2010 Cruisin', Boozin' and Snoozin' ..... May - Oct 2010

27 May 2010 - 08 October 2010


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Mark on guitar with Liam.....sleeping??? 

So another cruising season has come and gone.  The seasons in the Mediterranean are reasonably short, but this year seemed very short indeed.  We started out later than planned from our last winter port in Valletta on the small island of Malta.  We had been busy painting the coach roof and wanted it finished, it was worth staying for and it looks just great.  Then the season ended sooner than we had hoped too, September and October saw the start of unsettled weather coming through, with the odd front bringing cooler days, longer nights and thunder storms. 

We had a choice - join many of our cruising friends and carry on out of the Med, into the Atlantic, visit exotic Morocco, explore the Canary Islands cross the Atlantic Ocean and be in the Caribbean in time to enjoy a rum punch while listening to steel drums sitting under a palm tree with the sand between our toes by Christmas.  Sure sounds appealing, still does - but there is always next year!!

So here we are, in the lovely town of Cartagena on the southeastern corner of Spain.  We will stay here for the European winter which we hope will be reasonably mild.  We will spend our time (in between boat jobs of course) exploring this wonderful country, trialing as many tapas bars as we can find, improving our somewhat appalling command on the Spanish language and taking as many siestas as necessary to blend in with the locals!!

But now a recap of 2010 ....... This is Cruising the Summer of 2010 -

Picnic in Corsica with the "Windies"

Before we left Malta we thought long and hard about the route we would take through the Western Med.  Several yachts that had travelled through Italy the summer of 2009 and said how extremely busy it was, that the anchorages were poor and often rolly, marinas expensive, how affected the weather is by the fierce Mistral wind, how expensive eating out was... the list was long with few positives.  Then when we were back in Auckland over summer we met with friends George and Merima off Moonshadow who had also cruised Italy in 2009, they agreed with most of the above but their advice - "don't miss it".  

So we took their advice and from the moment we arrived on the east coast of Sicily and anchored under Mt Etna and the stunning hilltop town of Taormina we never once regretted it, Italy was absolutely outstanding and we loved every minute (even the wet ones!!).  Nearly every stop was a highlight:  the bubbling live volcano, smelly mudbaths and beach happy hours at Vulcano, the opportunity to visit ancient buried Pompeii from Agropoli, the beautiful Amalfi coast towns clinging by their toenails to the steep to cliff faces surrounded by vivid green and yellow lemon trees, the pastel painted houses of Procida crumbling down but oh so "Italy".  Then we hit the busy part, crazy Ponza on a long holiday weekend with the armada of incoming boats seemingly endless but there was always room for one more.

Most expensive drinks with "Panthera"

We sailed overnight west to Sardinia, still Italian,  but with a definite independent island feel to it.    On long hot summers days we found deserted bays with clear water and sandy beaches, contrasting greatly with the wealth displayed in the compact area around Porto Cervo, where super yachts easily outnumbered little yachts like ours.  We had a day inland, astounded by the Stone Age ruins we visited, intrigued by the overgrown forests of cork trees. Maybe we should have explored more of Sardinia, we just touched the north east corner and it was beautiful, many anchorages in some sheltered waters, an excellent spot.

It was time for a change of culture and language and we hopped across to Corisca and dusted off the French phrase book.  The well preserved ancient walled towns of  Bonifacio, Porto Vecchio and Calvi and the frequent coastal battlements gave us a great sense of their history.  Our inland travel revealing the lush mountainous interior, sandy banked rivers, stone age ruins - this gem of an island had it all.  Combined with some gin clear waters in appealing bays Corisca was yet another highlight.

Time for a mudbath with White Rose and Sundancer II

Back to Italy visiting the Tuscan Island of Elba, some great anchorages, cute villages, sweet scented pine forests, good weather.   Time for the mainland again to our most secure anchorage weather wise of the season at La Grazie. This Cinque Terra area was jam packed full of interesting excursions - the famous Cinque Terra (Five Villages) coastal walk, a day out by train to Pisa, just a short hop over the hill to Porto Venere and a visit from our friends Helen and David.  Unfortunately the weather changed here after a dreadful long night of thunder/lightening storms and torrential rainfall, it was unsettled for a couple of weeks after and never returned to those long settled summer days.

