Swannos, Sunshine & Superyachts

I should say I know I shouldn’t use alliteration but this all fits together so smoothly.  Let me explain – Sue and Swanno arrived yesterday about 5 PM to a windy evening in Olbia but at least the sun was shining.

A minute to drop off the bags and the four of us go into Oblia to visit friend’s Kate and Mike on Voyager of Noosa at the Olbia Yacht Club near the centre of town.  We had a nice little bottle of Mercier Champagne and had a tour of Voyager. Then off to a very nice Sardinian trattoria for a lovely dinner.

This morning, we were up and away early, it was clear, sunny and the breeze was light. We sailed pass acres of mussel farms as we sailed north towards Porto Cervo.  As we were sailing out of the Golfo Aranci, we came across a pod of dolphins fishing, glistening in the sun. They sailed around the boat, not wanting to be distracted from their fishing.

There was enough wind and enough sailors on board to christen the code zero. Swanno and James were up the bow putting the Code up and we sailed off Porto Cervo right to the middle of the Super Yachts on Day three of the Dubois series.

There were a number of Dubois yachts racing (14) and another group of Dubois yachts just there as spectators. It felt like Mercier was a dingy in comparison. These yachts are between 100 feet and 190 feet long- amazing to watch, all seemed to have had about 20+ crew to keep them moving.

We are on our way to the La Maddelena and we have been told about a lovely protected bay to anchor in for the evening. The astonishing fact is that none of us are wearing jackets or scarves or sweaters. – it is sunny, the wind is light and it is warm.  We have a lovely Italian meal on the back deck with music and sunshine. Perfetto!

We wake early to another sunny day.  We are sailing north to the top of Sardinia. We are on our way to a small fishing village.  James points out Bonifacio, across the straits and says “Bonifacio is just about 11 miles away.  We all digest the fact that one of the more picturesque towns in all of the Mediterranean is just a few miles away,  A quick discussion, a few calculations, smiles; we tack and sail to Bonifacio.  Minutes later, a flock of flamingoes soars by overhead. It is a vision of pink, grey and black, shining in the sun, we think we have made the right decision.