plank). It is made of carbon fibre and a bit more sophisticated than that of some other boats who literally have a plank of wood. We saw him taking pictures of parts ...

Morning broke in the beautiful quiet bay. We swam before breakfast, but I got a jellyfish sting, so that rather put us off. It wasn’t as bad as a wasp or a bee sting, but we didn’t know for sure if that would be the limit of it, although our book reassured us it would be and thankfully, it didn’t develop into anything worse. There are lots of caves here, the most famous of which is Neptune’s Grotto, which if 70 million years old. It was a half hour trek over the peninsula from the boat, so easy to get to for us. You then descend down the Mountain Goat Steps, a spectacular descent down the cliff side. It’s a popular tourist spot so we were joined by lots of others walking down and, at the bottom, by those who had arrived by tourist boat. It was busy. I’m pleased its not August, when most of Italy are on holiday. Inside the caves were several cathedrals, full of stalagmites and stalagmites. For the latter it takes 100 years to make one cubic centimetre, longer for...