Wednesday 18 September 2019

Last night we had a most spectacular vista of the lights of the land reflected in the glass calm water, with an accompanying wonderful view of the night sky. By the time we adjourned below, to avoid the mosquitoes, the moon had not risen.

This morning the sea was still completely tranquil. We were the only boat at anchor in this large bay.

After breakfast, we launched the tender and motored over to the small harbour, to then go into the village for food supplies. The harbour is way to shallow for us to take Equinox in. However there was a thriving boatyard there, with lots of smaller sailing and motor boats on the hard stand, being repaired.

We saw several of these in the harbour. We think they are floating drinks and sunbathing platforms.

The village was a quiet, sleepy place in the mid morning. It felt very much that high season is finished. We were advised to head for the vicinity of the church, to find the shops. As we passed the church, male singers were in full flow, sounding like monks' incantations.

We bought the staple bread, ciabatta, in the tiny bakery, then found the delicatessen. As we arrived there was little in their counter. We asked for pizza, which wasn’t going to be available until early evening, but we got the gist of the Italian mama, that food was being prepared and available shortly. We waited only a few minutes and out came trays of home made focaccia, various cooked vegetables and meats, along with frittata. We bought loads! It all looked so delicious. The interchange with the ladies there, despite not speaking each other’s language, was delightful. It’s amazing what sign language can do.

A call into the small chandlery, on the way back to the tender, allowed us to acquire a new boat hook. We are all set up again.

The village borders the edge of Costa Smeralda and is clearly quite well to do, with lots of holiday apartments. A long beach sweeps around the bay and there are also several private beaches and a couple of tiny private harbours. There are also some fairly swanky looking villas and hotels too.

At midday, we set of to round the next headland. It was a ten mile journey to probably travel about five miles as the crow flies.

We have arrived in the much busier bay of Golfo Aranci. There is a ferry terminal here and we are hoping the large ferry that has been docked since we arrived late afternoon, running their engines, will go before bedtime.

Again the wind has dropped and, as I write, we again have a lovely scene of the shore lights surrounding the bay, reflected in the water, under a starry sky. We are listening to Pavarotti, having eaten some of the delicious food from the deli. What could be better? After a bad experience, when we first arrived in the country, Sardinia is growing on me.

Distance covered today	11.0	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	231.0	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	1284.0	nautical miles

Tricia (and Steve)