In the end we spent 9 nights in Cagliari, initially due to the wind and then to allow time to repair the boat as unfortunately we hit the pontoon during the gales, resulting in damage to the fibreglass which allowed water into the boat. This was due to our initial berth being exposed to the wind and waves travelling across the harbour and the marina's mooring lines were inadequate. This marina was described in the pilot book (the 'Lonely Planet' for boats) as a friendly family-run marina but the marina we found ourselves in was anything but. The marina seems to be on a steady decline with no investment, mooring lines snapped, the rubbish disposal facility was a shopping trolley, and a general air of indifference to any visiting boats. The best aspect of our time here was meeting a liveaboard community who had overwintered here and due to the poor sailing conditions had not yet begun their summer cruising. Not only did they provide a friendly welcome, but they passed on useful information for Tunisia, our next destination, and helped out with the repairs we needed to make. Les on Celtic, another catamaran, more or less repaired the damage to the fibreglass for us and did a fantastic job.
Meanwhile we gradually explored Cagliari ice cream shop by ice cream shop. We found the Botanic Gardens were a lovely welcome relief to the noise of the streets. The beach was closeby, a short bus journey away. And on our last day we realised that there was another family in the marina, with two sons aged 8 and 3, who the girls really enjoyed playing with. It was a shame we didn't meet on day one, however the gales were so ferocious that it wasn't possible to walk around the pontoons. In fact, at their worst, it was almost impossible to step off the boat onto the pontoon.

When the weather had finally settled we set off for Tunisia. We left mid-afternoon and travelled south again to a beautiful beach where the girls played for a couple of hours, and then it was an overnight passage to Ille de la Galite, 108 Nm from Cagliari, 13 hours later. Lonely Galite rises out of the sea to provide fishing and shelter for local fishermen, but after being visited by the Guarde National and the Tunisian navy we weren't allowed ashore as we hadn't cleared customs (not usually supposed to be a problem). A shame, but after the girls admired the beach for a couple of hours, we did some stitching of the torn bimini and had some food, we set off for Tabarka, a further 5 hours away.

Tabarka is a small north coast town close to the Algerian border which gave us a very warm welcome. The officials that we met were friendly, helpful, and distant memories of GCSE/O Grade French came flooding back as there is very little English spoken here. As we were tied alongside the harbour wall, in the heart of the marina, surrounded by restaurants, this is a busy little spot for passersby stopping and chatting to us.

We spent 2 nights in Tabarka, and felt really pleased that we had come here as it was a diversion from our intended plan of meeting friends near Tunis, further east. We wandered the busy shops, picking up wonderful fruit, baguettes and cake, all delicious and so cheap after European prices. We then semi-spontaneously hired a car to explore the Roman city of Bulla Regia, as we knew nothing about it other than it would be interesting to see. Any trip away from the coast provides us with a change of scene, and this was particularly enjoyable. The landscape was heavily forested, the roads lined with eucalypts, making it feel more Australian than African.
Bulla Regia is a Roman city around an hour south of Tabarka which is famous for its well preserved underground villas. The Romans built these to escape the summer heat which we could well understand as when we were there it was hot hot hot. There was almost nobody else there, and we had so much freedom to wander through the ruins, which still have many mosaics intact.

The following morning we walked up to the old Genoese Fort (from the 16th Century) which overlooks Tabarka. It's not possible to visit inside the fort, however the guard on duty allowed us in for a quick 'cinque minutes, vitesse!', which was very kind as he kept worrying that his boss was coming.

On from Tabarka we reached Sidi Mechrig, motoring in blazing sunshine across a glassy smooth sea. The bimini repairs were urgently finished off to give much needed shade to the cockpit (but subsequently it has been shady ever since). We anchored off the beach just outside the fishing harbour to allow some beach time for the girls. The beach is overlooked by the remains of Roman baths, with three arches still standing. Amazingly the site is littered with broken pieces of Roman pottery (of course we didn't collect any at all!)

As we came into Sidi Mechrig harbour it seemed like the whole male population had come to see us arrive, so the pressure was on to dock neatly! Of course Colin's driving skills rose to the occasion. This small fishing harbour does see cruising boats each summer and we were the first this year. (Anchoring in Tunisian waters is generally not possible overnight, unless it's outside a harbour that doesn't have space inside). The local boys were really keen to get a closer look at the boat, and the girls, and after lots of 'bonjours' they were shooed away by the Guarde Nationale. This was a good spot for us to spend the night, again everyone was friendly and we could watch the boats come and go, selling their catches directly from the boat.