The Italian Riviera was next, sophisticated Santa Margherita made an excellent base for a few days, nearby famous Portofino as quaint as all the postcards.  Our Italian sojourn was nearing its end, a few days in San Remo just 20 miles from the French boarder was an excellent way to end.  The covered market one of the best I have ever seen in any country.  Sadly it was arrivederci to Italy, we couldn't stay forever.  We enjoyed everywhere we visited, the locals were always welcoming, the food in general every good and pizzas and pasta dishes very affordable, drinks ranged in price from average to outrageous but they normally gave free nibbles with them to soften the blow!  Italy oozes history and  culture, it is a wonderful unrivaled country.  The people have a style and spirit that matches it perfectly.

Celeb spotting in Monte Carlo

I must add that we were extremely lucky for the most part with settled weather.  The west coast of Italy is all a lee shore and any westerly winds leave you with few places to run.  Any strong winds further out in the med will affect the swell so you need to look at a large weather picture on a daily basis.  That said, there are places to tuck in from most conditions but you need to always have a plan B, and often a plan C too. 

I can't move on further before I mention one of the most important factors of why all the above was also so enjoyable.  We cruised in company the entire time, not always with the same boats as we all go different speeds and have different agendas but there was a group of us going roughly the same way and boy did we have fun.  I hope I don't miss anyone but to the following - you made an excellent season even better.    Sundancer II, White Rose, Blue Banana, Eye Candy, Gone with the Wind, Threshold  and Panthera.  Once we left Italy we were on our own except for a couple of rendezvouses with Baracca.  Thankyou all for making our season extra special.

Next it was on to Monaco, what Italy oozes in history and culture, Monaco oozes in wealth.  Our 3 nights in the marina were a highlight of a different kind, never did we think we would be able to afford to marina Balvenie  in Monaco and spend time in this pocket sized Principality.  The wealth displayed just in the cars parked in Casino Square was enough to knock our socks off, then there were the dozens of enormous super yachts parked in a row in the marina, and one look in the estate agents window  indicated 8million Euro as a  'cheap' one bedroom apartment - this is definitely not somewhere the likes of us retire!!!!  But it was fun, not ostentatious or stuffy - just for rich people who like to enjoy showing their wealth.

Porto Cervo with Eye Candy and GWTW

It is was time to cruise the French Riviera and the Cote d'Azur, famous names that just roll off the tongue.  We started in Villefranche a popular anchorage near to Nice, a small scenic town ashore.  Relatives Neil and Barbara stayed a couple of nights and we had a chance to explore inland, visiting tiny rural villages located so close to the busy coast but a million miles away in reality. From Nice westwards the coastline was extremely busy much more built up than I had envisaged, huge apartment complexes lined the foreshore, marinas every few miles, very few nooks and crannies to anchor in, and often a swell from one direction or the other would sneak in.  Then there was more unsettled weather, it was only the beginnng of September but we never experienced those famous unbearably hot calm days on the French Riviera.

I fell in love with France over 20 years ago when I first backpacked there, and have returned several times since.  I had been looking forward all season to cruising its coastline, soaking up the culture, practicing my French and sampling the French cuisine.  Now I felt a traitor to France, this coastline didn't reflect the France I loved and we both missed Italy.  The cost of living was high, fruit and vegetables seemed especially so, eating out cheaply was almost impossible, happy hour drinks and coffees were almost affordable dependant on where you were!!  The weather wasn't kind to us, Mistrals kept howling.  We could see no value in heading along the coast further westwards and into the eye of Mistral territory so we took the opportunity of a short lull in the winds and headed south overnight to Spain's Balearic Islands.  We had spent only 12 nights on the French coast.

Can Mark get beer out of Threshold's steering system???

Our stay in the Balearics was slightly longer, just 3 weeks.  We spent time in Menorca and Mallorca and explored them both.  We enjoyed sleepy Mahon and found Palma a classic, interesting, very European city - with a central market to rival San Remo.  We only stayed one night on Ibiza, it is more of a beach/party island, and although still warm enough when in the sun and out of the wind, summer was on the wain.  There are many anchorages in the Balearics, most of them small calas (coves), often deserted ashore or maybe with a tourist development.  It is more of a summer destination than a touring one so we didn't experience them at their best.  More adverse weather, this time an extensive system lasting days was heading our way.  We considered marinaing in Ibizia for a few days to sit out the weather but heard rumours of yachts our size still being quoted 300Euro a night, and this was now October!  So here we are, back to the top where we started, Caribbean or Cartagena. 

