Freya & Us

17/9 - Day 7
Weather forecast too windy to go out sailing today. We explored the Santa Teresa di Gallura, which was bigger than we thought, lots of coral jewellery in the shops. In the afternoon we walked along the cliffs to see the Spanish Tower at the entrance to the port and then went down to the beach for a paddle. Fine yellow sand and bright blue clear water. Even Paul got his feet wet! We had dinner on board and had the most delicious and mouth watering sea food risotto made by head chef Paul.

18/9 - Day 8
Weather still a bit uncertain for sailing so we decided to hire a car. We set off for the 14th Century Nuragic Settlement of Lu Brandali which included; The Giant's Tomb and ancient remains of buildings built between the curves of the rocks and filled in between. We spent ages walking round the site and then realised that we had only travelled about five miles in the car so we should go on with our travels.

We drove to Capo Testa and had coffee in a cafe with the most amazing view of the bay. We then decided to visit the Valle Della Luna which was close by and which I thought would be a view point. Wrong - another major climb up and down through spectacular boulders that looked like animals, figures, anything that your imagination produced. For over two hours we clambered through bushes and over the rocks and finally we made it to a remote beach where there was a group of wild campers who appeared to be well settled there. We then started the climb back to the top, and found what looked like a dirt track to take us back to the car. Wrong again, we walked for miles along the track and when we reached the main road the car was still at least 2 km away. At this point we were hungry (Dave was desperate) and spied a cafe with a terrific view. Unfortunately the food was pretty mediocre but very expensive due to the position.

We then decided to visit Porto Cervo which has one of the most expensive marinas in the world. There were lots of designer shops but the complex was more touristy than real life so although it was nice we were not impressed. There were no super yachts either so Freya would have been lonely.We drove along the coast stopping at further marinas on the way to check them out and we had a great dinner at Palau (cost less than the cardboard burger we had for lunch).

19/9 - Day 9
Awoke to the news that Scotland had voted no in the referendum to become a separate country which is a relief because now Freya won't need a new flag! (Would the UK have needed to change its flag?) We decided today to explore the Maddalenas and motored to Cala Longa for lunch. It was really hot and muggy and Lorraine and Dave swam off the boat. We are surrounded by weird and wonderful rock formations and can all see different creatures and mythical figures.

Unfortunately a swirling sea mist descended so we have decided to stay in this bay for tonight. We took the dinghy over to the beach and had another swim and decided it was definitely best to wait until the mist goes. It is now twilight and we can hear a fog horn in the distance which sounds really eerie.
Lorraine cooked a delicious spaghetti meal which we had on deck while we sat in the twilight in the fog. Dave spotted a bright green light in the water (we initially thought Dave had had a little too much wine) but to our amazement there were dozens of fireflies on the water, we were all very excited to see them. Truly magical. We all went to bed assuming we would be rocking gently in the cala.

Later ....... 2-00 am - our quiet little cala turned into a windy wild place until about 4-00 am when it calmed down again. Still, all part of the mooring on a buoy process.

20/9 - Day 10
Awoke to clear sunny weather and after leisurely morning we sailed to another cala for the afternoon. Later we had a great sail to Maddalena which is the main town of the islands. We had our dinner on board (another delicious meal courtesy of Paul and Lorraine) and then went to explore the town which was again typically Sardinian with interesting streets and squares. We succumbed to the temptation to have ice-creams from a huge selection of flavours and then we sat in a bar for a night cap and people watched.

21/9 - Day 11
We had breakfast ashore and clapped the half marathon runners as they came through the square to the finishing line. Loud music and a party atmosphere. We motored to another cala where we moored to a buoy and all went swimming. We had fun watching other yachts trying to catch the buoys ! We suddenly decided to leave the cala for reasons we won't discuss and had a fast sail to Cannogoine where the marina has different pontoons owned by individual co-operatives. We chose a suitable pontoon which has lovely view of the bay and surrounding hills. Lots of flowers at the start of the pontoon and a little bar.

We wandered along the main road and found a lovely restaurant overlooking the bay. After our meal we explored further and there were some interesting markets where we finally found a present for Prophet which is a multicoloured name plate of plywood expertly carved by a girl with a cutting machine.

Click here for the interactive map of our travels