Next morning we set off east, and after being turned away from Bizerte (which is closed while they build a new marina) we travelled to another small fishing port called Ghar El Melh. We didn't get to see much though as we were met by the Guarde Nationale boat informing us the harbour was full but we could anchor closeby. Fortunately it was a calm night as the coastline is more or less straight with no shelter for us, and any little bay was blocked by fishing nets. We travelled on from here to Sidi Bou Said, close to Tunis, early the next morning and the small and less friendly marina where we have now been for 6 days.

The day that we arrived here our friends on another catamaran also arrived. Scott, Tammy and the crew of Oflo are on the last leg of their circumnavigation, and it was very exciting when we realised that our paths would cross. It has been fantastic for us all to have some company and the girls love having new friends to play with. Tammy, Scott, Meg and co have been very patient with them!

Sidi Bou Said is only a short distance from the capital, Tunis, and even closer is Carthage, the ancient Phoenician city which became part of the Roman Empire. We spent a day in Tunis visiting the amazing Roman mosaics at the Bardo Museum and then the Medina which had closed for the day so while we didn't shop we could explore around the streets and take in the architecture. The museum was being renovated and so many of the most famous and impressive mosaics were off limits, however one of the staff would take you to see them for a couple of dinar. Another day we spent the afternoon wandering Carthage, first to the slightly disappointing museum, and then to the thermal baths which were the largest in the Roman Empire. These were well worth the visit, to wander around and imagine the scale of the building from the height of the remaining columns.

Roman ruins aside we have had a great week catching up with friends and both boats will leave tomorrow, Oflo to head west towards Gibraltar and us south to see some more of Tunisia.

Cagliari

We are stuck in Marine del Sole by incessant gale force winds, and it looks like we'll be here for a week while we prepare for Tunisia

Sardinia

It had started to rain shortly after we arrived in Calasetta, and our first impressions were that it had little to offer us except a pizzeria that wasn't serving pizza. But we turned out to be wrong: our first foray had been during the siesta and, as we were to discover, the people everywhere were warm and friendly. The local policeman gave the impression of stern authority in his uniform, but the frostiness melted away at the sight of our little blonde girls and he blew them a kiss as he drove past. In fact their blondness in this town drew a lot of attention and the occasional affectionate caress from the elder ladies. After finally warming up to speaking Spanish, it's frustrating to barely have a single Italian word between us, but the staff and customers in the laundrette didn't mind and so commenced a group discussion of our laundry requirements! They embraced us as their own, and couldn't have been friendlier. Maybe if we had siestas in Britain we'd be a much friendlier place too.

After replenishing some supplies, the sails finally saw the light of day, and reaching 7.1 knots at one point, we sailed to Carloforte on Isola St Pietro (distance 4 Nm). We found ourselves in the company of some rather large catamarans and ships, and it was a nice place to relax for an evening. Being saturday night, the local population were out and about enjoying the warm dry evening. The atmosphere was lively and it was good for us to stretch our legs after the long journey followed by a day of rain. I later read in the guidebook that Carloforte is famous for its tuna (apparently they have tuna massacres at this time of year, which attract the more curious tourists) but we dined on their finest pizza instead.

Carloforte

The next day we set forth south only to find ourselves battling into a Force 6/7 wind and rough sea, so our plans were quickly altered to the nearest sheltered bay. This gave us a much more pleasant afternoon on the beach and by evening the wind had died to nothing and the sea was glassy smooth again.

A well-earned swim

Trip to the beach

The next morning we set off after breakfast so as not to give the wind a chance to pick up, and travelled 22 miles south along the coast to Porto Pino. This is apparently a popular day trip destination during the summer, but the day we were there it was almost deserted - deserted apart from Pepe the (presumed) homeless puppy who decided to spend the day with us, including sitting with us at lunch and then again on the beach. At first his presence wasn't welcomed by the girls, especially Maggie, but slowly Isla became fond of him, and was sorry to leave him when we returned to the boat. We could hear his pained cries across the water, sound travels too well. Excitingly the dunes here yielded the girls' first pirate treasure, some suitably aged Lira!