Looking lopsided in Portofino

We have been in Cartagena on the south eastern corner of Spain over a week now and were feeling quite settled, until this morning.  I managed to tune into the "rum runners net", a HF Radio net our friends have started up and are checking into as they move westwards, Gone with the Wind and Moonshadow were about to arrive in Morocco, Beyond, Stardust and several others about to join Cristata in the Canaries.  Today we are feeling somewhat left behind, but we have Spain to explore and much more - that rum punch will just taste all the sweeter next year!!!

Countries and Principalities visited -  5   Malta, Italy, France, Monaco and Spain
Island Groups visited -  7   Sicily, Aeolean Islands, Bay of Napoli Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, Tuscan Islands, Balearic Islands
Nautical Miles travelled -   1742  (Distance had we gone in a straight line was 767!!)
Nautical Miles motored -   929   Only about 20miles was due to adverse headwinds, balance due to no wind
Nights at sea -   3   Ponza-Olbia,   French mainland-Mahon,   Ibiza-Cartagena
Nights tied up for free on a buoy -   4   Porto Pollo, Pollenca, Porto Petro
Nights tied up for free at a dock -  14   Scario, Agropoli, Olbia, Final Ligure, San Remo
Nights tied up in Marinas -  7   Amalfi, Monaco, Pollenca
Different Anchorages visisted -   60
Strongest winds -  46 knots at anchor in France, 28 knots at sea downwind across the top of Corsica
Fastest speed -   8.6 knots flying across the top of Corsica
Sleepless nights -  less than five (more than one is too many!!)
Rainy days -   Lost count really, but not that many that rained ALL day and this is Europe!!
How much did it cost? -  Done all the numbers and it averaged out at 385Euro per week (this season was 19 weeks).  That includes stocking up the food and drink supplies in Malta before we left there, and starting/finishing with full diesel tanks.  Our biggest expense was eating/drinking onboard 1888E closely followed by eating/drinking out 1545E, diesel ranked next as we did alot of motoring 1300E,  next came sightseeing/local transport 580E, Marinas 372E, small repairs/maintenance/spares 340E, phone/internet 240E, the rest is made up of odds and ends - souvenirs, clothing, laundry etc  

AND THAT WAS THE SUMMER OF 2010

Arrivederci to Sardinia ..... July 2010

07-11 July 2010
***relaxing on Gone with the Winds trampoline after another big day!***Lunchtime in one of Porto Cervo's swanky waterfront restaurants - but where is everyone??***Annie, Bridget and Amanda all looking very colourful in the dinghy***

We left the 'ships' to play with each other and moved onto quieter pastures. With the northeast tip of Sardinia behind us we turned left and sailed between the northern Sardinian Coast and La Maddalena archipelago. This compact island group sits between Sardinia and Corsica in the Bonifacio Straits, a renowned wind tunnel like most straits. The Maddalena archipelago is a marine reserve and national park, with different zones for designated activities. Several spots are off limits for anchoring. Although it looked lovely as we passed, the cost of the permit for staying outweighed our desire to visit it, so we sailed through in gentle seas to our next stop at Cannigione in Golfo Arzachena. Our first encounter with the Straits of Bonifacio went well.

We stayed 2 nights here, another pleasant local community with a low key tourist presence made it an enjoyable place, plus there was a bar with a big screen tv, another World Cup Football semi final was watched, skipper was content again.

Our time in Sardinia was nearing the end. On yet another clear sunny day we moved 10 miles west to our next spot in Porto Liscia. With just an almost deserted campsite ashore and only two other yachts in the bay Sardinia continued to surprise us with its open spaces, beautiful anchorages and lack of tourists and cruising yachts. Sure the huge power boats were there, but they huddled around Porto Cervo and were seldom spotted further afield. It was a great place to cruise in relatively sheltered waters, endless shallow anchorages most with clear water and sandy bottoms and plenty of places to hide if the dreaded 'mistral' winds decided to visit .

