Well we have not really got very far since our last blog posting, we are still in the lovely sheltered Bay of Porto Conte. This is a large Bay about 3nm long and 1.5 nm wide with plenty of places to anchor meaning you can find shelter from just about any wind direction but especially from the prevailing NW winds that we have been getting. It is also surprisingly quiet seeing as we are now into peak holiday season, with most anchorages having only a handful of boats staying overnight – the Italians all seem to retreat to their marinas after about 6pm. There have been very few UK flagged boats around which is also quite surprising. The only downside around the Bay is the noisy Hotels and Bars, particularly near Porto Conte with music blaring out over the anchorages until the early hours of the morning especially at weekends, however it is easy to avoid by choosing the quieter anchorages.
We have had some more boat repairs to do – this time the anchor windlass was getting very slow at times and seeing as we anchor everywhere this is pretty important. Anyway we managed to get it out of the locker and onto the workbench for a strip down to find that the commutator ring and brushes needed a good cleaning. Put it all back together again and it now seems to be working great again.
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| View Over Porto Conte | Refreshments After Climbing Up From The Shore |
For those of you who wonder what we do all day we will tell you about going to the supermarket around here!! There is no decent supermarket in any of the villages around Porto Conte bay so that means we needed to go to Alghero about 7nm away, fortunately we had a nice breeze from the right direction so we managed to sail all the way to the harbour and anchor just outside. Then into the dinghy and into the harbour to the Town Quay to park the dinghy, next a walk around Alghero to find a supermarket and then sort out what is what in Italian!!! Trek back to the dinghy laden down with bags and then do it all in reverse – so after raising the anchor about 10am we finally got back and re-anchored about 4pm, so around 6hrs for a simple shopping trip!!
Caroline and daughter, Kathryn arrived last Monday to spend a few days with us that was really nice. They also brought one alternator diode plate out with them so we have now managed to repair one of our broken alternators and got it fitted back on the engine so our charging system is working much better. We will have to wait for our next visitors to bring the other diode plate so we can repair the second alternator – such is the joys of repairing boats in foreign places.
Ciao Everyone Sue here
I’m getting quite dizzy trying to remember what language to use next and shopping is a nightmare as you just get used to what everything is and we move on. Never mind it keeps us busy as Chris has explained above.
It was lovely having my sister and her daughter Kathryn to stay and I think they were glad to escape the UK weather. The day before we went to Neptunes Cave we sat on the boat looking up at the climb we had to do from the sea before we even got onto the path for the caves and then the 655 steps down to the cave itself and it looked more daunting as the day went on. The day dawned and of we set with packed lunches and plenty of water. Although it was quite a challenging climb we were really glad we had made the effort to go as the scenery and the caves were amazing. It only took us about 3 hours but we were all very hot and ready for a swim when we got back to the boat. The next day we were all suffering with stiff legs except for Chris but I think he was just putting on a brave face amongst us women!.
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| Part of The Goats Staircase to Neptune’s Cave | Anchored in Cala del Bollo, Porto Conte |
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| Caroline and Sue Ready to Explore The Caves | Amazing Rock Formations in the Caves |
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| More Stalactites and Stalagmites | Kathryn Practising for the Next Olympics |
On Wednesday we sailed around to Fertilia and decided to go ashore for a meal that night. As we were getting out of the dinghy all dressed up in our best frocks ( except Chris of course) Caroline nearly fell in, I still don’t know how she managed to save herself. She blamed Chris for moving the dinghy as she tried to get out. We found a really nice Italian restaurant and the meal was lovely but they got a little confused with starters and main courses.
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| Night Out in Fertilia | Kathryn and Sue – It Must Be Water!! |
All too soon it was time for them to leave and we are now planning our next move. We will probably sail around to the Fornelli Passage area tomorrow (Monday) and then decide from there which way we go next. All weather dependant as usual.
