Nimrod Oceanlord

Yesterday was all about battening down the hatches for the storm that started on Friday evening and has been building ever since. We have seen winds of 46 knots for several hours today so we haven’t strayed far from the boat. We have put metal springs on the stern lines so that they take the strain of the boat being tossed and pulled (fetch) rather than just the lines. With this amount of wind the boats get pushed against each other very hard so we have been checking everything is okay every hour or so.

Tomorrow, Caroline and Val arrive in the early morning having caught the plane at 0600 so we will go to the shops first thing as the fridge is playing up again.

Pictures of our fancy new springs and Alghero in the wind!

Yesterday we woke up to a beautiful blue sky and completely still water. Liz and Isolda declined to go swimming so after a lazy breakfast we made our way across the bay to Alghero.

Alghero is an old fortified town with Catalan roots and we were able to moor under the old town wall. Liz and Isolda treated us to a lovely meal in a restaurant on the ramparts on their last night.

We said goodbye to them very early this morning. We then decided to cycle along the coast to visit marinas where we might leave Nimrod this winter. All was going well until the forecasted storm broke overhead and we were thoroughly soaked! Very high winds are due over the next two days before our next set of visitors, Caroline and Val, arrive on Monday. Let’s hope the weather improves.

Pictures of Alghero, the view from the marina, the waterfront at Alghero and our meal on the ramparts.

Grey skies and rain greeted us this morning but by lunchtime blue skies had returned. We left Cala d’Olivia to make our way towards Alghero through the Fornelli Passage. This passage cuts 20 miles off the journey but it is a tricky channel with back transits and charted depths of 3m, although we didn’t find depths less than 5m. The winds were very light all day so unfortunately we had to motor most of the way. We did get the cruising chute out but there wasn’t even enough wind for that as we wanted to arrive before dark!

On the way down, we passed close by Neptune’s Grotto, which are caves in the rock. We have anchored in a small bay near to Alghero and Isolda went for a swim off the back of boat and reckoned it was quite warm. Liz and Jo weren’t convinced!

Photos showing the back seat drivers, Fornelli Passage, Isolda swimming and the bay we are anchored in tonight at sunset.

Despite the heavy rainfall overnight, we woke up to blue skies and warm sun in Stintino. Liz and Isolda felt much more refreshed after a lazy morning and we motored to the Asinara Nature Reserve 10 miles away further north. The Nature Reserve is a protected area so you can only pick up a mooring buoy. The bay was completely deserted and tranquil. We went ashore to explore but the small cala of Olivia was completely deserted apart from goats, cats and donkeys, all of whom were keen to make our acquaintance. Dinner tonight is a BBQ with champagne to celebrate Jo’s birthday.

Photos of Stintino, celebrating Jo’s birthday, Cala d’Olivia, a very friendly goat and spot the difference!

Sunday evening saw us in Porto Torres so that we could pick up Isolda and Liz who were staying with us for a few days. When we arrived the marina office was shut up and it looked like the place had gone into administration! Still, there were water and electricity so we didn’t mind. We showered on board and then had roast chicken for dinner. Porto Torres is a large commercial port with nothing much to recommend it so not having to pay for the berth seemed only fair.

Isolda and Liz duly arrived around lunchtime on Monday and seemed to have brought the UK weather with them – overcast, rain but at least not cold. 

After lunch, we left Porto Torres and headed NW towards Asinara National Park to find an anchorage for the night. The heavens opened, however, so we made to Stintino marina as we all needed showers and a hot meal. Liz and Isolda had been up since 2am so also needed a good night’s sleep rather than be on anchor watch!

We arrived at Stintino around 5pm and for once there was someone to help with our lines. The office was open and we even got free wifi that worked!

The crowning glory of our visit was that a Barracuda of at least three feet was caught in the marina. On investigation, we found that Barracudas greater than 18 inches are potentially poisonous so, regretfully, we had to throw it back. However, we have photographic proof with Isolda holding our catch.

Yesterday we motored to Castelsardo some 10 miles along the north coast from Isola Rossa. The marina was very pleasant set below the ramparts of the old town of Castelsardo, which is on the Rough Guide’s ‘must see’ list. The town itself is set up high on the cliff top so we ventured up to the old castle and cathedral in the late afternoon. Whilst some of the town is a bit run down (or maybe just out of season), the old part with its steep stairs and alleyways was lovely. We had a great view over towards the harbour from the Bell Tower, which was originally a lighthouse.

We ate on board in the cockpit as it had been another warm day and the marina was very sheltered. This morning we did various chores and finally left around 1.30pm to make the 3 hour journey to Porto Torres, where we are meeting friends, Isolda and Liz, tomorrow. The marina here is fairly ramshackle and reminiscent of Marina Del Sole in Cagliari. There was no one to take our lines so we had to do it ourselves – interesting as you need to get close enough to the quay to pick up lazy lines but not so close you hit it! The office is shut up as are the showers and loos so we will be showering on board again. Hopefully, the office won’t be open in the morning and we won’t have to pay.

Pictures below of Castelsardo from the marina, Castelsardo with the castle in the background and the Bell Tower.

We awoke on the Cala Nord mooring buoy having slept well even though Nimrod had been rolling from the easterly swell. The weather was windy and overcast and this continued all day. Liz picked up an empty lobster pot, yet again, and we set off to explore Cala Lunga on the west side of Isola Razzoli. We had intended this to be a lunchtime stop on a mooring buoy, but as there were no mooring buoys, no sun and it all looked a bit bleak, we decided to crack on to one of the three calas on mainland Sardinia that were described as delightful in the pilot book.

We arrived at Cala Liscia which as promised was full of wind surfers and kite surfers, however after three attempts to anchor in 25 knot winds and dragging through weed each time, we gave up to try Porto Pollo. Unfortunately, the Porto Pollo area that was ideal for anchoring had been cordoned off as a beach swimming area. Finally we found a mooring buoy for the night at Porto Pozzo, which is a an inlet about half a mile long and better protected from the winds.

A somewhat frustrating day although we did have a cracking sail.