We had only travelled around 70 miles since arriving from Ponza in 13 days, my sort of day sailing. What we couldn't understand was why so few boats were there, but we sure weren't complaining!!

July 11 dawned clear and sunny yet again, but there was an unexpected 10-12knot breeze blowing from the west. We were planning to stay to watch the World Cup final, but the lure of a beam reach across Bonifacio Straits was just too much. So it was ciao for now to Sardinia and all things Italian, down with the green, white and red courtesy flag and up with the blue, white and red instead - Corsica here we come.

Cruising info for Cannigione and Porto Liscia:-
Anchorages -
Cannigione - 41 06.485N 09 26.83E 4.5m sandy patches amongst weed. We heard you could tie up for free on the inside wall of the outer breakwater for the marina which is unfinished and there were some boats there. Not many bollards to tie to though.
Porto Liscia - 41 11.875N 09 18.931E 6.5m sandy patches amongst weed. Its a big long bay and we were in the eastern end
Communications - WIND dongle, TIM and Vodafone phones all working ok
Money and Provisions - Cannigione has everything you would expect from a small town. Fuel dock on outside wall of marina. Nothing at Porto Liscia except small bar and windsurf school

Big Boys' Toys around Porto Cervo ..... July 2010

05 - 08 July 2010

***Balvenie in the lovely big bay of Golfo Pevero, just a mile or so from the famous Porto Cervo, this private ship on our right is 'Dilbar', one of the largest in the bay (oh, and the world)***Us outside the Costa Smeralda Yacht Club (proof just above the door!)***Waterside dining platform on this little number, not much privacy with people like us peering in***This one is 'Tatoosh', saw it last year in Corfu too, spot the jacuzzi tucked inside at the back of the swim platform and don't miss the play yacht stowed high up on the portside***

As much as we love being able to tie up to a free dock in a pleasant town, it was hot and sticky in Olbia and there were picturesque anchorages with sea breezes and white sand waiting for us so after 3 nights we firstly untied Gone with the Wind who were still rafted to us, then let our lines go and motored out the channel. Passing an incoming ferry and yacht at the narrowest and shallowest part gained our full attention for a while then it was a clear run all the way to Porto Polli, just 6 miles north! A cooling dip followed by an even cooler drink finished the day in this lovely spot tucked behind a little island.
It was tempting to stay a day and relax but there was a gentle sea breeze and more great anchorages to come so we headed out and around the headlands. We made radio contact enroute with American couple Karen and Steve onboard their yacht Threshold who had been checking in on our cruisers net all season, time to meet face to face so we all diverted into Golfo de Marinella, then up popped Eye Candy too, another wonderful anchorage, super weather, lovely people and very long happy hour!!

We moved again the following day, this Northeast corner of Sardinia is littered with excellent shallow anchorages in clear water, but we decided to see how the other half live and headed for Porto Cervo on Sardinia's northern Costa Smeralda. Developed in the '60s and owned by the Aga Khan this is where the vastly rich and famous vacation. A marina berth for us in summer is a snip at 294Euro, or perhaps a mooring buoy in the tiny harbour at only 80Euro. (yes that is per night not week!!). There is a minute space for anchoring but we had Gone with the Wind and Eye Candy with us and three boats were just not going to fit. You guessed it - we were not rich or famous enough!! So we did a quick drive around in circles, got some photos and backtracked a mile of so to the huge anchorage of Porto Pevero. Now this needed to be a big anchorage, as all the rich and famous had their 'ships' parked in there, and this wasn't because they couldn't afford Porto Cervo, it was simpy because they were too big. What an amazing display of wealth in an area of around 1 square mile, not to many signs of the austerity measures around here!!!

The dinghy ride around to Porto Cervo was really too long so the following day Eye Candy kindly offered to up anchor and take us and GWTW around, we felt we could squeeze one boat in at anchor and the plan worked well. We had our shore excursion, really it was just nothing special ashore at all and almost had a closed up feeling to it. Still if you were on one of those stunning gigayachts why would you want to leave your air-conditioned comfort to go ashore!! We found a great cheap spot for lunch (truly) and even met up again with Peter and Bridget off White Rose who were visiting by bus, this is a small mobile community we live in - can't go too far without seeing someone we know!

