To Sail or not to Sail

Sailors in the Mediterranean typically do one of two things once October comes around: put their boat on the hard in a boatyard and head back to homes for winters with central heating and cosy fireplaces or stay put in a winter berth in a marina, generally somewhere with milder temperatures and a social environment to enjoy some land life or fly to and from home for shorter visits.

Plenty of marinas cater to this group with attractive winter berth offers for the 7 months (1st October until 30th April) and the most popular fill up quickly. If you’re a multihull requiring more space and haven’t secured your winter berth by August, you’ll find plenty of sailing blogs telling you to panic! Not on Talata Sailing 😉 We’re trying to be chiller that way and plan not to plan too much.

Sailors on a mission to travel, with trust in their boat and abilities to sail all year round will likely not be looking at such long period marina offers.

As for us, after our maiden voyage crossing the Bay of Biscay in winter (February 2020) then sailing along the rough Atlantic coast of Portugal in February and March, I (Tania) have lost my hatred of icy biting wind, freezing rainy days and grey skies and seas.

So. We’ve decided not to stop living and travelling on TALATA over this winter. When France went into lockdown #2 on 31st of October – yes, restricting all navigation for pleasure boats and closing ports – we jumped into action. Luckily we had a good weather window to make the 260 NM passage directly to northern Sardinia (Italy, still open), skipping Corsica (France). We filled up on fuel, stocked up on baguette, prepared a vegetable stew for a hot passage mealtime and got out on an overcast day.

First treat was sailing into a school of tuna, frenziously feeding and leaping into the air. A fishing trawler was nearby and we of course put out two fishing rods, thinking we’re bound to catch one! The only catching was on camera.

Passage to Sardinia

It was a perfect crossing, mostly on a beam reach in 9 to 15 knots of true-wind, hardly any waves. and we sailed most of the way. Apart from a few cargo ships there was no boat traffic at all. At one point we heard a loud motor in the distance and rushed out on deck to see who else was out here. Nothing to be seen on the water but still the roar got louder and louder. We quickly realised it was obviously something above us! A white helicopter with a blue stripe coming right at us! I’m guessing it was the French Coastguard. They circled the boat, waved back when I waved and then sped off back towards the French coast leaving us with quizzical looks on our faces.

We sailed for 2 days and 2 nights, taking the final 40 NM slow, not yet sure where to make landfall. Before starting the passage, we’d researched a few potential marinas to enter but none were answering the phones. Before lifting anchor, I rushed off a few emails hoping to find an answer waiting once we’d have service. As we neared Corsica we hugged the southern coast thinking we could probably pick up some mobile signal to check on the latest weather conditions and email. Weather was fine for now with a strong westerly expected in two days but unfortunately no answer from any ports of entry. It was now 11pm and we needed to decide whether to sail down the east or towards the west coast of Sardinia.

La Pelosa

In the end, we played it safe in calm conditions and headed for La Pelosa, near Stintino. It’s a large sandy bottomed bay, super important when you need to anchor in pitch darkness at 4.00 am! Using the Navily App, we aimed for a patch without seagrass and dropped our Ultra anchor in 6.5 metres depth. Here we could get some sleep and navigate the rest of the way in daylight.

It’s always exciting to wake up and see our new surroundings in daylight. Once the sun rose we wre treated to an amazing sight for our sleepy sailor eyes! The calm sandy bay, turquoise water, uninhabited island of Asinara on one side and the coast of Stintino on the other. This is one of the most beautiful spots in Sardinia, normally busy in summer but now we shared it with only three other sailboats, anchored some distance away from us.

Tackling Clear In to Sardinia

 In these COVID days, keeping abreast of the latest information, local rules and additional entry requirements is an important part of travel planning. These are different for each country and can vary depending on the risk level in place so staying up-to-date is key. There are various websites with information catering to people travelling by boat. Noonsite is one of the most helpful and has links to local sites for further details. Local country government pages are logically the most important.

For Sardinia this means registering on an online health government site and waiting for a certificate of permission to continue. We then needed a negative COVID test before continuing to travel. After a few days on anchor, we sailed on to Alghero and tied up to the city dock (which is free for 5 days if you don’t take any services).

At last in Italy, we enjoyed pizza, fantastic meals, walks along the old town walls. Tucking into Spaghetti alle vongole e bottarga – a Sardinian speciality – on the terrace of Aquatica restaurant overlooking our own boat on the dock was a dream come true!

