Sunday 15 September 2019

We got up to peaceful serene scene, with the sea floor visible through cristal clear calm water. I had a swim from the back of the boat to the rocky shoreline, before breakfast. There is lots of healthy sea grass. A large shoal of fish was under the boat, presumably enjoying the shade we offered. I saw just one large prawn feeding on something in the sand.

We took another trip through Deadman’s Passage, in the dinghy to get a closer view of the beaches and coves.   Aah, but it is Sunday, and with that brings oodles of day tripper boats, mooring too close and a massive increase in noise. The place is transformed from a quiet anchorage to a party scene, with lots of loud music, shouting, screaming, etc.

We needed to let Equinox stretch her legs, so we slipped off the mooring buoy at lunchtime and headed out through the passages between the rocks and islands, into open water. As we passed through the last channel, a huge motor cruiser was steaming in. We had right of way, but the vessel was not changing course to avoid us. After playing chicken for a few minutes, we altered course to keep safe. It seemed it was a case of, "we are bigger than you". As we passed, someone on the bridge gave us a cheery wave. Was that a thank you, we wondered? I gave him a gallic shrug. We later looked up what this vessel, with three decks, was. It is owned by someone with an Arab name and it cost  $175 million.

It is quite hot, with top afternoon temperatures of 29 / 30 C, so it was lovely to be out in the breeze of the open sea. The minimum temp tonight will be 20C.

We are anchored in a large bay, with plenty of room and just a few boats, at the north of La Maddalena: fabulous.

There at some very exclusive looking holiday villas, set into the hills around the bay.

We watched the sunset, but couldn’t see the moon rise because of cloud.

All in all another very pleasant day.

Distance covered today	14.0	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	192.0	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	1245.0	nautical miles
Tricia (and Steve)