Ferried back to our boats by Eye Candy, just time for a cooling swim then a late afternoon sail in the seabreeze to our next stop. We were up to the Football World Cup semi finals and skipper needed a big screen television to watch it on!

Cruising info for Isla Porri, Golfo de Marinella, Porto Cervo and Golfo Pevero:-
Anchorages -
Isla Polli - 40 57.499N 09 35.123E 6m sand, can tuck in further in shallower water, nice spot if late leaving Olbia as just an hour north
Golfo de Marinella - 41 01.20N 09 35.54E 8m sand, we had a little beach to ourselves for big happy hour and no others boats at anchor, magic
Porto Cervo - didn't get lat/long but sharp right as you come in the entrance room for maybe 4 yachts in shallow but clear water, a couple of yachts were anchored past the mooring buoys but it looked very shallow
Golfo Pevero - 41 07.01N 09 32.85E 8.5m sand big bay, tuck up inside all the Big Boys
Communications - WIND Dongle, Vodafone and TIM phones all good
Money - Porto Cervo only place with anything. ATM machine 250Euro max
Provisions - Good supermarket at Porto Cervo, and only a tad more expensive
Eating Out - Lord Nelson Pub in Porto Cervo excellent hamburger and chips (how bad is that!!!)

Exploring Northern Sardinia ..... July 2010

29 June - 05 July 2010

***Dinner out in Olbia in a somewhat residential setting with Annie and Liam***The excellent murals on the building walls at Oliena***Exploring inside Nuraghe Sante Antine***Sante Antine from the outside not looking too special but it was amazing inside***

While wintering in Malta we met a few cruisers that had sailed Sardinian waters and all said how lovely the north east part of the island was. At that time Sardinia seemed a long way off so we never really asked too many questions, but now we know for ourselves the answers.

We arrived into Porto Brandinghi mid afternoon after our overnight passage from the Italian island of Ponza. We had sailed for about 24 out of 32 hours in good conditions and had moved west another 3 degrees of longtitude, we were now at 9 degrees. We anchored with Gone with the Wind and Eye Candy a few miles south of Olbia on the north eastern corner of Sardinia in the large sheltered bay of Porto Brandinghi. The water was crystal clear, the bottom white sand, the skies a piercing blue, the shoreline housed just of couple of low key resorts, and there were only a handful of yachts and no powerboats to be seen, pure bliss!!

This was the closest we have seen to an "island paradise" since arriving in the med, and if the rest of northern Sardinia was going to be the same then things were looking very good.
We spent 3 nights here, catching up on sleep, laundry, boat maintenance, blogs, emails, swimming, reading, relaxing and socializing. Peter and Bridget on White Rose arrived, they had gone to Rome from Ponza, so more happy reunions and corresponding happy hours!! But soon the cupboards were starting to look a little bare again, time to hit civilisation and what was rumoured to be one of the best supermarkets in these parts, so we lifted anchor and motored in light winds the 16 miles around to Olbia. This section of the coastline was spectacular, with off lying islands, many protected anchorages and flat seas, you could lose a few weeks puddling around here easily.

The approaches to Olbia looked disappointing, murky water, fish farms, big commercial port with huge ferries taking up all the room in the marked channel - after the clear water and anchorages we had just passed it was looking like this would be a quick "provision and leave" stop. But first impressions can often be wrong. We went past the ferry docks and into the inner harbour where there is a free dock, always an incentive to stay. Peter and Andrew had arrived before us and were on the dock to take our lines, we got the last space so once we were settled Gone with the Wind rafted up next to us and there we stayed for 3 nights!

Olbia has a local feel to it, not many tourists, a medium size with a pleasant downtown area, night market, and Football World Cup fever in plenty of the bars and cafes. There was a great supermarket within easy walking distance, and a WIND shop which happily excepted more money from us to make our dongle work for another month - we should be buying WIND shares!!.