After 5 days we said goodbye to beautiful Alghero, part of us wishing to stay there longer, the other part feeling the pull to discover and explore the west coast of Sardinia. The more we sail, the more we experience this moment of sadness at leaving a place we’ve just begun to settle into. But the excitement of a journey and the thrill of arriving somewhere new and unknown is irresistible!

Portu Managu

Found a piece of paradise in this idyllic cove, sheltered from wind and swell. The sun is hot, the water as clear as a pool and almost warm enough for a dip (20 C). No-one but us, the sound of birds and the sea gently lapping on the rocky shoreline. What a magical spot to spend several days, exploring the rocks, rowing in our dinghy and watching swarms of fish around the boat.

A River runs Through Bosa

Since we’re so close, we visited Bosa. We tied up to the fuel dock at Bosa Marina & called Guardia Costiera on VHF 16. The friendly coast guards came by, checked papers and confirmed we could stay there for 1 day free of charge! So we launched our dinghy and set off for the historic town center, a mile up the river.

The town itself was pretty but had a sad vibe about it. We stuck to the Temo river instead and headed upstream, listening to the sounds coming from farms just behind the banks and marvelling at glassy water and the reflections it offered.

Ancient City of Tharros

The story is this. One day on passeggiata along the city walls of Alghero, we stopped to gaze at our boat from above. There we got chatting to a guy on a bike. Turns out he’d been following our boat on Vesselfinder since we left France & was thrilled to see us actually heading to Alghero! We crossed paths with Tiziano daily & he’s become a friend & treasure trove of tips. We love getting his emails with polite recommendations for anchorages, sights & weather updates as he follows our track down the west coast of Sardinia.

This anchorage on the Sinis peninsula in front of the archeological site of Tharros was one of his recommendations: “Not the prettiest naturalistically but fascinating for its view of the ancient ruins of a Phoenician city that reaches to the edge of the sea.”

At night we were mesmerized by the lighthouse flashing & a glowing Phoenician tower. In the morning, amazement at ruins that date to 8th century BC! Without Tiziano we would probably have missed this breathtakingly impressive stop. Grazie Mille Capitano Tiziano !

Heading South

After stopping for the night in a small sandy bay at the SE tip of Carloforte (for shelter in 25 knot winds, gusting to 35 knots), we sail along the south of Sardinia. We have our eye on a choice of bays that are good in this westerly wind but with a southwest swell, some aren’t as calm as we’d like.

We settled on a large sheltered bay in the territory of Teulada. Just off Malfatano beach, this jewel of a find became one of our all-time favourite anchorages of the year. It’s not the easiest to navigate as there’s a lot of rock and it gets shallow very quickly but the landscape is breathtaking! Cala Malfatano was chosen as a landing place by the Phoenecians in 6th century BC. Underwater just off the beach you can still see the sandstone rocks that formed the docks of a flourishing port. With a watchtower on the hill, several coves, beaches and fishing lagoon, the choice of view-scapes was a daily treat. The air is heavy with the herbal fragrance of true myrtle, rockrose, and mastic and the bells on white goats in the hills jingle throughout the day.

Cagliari Calling

With a 35 to 40 knot mistral on the way, and friends from Malta in Cagliari, we decide to lift anchor and our toes out of the sea and head to a marina in town. A short visit turns into a 6 week whirl of exploring markets, restaurants, fun evenings on board with friends. Sardinia is classified a yellow zone so other than a nightly curfew and bars and restaurants closed after 6pm, life is normal.

With a rental car trips we go on drives into the surrounding mountains and countryside, explore Nuraghe and relish the colour of lush greenery, the rolling meadows covered in herds of sheep (for the local Pecorino cheese).

Lorenzo needs a hernia surgery which is something best not put off, especially when sailing so we decide to get that done and wait here until he’s recuperated. I learn to make pasta under the tuttelage of Joe from SV Elios and overdose on freshly pressed orange juice, mandarins and clementines that are at their best in winter – another advantage of visiting Sardinia in this off season!

This is our first time on the island of Sardinia and we’re constantly in awe of the lush beauty, richness of nature and local produce.

And we now both know that on a crisp sunny day (and these come often) or clear starry night, even winter sailing in the Med is magical.

After all that has happened in 2020 and with an uncertain 2021 ahead, we decided to keep on sailing as long as we can!