Saturday 29 July 2019

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 of it and these were shared with his friends. I’m not sure of the full dialogue.

After we had eaten lunch I headed off to the office to book in, but had to wait a while because all of the staff were engaged in berthing a superyacht (small ship) in the marina. As the ship was much larger than they usually accommodated, the existing mooring points were not big enough, so the marina had a diver putting in new lines to the seabed to be a perfect fit for the superyacht.  All this took quite some time and a fair amount of skill.  The whole of the yachts crew were on deck helping the procedure, including the chef, still in his apron.

When the administration was eventually done, we headed off for a walk around the town, taking in the local sights.  There is a local industry in making jewellery from red coral and there are many shops selling this.  We also came across a sculpture of the red coral, leaning against a building.

In the evening we headed out for a voyage completion meal, taking advantage of the advice from tri advisor.  The meal was spectacular, including a 5 fish starter, that seemed like a taster menu in its own right.  Replete at the end of the meal, we wandered slowly back to the boat taking in the glorious evening as we did.  We paused at a high point to look out over the harbour, and could see a party in full flow on the superyacht.

Distance covered today	8	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	1123	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	1123	nautical miles
Steve (and Tricia )