Sardinia

Much happened while we were at home.

Our second grandchild - Luva - came to the world and a few months later, Pia's mother finally found peace after a long and painfull struggle.

While we were having the last Christmas in the house in Humlebæk with our children, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren, Carl was 65 years and finally was full time retired.

The house in Humlebæk was emptied — completely. We brought some of our belongings to the apartment, we sold or gave away others and some ended up in the recycling center. We handed over the key to the new owners - a couple with two small children. The couple seemed to be so young, but were, it turned out, a few years older than us when we took over the house 29 years ago.

We decorated ourselves in the apartment and enjoyed being with family and friends.

Had many nice moments with Augusta - our first grandchild - and discovered that Peppa Pig had replaced Bamse and Kylling a long time ago.

We saw Luva - our second grandchildren discover the world, walked with her in the trolley and followed her development from newborn to baby.

In late April, it was time to continue the voyage in the Mediterranean. We flew to Olbia in Sardinia and drove from there to Porto Rotondo.

Heron had managed the winter fine.

… Well yes just except that a cleat had been jerked a little loose during one of the many and powerful mistrals that had raged during the winter.

We got ready to sail.

The red sand from the Sahara, which the powerful Scirooco had swept Heron into, was washed away. The leaky faucet that it was impossible to find gaskets to was replaced. The gasket for the toilet pump was lubricated. The old sprayhood was taken down and the new one, which was now 5 years old, was put on. The engine that would not start was vented. Only after third venting did it start ; but when it started, it was spinning as calming as a cat. The Genoa was set up. A new gas bottle was put into use. Then the gas stove worked again. The legs of the plug of the power cord were cleaned of corrosion. Then we had 230v on board. The parcels with gear that we had sent to the port office were retrieved. And last but not least, a specialist came and looked at the loose cleat. There was, he assured, no break in the fiberglass. All we needed to do was remove the cleat, fill the silicone in the holes, plug it in again and tighten it firmly,

After four days we were ready for departure.

Late in the morning we walked out of the harbor heading towards Ottiulo - the southernmost 'lookalike' Smeralda town, as the pilot book so somewhat condescendingly described it.

There was almost no wind.

We crossed the route to Olbia and passed close by the small but 565 meters high island of Tavolara.

As we sailed the last couple of miles out of the archipelago, the wind came. It was against and created waves of 1 meters, which we pitched up against as we pointed the bow down towards Ottiulo.

It was still early in the season. We were the only guest boat in the marina. Only in the evening two other boats joined. They were looking for shelter for the powerful Mistral, which was forecasted for the next few days.

It came from the northwest and almost at that time the forecast had warned. At one point it blew with hurricane strength and made small waves with white peaks whipped off like foam inside the otherwise so quiet harbor. Then the Mistral went into the northeast and became weaker, while the much more powerful center in the Genoa Bay sent swells rolling down the coast.

The third day, the Mistral stopped.

We went over to the boat yard and found an office. Here was an older gentleman with a brown leather jacket, which made him look like a biker. It was the boss.

We asked if we could have Heron on land and get the bottom cleaned. Preferably as soon as possible.

The biker looked skeptically at us and then grabbed a younger man. They parlamed for a while. The younger man did not seem particularly excited and when they were finished, the boss said

"Come back tomorrow morning and we'll see if it fits in with the work plan"

Not surprisingly, the message the next morning sounded "Come at three o'clock, and we shall see"

We explained James - one of the other guest sailors - about our agreement.

"The wheel that squirks the most gets the oil," James explained, "At three o'clock is not a time. It is a concept and means that he may take you on land sometime during the week. "

At three o’clock we started the engine and sailed to the boat yard.

When we had circled around the yard a number of times, we became the wheel that squirked the most. For now the younger man drove the crane forward. 10 minutes later, Heron hung in the heavy carrying harness, while two men started cleaning the bottom with a pressure washer.

It was quite quiet when we slipped out of the harbor the next morning. With a clean bottom, Heron now went almost 20% faster. By 1 1 / 2 hours we had reached our destination. The weather was fine. We wantee to sail more and continued to the next day's destination - Santa Maria Navarrese.

After a couple of hours, the wind increased and, like the last time, sent waves of 1 meters straight against us. When we got over the 22 mile long bay it got weaker and we slid past the Supramonte mountain area in almost flat water.

Santa Maria Navarrese is located at the entrance to Supramonte, where rivers have formed some of Europe's deepest gorges and largest caves.

The small town, a picturesque mix of a mountain town and a seaside resort, is a popular starting point for hiking, diving and visits to one of the many coves.

The harbor is well protected and has some 'liveaboards'.

Such as. 77 year old German Helmuth. He came sailing here with his wife 5 years ago.

"My wife can no longer sail," Helmuth explained. "We have stayed on the boat in the summer months since we came here, and a few live on the boats all year round."

The next stop on our trip down the east coast was Porto Corallo.

The stretch is one of the most desolate on the Sardinia coast. It is 35 miles long and mountainous. Here are only a few anchorages, but neither ports, cities nor mobile coverage.

After a single night in the almost empty and fairly large port of Porto Corallo, we sailed south.

When we rounded Capo di Cabonara and changed course to the west, there came wind. This time from the east. This meant that for the first time this year we had the wind with us. We pulled out the genoa and went for the sail to Capitana di Marina, which is just under an hour's drive from Cagliari.

Again we were the only guest boat in the harbor, where an unusually powerful Scirocco a few weeks ago had washed away a three meter high cement wall at the outer pier.

When another Mistral had settled down, we sailed into Cagliari - the capital of Sardinia.

From here, the plan is to sail into the open Mediterranean, until we reach Sicily over 150 miles away.

On the major part of the stretch you can not see land and it is necessary to sail one whole night - at least.

New and challenging for us who so far had only done daysailing.

We have prepared ourselves thoroughly. Have bought extra emergency equipment from home, studied the weather pattern for the area and got Lars and Mikkel as guests.

There were four days until they would come with the plane from Copenhagen.

They went fast.

We gave our vote for the elections of with the friendly consul who openly admitted that this was the consulate's first election. Talked to the crews of the other guest boats. Met a team of Danes who were transporting an 82 foot motorboat from Croatia to Dragør and had gone into emergency port in Cagliari after a really bad trip from Sicily. Strolled around the cozy old town with a vast supply of bars and restaurants. Found the large food and fish market, provisioned in a supermarket that brought all the goods down to Heron and drank a cappucino at the cafe just opposite where we were.

It was cold and windy when Lars and Mikkel signed on Saturday afternoon. But the weather reports still said light wind and swells of 0,5 meters from Tuesday to Friday,

The next few days we discovered more of Cagliari with Lars and Mikkel and experienced the Sardinian hospitality when a couple of female guests spontaneously invited us in for an 70 year birthday.

Late Monday night, the wind finally decreased but the forecast for Tuesday was now big swells in the area.

We decided to sail to Villasimius - the easternmost point of Sardinia - and wait with our crossing until Wednesday.

Just outside the marina one of the super fast GC32 catamarans sailed. Several others came. It turned out that this year's first race in the high-profile GC32 Racing Tour was to be held in Villasimius in the next few days. The participants belonged to the absolute topelite of the international sailing industry. It created a little life in the marina, where again we were the only guest boat,

When we had moored, we went over to the bay on the other side of the Marina. Relaxed for a few hours and checked the weather forecast again.

The weather window was still open.

We decided to leave Sardinia and sail to Sicily the next morning.

ps

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