August 1st – 12th : James and John Join Us
Wednesday 1st August: Picked up James in Olbia then went and stayed at Tavolara Is for the evening which Hew and I had so liked when we were there earlier in the month. Our new crewman was definitely lacking a suntan. We watched the fire fighting planes fighting fire close to the Olbia airport for many hours. They were picking up water in the bay opposite the island near the main coast.
Thursday 2nd August: Back into Olbia town to collect John Latu and then to Olbia Marina some new charts for the Raymarine CMAP system from Marie at CS Marine.
Stayed at a Cala Moresca, in Golfo Arinci for the night. Very pretty anchorage. Fish farm on the outside but not too crowded.
Friday 3rd August: James and John ran up the hill in the morning to look at the signalling station and old gun emplacements and to keep fit. We could see this was going to be a much more active visitor group than the last!
Great rock formations round the corner on the eastern side.
Next stop was on Isola di Mortorio, Spaggia di Mortoria. On the way north the first time we had thought you could not anchor here but everyone seemed to so we reread the information and it seemed OK if you were a certain distance from shore. We found a lot of day trippers in RIBs right in lose to the beach, but a very cute bay and we stayed the night. Luckily we had renewed our permit for the La Maddalena Islands as we were checked again as soon as we anchored.
Saturday 4th August
Motored to Capo D’Oro so the boys could climb Bear rock. Had to keep them busy and despite them thinking they could do it in one hour it took two. Hew and I had some peace and quiet time on the boat.We then sailed over to Spiaggia di Porto Palma, on Caprera Is.
Sunday 5th: More exercise needed, so we all walked over the fortifications first thing in the morning – very interesting both the older fortifications and the empty buildings from the later NATO base .
Then motored counter clockwise around Caprera Is and stopped at the NW corner for lunch – in a bay that was not charted correctly at all. When checked on google maps we could see under the water rocks but not shown on the maps.
We then continued counter-clockwise around La Maddalena Is to stop at Marina Cala del Pont for the night. It is a small marina about 4km out of town but really close to the bridge between the two islands. There is a 3kt speed limit through the bridge, but few seem to take it seriously and the marina staff said they have had little support from the coast guard even though they photograph the worst offenders. The wash affects the marina but otherwise it is a nice quiet marina.
We motored into La Maddalena town on the RIB to have dinner and a look around for the boys. LAter we returned at full speed, on the plane, in the pitch black, no light, using the Navionics maps on my iphone for navigation!!! It all worked very well.
Monday 6th August: Off to La Maddalena for groceries and some shopping and to top up the TIM data card before heading for Corsica while the boys went off for a wander and a bit of personal shopping.
Left for Isole Budelli, the other side of Deadmans Gulch. This time the weather was a light north easterly winds instead of howling westerlies. Found that we were in the side of all the big boats. Anchored in a nice little bay and went for a swim and paddle board. Sometime later some an American yacht anchored then they went off for a swim. When they came back they told us there was a big rock just off our port bow and just in front of them. We could see where they were pointing but we were currently hanging the other way.
There was no sign of any rock on Navionics or CMAPs but looking at Google satellite you could clearly see the rock reef and the highest point was just about 50cm under the surface. This was the second time we had found a rock on google earth and not on the charts – we were using cmap on the yacht Raymarine system and NAvionics on the iphone and ipad – double checking – now triple checking
James and I went for a snorkel and saw more fish than I have seen anywhere in Sardinia so far.
When we got back the Americans had left and we had swung out so we re-anchored further into the bay.
Tuesday 7th August : Finally disposed of on board hitch hiker ( see separate post by Hew) who had been eating the avionics wires .
Beautiful clear water and lovely swim. Hew was talking to Barbie and then fixing the crew toilet – a job left over from a couple of month ago.
Finally all was finished and we decided to depart for Corsica and stay in Rondinara – baquette bay again.
Arrived late in the day very busy, cloudy after noon, high humidity and water not nearly as clear as the Maddalenas. It seemed a disappointment this time.
Wednesday 8th August : Dawned with a beautiful clear calm day. The baquettes, croissants, choco-pain and raisin bread arrived at 0830. Life is good. 🙂
We set off Bonifacio and got to the cliffs at the town entrance in time for lunch so anchored in front of a favourite swimming spot. I had a snorkel and the boy wents off to jump from the cliffs.
Departed after our lunch swim and got to Bonifacio about 1400 and then had another argument about whether we had a berth or not. Then I discovered the boat name in the booking system was incorrect. After much discussion/argument they found our booking and we were on the end of a pier in the middle of town, just down from the fuel wharf. Great spot as at the edge of the channel which is very narrow and could see all the comings and goings and arguments for the rest of the afternoon. The boys and girls doing the marina organization have boats and they do a great job of shepherding everyone everywhere. Made really good entertainment for the cocktail hour. Lots of little shops and cafes around to chose from very close by.
The harbour was absolutely full and huge super yachts had to back into their space near the capitaneria at the far end of the harbor. Very little room and the ferries just dodged in and out around them as they back up – amazing to watch. Complete traffic jam by 1700 with horns blasting, people yelling and and general bedlam. Anyone who wanted gas also had to line up or hover around the fuel wharf. If you were on the large boat marina area you could get a tanker but not where most of the yachts were parked so in the morning there was a rush for the fuel dock then more boats cluttering up the harbor as they waited to get diesel.
Thursday 9th
Walked all around the old town and citadel and down the steps in the cliff. Pity you couldn’t swim at the end at that spot as very hot and crowded. Up again for a gelato and then off back to the boat. 
Friday 10th
Departed early for – Porto Pollo skipped the fuel dock as too many in the queue ( hovering in the way)
Saturday 11th
We confirmed our marina booking for Ajaccio in the morning and were told that we could not be in until 1700 so we went over and stopped at Spiaggia di Stagnolu, on the southern side of Golfe d’Ajaccio For lunch. Very windy as 15kt northerlies again and a lot of boats but nice for a swim and lunch.
The booking form for Ajaccio said Tinno Rossi Marina, but when we got there there were no boys in boats only on land standing around doing nothing, and no English spoken on the radio and so James and I got into the RIB and went to office where I found the guy with the radio and screens storming out of the office to have a fist fight with one of his staff – who was supposed to be doing something but was instead blowing up a paddle board!!! He was hauled off by two other staff members went back to the office and then another staff member who spoke English informed me that we were at the new marina at Ajaccio called Margunaghju!! What a name but the directions were between the ferry and the other main marina called Porto Charles Ornano. James and I went ahead in the RIB and found the boys there really helpful. The marina was only 3 weeks old and only one pontoon which seemed to be only for Catamarans. The staff were a complete change from Tino Rossi and it was really close to the train station so was in fact perfect. The ferries were a bit noisy in the afternoon but all shut down by night.
Sunday 12th August:John departed at 0730 on the train with his “small” travelling bag for Bastia . Both boys agreed it was the first sunrise they had seen on the trip!! All three of them holding themselves up with their hands in their pockets!! We returned to the boat for a clean up before our next guests.