We took the opportunity of having Balvenie safely tied up and shared a car hire for a day with Annie and Liam
We went exploring inland, guided by the Lonely Planet and a very incomplete road map! Enroute to our first stop we passed a hilltop village, the houses resembling concrete brick boxes, the village menfolk all sitting outside on plastic chairs, not a woman or child was spotted - we decided not to stop for morning coffee! Eventually we reached The Fonte Sacra Su Tempiesu a Nuraghic Temple, the Nuraghic people being Bronze Age inhabitants of Sardinia. The water temple was not discovered until 1953, this comes as little surprise as it is really in the middle of nowhere and once you find the carpark its another kilometre downhill walk. We were the first visitors of the day in the visitors book, and I suspect we may have been the last. It was interesting and of course very old, but missable!! On we went, searching for signs of more modern civilisation, a cafe or pizzeria perhaps. The roads were deserted, we drove across a plateau full of harvested cork trees and read later they have produced cork here for centuries. We finally reached Oliena our next stop, it too was deserted. The "traditional locals in this stunning and atmospheric place" were nowhere to be seen, neither were the bars to try the "excellent local red", we did successfully find a coffee and pastry but even that closed before we had finished. Maybe the mural on the wall of mama and her shotgun had frightened everyone away and only the several excellent murals on the buildings walls remained (and they weren't even mentioned in the Lonely Planet!!)

My itinerary suggestions were not receiving much enthusium now from my fellow explorers so when I pointed out our next stop of some more Bronze Age ruins I wasn't too surprised by the negative response! But it was only 2km's out of our way so Mark turned left and we stopped at Nuraghe Sante Antine. Its from 1600BC, a stone beehive looking fortress pretty much resembling a big pile of rubble. When we paid our 3Euro entrance fee I must say, our expectations weren't high. Right up until we entered in through a small arch way it appeared to be just more rocks, well what a surprise we had instore for us. This place was truly amazing, bearing inmind it is about 3,600 years old, it was 3 stories, all made from huge stones - not local to the area - tunnels, rooms, lookouts, towers, we have never seen anything similar and certainly not dwellings from the Bronze Age. It was just incredible and absolutely well worth the stop.

Next it was on to Alghero on the west coast, we parked the car and wandered through the medival centre and around the scenic waterfront, we had found life again much to our relief and enjoyed the small alleyways, churches and old town, taking in a late late lunch before returning to the car and heading back to Olbia. We had explored inland northern Sardinia and had not left a stone unseen!!

Cruising info for Sardinia - Porto Brandinghi and Olbia:-
Anchorages -
Porto Brandinghi - 40 50.087N 09 41.704E 5.5m find a sandy spot. Large big bay affording shelter from almost all winds, would get swell from southeast. Worth making landfall here before Olbia if coming from Italy as lovely area from here north and shouldn't be missed.
Olbia Town Quay - 40 55.349N 09 30.407 5m If busy expect rafting. There were prohibited areas but it filled up while we were there and people were tying everywhere, no one official came around. Can anchor off good protection close to dock but town quay free so enjoy it,
Communications - Italian Dongle still working. WIND shop up main street on left if needed (somehow we needed to put more money on ours - no surprise there!) TIM and Vodafone both good signal on phones
Money - ATM at beginning of main street on left. All ATM's we tried (Alghero, Olbia, Porto Cervo, Canigione) only would allow 250Euro per transaction
Provisions - An excellent Super U Supermarket is a short walk (around 5 minutes)from dock. Cross the road by harbour and carpark and head left towards then parallel to the flyover. You will see a curbside fuel station, Super U is just past it on the right (the anchorage is on the left, and if you were at anchor you could posibly bring dinghy right there). Take your trolley - you will buy heaps. There was a 'fromaggio man' who came around every evening in a white van selling cheeses
Fuel - There is the fuel station mentioned directly above which was definately cheaper, or there is a tie-up fuel dock in the harbour. Diesel from the fuel dock was 1.33Euro per litre, from memory the regular fuel station was 1.25Euro per litre
Sightseeing - We hired our Fiat Panda from Pal@Rent in via Regina Elena (same street also had Hertz which was more expensive and no cars available). It was 60Euro a day with unlimited km's, but because we wanted it on Sunday it cost 100Euro as they are not open. We collected it 6pm Sat night and returned it 9am Monday. Our two Bronze Age excursions cost 3Euro per person entry