Colin finds a way of entertaining both the girls simultaneously, and exercise for himself

Ciao Pepe, a sad goodbye for both parties

Our course and the sea the next day gave the boat an uncomfortable motion, and as we travelled round the coast towards Cagliari the grandparents and youngest crewmember succumbed to its cruel effects. We all felt the relief as we finally anchored in Malfotano, a beautiful sheltered bay. With a policeman and diver in attendance we mistook an archaeological dig for a crime scene! We didn't manage to find out if they had discovered anything significant, such is the hinderance of our pitiful Italian. Once everyone was feeling better we climbed up to an old watch tower built high on the cliff, and were rewarded with fabulous picture postcard views. Then it was back to the beach for the girls to get well and truly sandy. Our pirate booty at this beach was an unfortunate tourist's camera, which we tried to find the owners of so far without success but we have some leads...

Tranquil Malfotano

The walk up to the watchtower



Grandpa builds the girls a magnificent sandcastle...

...which Maggie contemplates whether she should stand on (she didn't!)

We moved on again the next morning on calmer waters to Nora, which was the largest Roman city in Sardinia. This is where Grandparents Sing left us for the safety of a stationary hotel room and (hopefully) an easy bus journey to Cagliari airport.

Blooming Nora

Roman ruins


Maggie runs down a Very Old Road (complete with Roman sewer)

Nothing tastes as good as pocket money ice creams

All gone, and sticky hands to prove it


The onward journey from Nora saw us picking our way through some of the giants of the sea, a crowd of oil tankers anchored off Sarroch awaiting refill, to reach Cagliari. We are safely tied up in Marina del Sole, Calgliari, having seen nothing of our surroundings so far due to a day of constant heavy rain spent watching films on the laptop. We even had to dig the heater back out of storage again, when is summer really going to begin??! We happened to spot a flock of flamingos flying overhead which gives an enticing glimpse into what we may discover when the weather clears.

Adios Menorca, Buon Giorno Sardinia!

Just a quick entry to say that we have arrived in Sardinia safe and sound.

We left Mahon at 0430 Thursday and arrived Calasetta, on Isola di Sant Antioco, at 1243 Friday. The crossing was pretty rough at times - the weather was worse than forecast, and there were some waves which we couldn't see out of. Thankfully all this improved for the overnight shifts which were surprisingly pleasant, with a sky full of a billion stars and the wake full of dancing phosphorescence.

Unfortunately Isla fared the worst, suffering sea sickness intermittently throughout the journey. Conversely Maggie was almost endlessly sunny and bright.

217 nautical miles and 32 hours later we're tied up in a glassy smooth harbour, with Grandparents Sing on board, looking forward to some well earned sleep.

What is this?

Does anyone know, or can find out, what this is? It was floating through the shallow water at Formentor, Mallorca, amongst the jellyfish, and bits of it appeared to be breaking off.

Wild and stormy in Mahon

Just had our stormiest night yet on the boat, a humbling experience which really brought home the power of mother nature, and which we thankfully experienced in the safety of a harbour.

We knew there was a storm brewing and so postponed our departure for Sardinia. We'd prepared ourselves for the expected 30 knot winds by bringing down the bimini, which we'd almost lost last time there was a storm in Pollensa, and Colin moved the boat from alongside to bow to and well off the pontoon.

We were woken up at 4am with the wind howling, rain lashing and lightning flashes, with the bow and stern lines jerking us forward and aft. The noise was incredible. Colin was up for 2 hours keeping watch. The wind instrument reading peaked at 53 knots, with sustained periods around 50 knots (Force 10!). The town blacked out with a power cut for a while and it was generally pretty fierce.

We were lucky to suffer only minimal damage, a snapped (and lost) flagpole and a burnt out wind generator. Some others in the harbour were not so lucky. One boat was holed by repeatedly bashing against the concrete harbour wall, and the neighbouring boat to us which was on a mooring buoy rather than the pontoon slipped its mooring and travelled half the length of the harbour til it hit an island further out. Wandering through the marina today there were obviously a lot of boats which had taken a beating too. Tonight the water is flat calm, and the wind instrument reads 0.0. Hopefully we'll sleep a bit better tonight. (By the way, the girls slept through the entire storm!).

View of Mahon from pontoon