La Maddalena Archipelago

Relaxing in Cala Spalmatore

12^th June Our next destination is the La Maddalena Archipelago, a group of islands off the north east tip of Sardinia known for its wild beauty, unspoilt beaches and clear waters. It’s a national park and marine reserve, and anchoring is forbidden in many places to preserve the Posidonia sea grass beds. We are looking forward to spending a few days cruising the islands, and our first stop is Dead Man’s Reef Passage, an anchorage on Budelli island.

The anchorage has lovely turquoise water and is surrounded on two sides by low lying rocky outcrops flanked by beautiful white sand. But it isn't quite the peaceful spot we had imagined - there are at least 20 other boats at anchor and noisy tripper boats come and go. By the time we've had lunch the wind is blowing hard and our anchor is beginning to drag,  so we decide to try and find somewhere quieter for the night.

We eventually tie up to a buoy in Cala Spalmatore on La Maddalena island.  This is a deep bay surrounded by cliffs and a rocky bluff, with two lovely beaches and crystal clear water. However the night isn’t exactly quiet, a flotilla of German yachts arrives late in the afternoon and they are obviously in party mood. At sunset someone comes on deck and plays the trumpet, then they all dinghy ashore, have several drinks in the little bar, and head back to one of the boats to play loud music until the early hours. 

Cliff enjoying the water

Liz in the dinghy
 

13^th June This morning all the boats have gone and we have the bay to ourselves. It’s very hot so we swim off the boat, go snorkelling by the rocks and sunbathe on deck. In the afternoon we dinghy ashore and take a walk round the bay. Liz cooks up a delicious seven-veg sauce with fresh pasta for dinner and we eat on deck watching the sun go down.

La Maddalena town

15^th June Liz flies back to London today, so we have sailed round to the little port of La Maddalena, where she can get a ferry back to the mainland. It’s a lovely old town but very busy, with car ferries coming and going every 15 minutes – we can’t believe how many cars there are on such a small island. We’ll be very sad to see Liz go, she’s been great company and a very easy guest to have on board.



La Maddalena ferry