Sicily

Castellammare del Golfo from the port

7^th July We are now in Sicily, moored in the port of Castellammare del Golfo, a lovely old town on the north coast, set on a steep hillside with mountains behind it.

We left Cagliari early yesterday morning for the 33 hour passage. We had gentle winds with a bit of swell and motorsailed most of the way. After feeling so sick on the last crossing to Sardinia, I decided to act on the recommendation of several other cruisers and try using a Scopolamine patch which is placed behind your ear and slowly releases the anti-nausea drug into your system. The patch certainly stopped me feeling sick, in fact I found I could go below and make a cup of tea or a sandwich without feeling queasy, but I wasn’t prepared for an interesting side effect: hallucinations!

Cliff humoured me when I said I could see trees, houses and masts in the distance when we were still miles from land, but became a bit concerned when I thought the white foam rushing down the side of the boat was a sheepdog in the water. He definitely knew something was wrong when I told him there was an old woman at the back of the boat talking to someone (in fact it was a pile of fenders topped with the bonnet of the outboard engine, and a conversation on the VHF).  I think I will stick to Stugeron in future.

The harbour at Castellammare del Golfo

8^th July It was a long hot walk to the shops at the top of the old town at Castellammare today, though we were rewarded with great views and we found  a wonderful selection of cheeses and  wines in the local shops. Tomorrow we will be leaving Castellammare to head towards the west coast, where we will be meeting our son Chris in a couple of week’s time.

San Vito lo Capo

10^th July We’ve decided to spend a few days at the beach resort of San Vito lo Capo which is on the north western tip of Sicily. The location is stunning with mountains on one side, a granite headland on the other and a long white beach between. The town is a huddle of low, flat roofed houses which sit among palm trees and remind us more of North Africa than Sicily. This is a popular holiday spot for Italians and the place is buzzing. The water is shallow for a long way out and a brilliant turquoise. In true Italian style the locals wade out until they are thigh deep in water then stand and have long conversations with their family and friends.

Cagliari

Santa Maria Navaresse

26^th June Sardinia continues to amaze us with its stunning coastline. Yesterday we sailed down past the pretty coves of the Costa Smeralda and today we took in the dramatic scenery of the Gennargentu National Park, where the mountains rise sheer from the sea.  

We are now moored at Santa Maria Navaresse, a village on the edge of the National Park, tucked into the wooded hillside and protected by rocky islands. We had planned this as a one night stop, but it’s so lovely here we’ve decided to stay for an extra day.

28^th June We sailed down to Porto Corallo today, a windswept, bleak port in the middle of nowhere with just a campsite for supplies.

In need of some TLC...Marina del Sole

 29^th June We’ve finally made it to Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia and our last stop before we head for Sicily. We are staying at Marina del Sole, just outside the city centre. It's a funny little place, the pontoons are in need of repair and there’s junk everywhere. If Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses had set up a marina, this would be it! However it's inexpensive, the moorings seem secure, there's free wi-fi, a bar with cheap beer and hot water in the showers, so we’re happy.

View from the Bastione in Cagliari
 

Old Cagliari

One of the lions guarding the altar in the Cathedral

 
1^st July We took the long, hot walk into town today to do the sights. After walking up through the lovely old walled quarter we took in the views of the city and mountains from the Bastione terrace. Then we visited the Cathedral with its extraordinary 12^th century lions guarding the high altar. After that we got completely lost looking for the roman amphitheatre. When we eventually found it, we discovered it’s no longer open to the public. We're not sure whether this is because they are doing more excavations or they've run out of cash to keep the place safe - the wooden walkways need repairing and it generally looks pretty run down.

5^th July The winds now look good for our two day crossing to Sicily so we’re hoping to leave early tomorrow.

Palau and Cannigione

 

'Our' beach at Palau

16^th June There are strong winds forecast for the next few days, so after a relaxing lunch in a Cala on the island of Caprera, we decide to head to the more sheltered bay of Palau on the mainland.

As we sail between the island and the mainland we hear a Mayday message on the VHF. The boat sending the Mayday has reported a dead body in the water, and when I check their position I realise it’s the yacht in front of us making the call. There’s no answer from the coastguard, but as we get nearer a rib and a motor boat join the yacht and we see the rib pull the body of young man in a diving suit out of the water.  They give him mouth to mouth resuscitation and eventually transfer him to the motor boat which sets off at high speed towards La Maddelena, requesting an ambulance to meet them there. We hear afterwards that he was still alive when he arrived at La Maddelena, so we hope he survived the ordeal.

17^th June We are now moored on a buoy in Palau bay. This morning we had a surprise visit from Charlie and Alison from Sulaire , who we last saw in Mahon and Marcel and Helen from Dakini, who we hadn’t seen since they left Cartagena. They are all anchored in the next bay and had come into Palau for supplies.

Pine trees behind the beach at Palau

18^th June, Our mooring is close to a sandy cove backed by pine trees. We’ve been very lazy these last few days, rowing the dinghy over to the beach, then reading under the pines and swimming in the beautifully clear waters.  The beach is a bit of a trek from the town and has been almost deserted, and today we found out why.  Two policemen appeared from the woods and explained it was illegal to bring a dinghy within 300m of the shoreline then instructed us to remove it immediately!

The bay at Cannigione

24^th June We have started to make our way down the East coast of Sardinia and have spent the last few days deep in the Golf of Arzachena at the village of Cannigione. Yesterday we had a day out on the bikes exploring the Golf, which is backed by green mountains and surrounded by rich farmland.

Cormerant at Cannigione

 

 

Golf of Arzachena

Perfect spot for lunch