We arrived in Santa Teresa di Gallura just in time to avoid the first major rainfall of the trip. The weather was predicted to turn towards the worst and for once the forecast was 100% correct. The marina had room for us on the main seawall and we secured Palarran in between two large cruisers. Unfortunately, the lines that prevented the boat from shifting were insufficient for the winds that blew into the harbor and one of our fenders popped causing us to rub against the neighboring boat. There were a few minor scratches on both boats but nothing that can’t be repaired easily. The winds and rain lasted two days which meant we had to stay in the harbor instead of exploring the nearby coast.

Tim and Chris Housler have been friends of mine since high school. They had both joined me for a sailing trip in the Caribbean last November and had now brought their families to the Med for a summer vacation. They started with a tour of Rome then flew to Sardinia for 6 days where we planned on day sailing the Costa Smeralda, Maddalena Archipelago, and Bonifacio. Santa Teresa di Gallura is situated at the extreme North end of Sardinia and is a good location for accessing these locations. It is a small laid back town that fills with holiday tourists during the summer months then shutters down for the rest of the year. The highlight of the first night was that Tim and Chris had booked a room for Jeanne and I at their resort. This was the first time in 3 months I had slept off the boat and Jeanne loved the full size bathroom, shower, and unlimited water supply. Thank you guys!

Our first excursion was to a beach area that was protected from the strong winds blowing across the Bonifacio Straights. It was a short ways away so we could get everyone used to the boat. There were 15 of us in total making it the largest group by far I’ve hosted on Palarran. The water was very cold due to the off shore winds but everyone enjoyed the swimming and diving from the rear arch. The next day we went to the Maddalena Archipelago. It was a great sail as we were able to use our main and spinnaker at the same time. The area was disappointing to me after reading so much about it as there really were not any good beach areas and the anchorages were packed. On the final day of sailing we went to Bonifacio which is one of the more stunning cliff hugging villages in the world. Our group went into the village and Nick and I stayed with the boat as we couldn’t get a short term slip. It was a funny picture of our group all on the dingy at the same time.

All too soon the group had to leave for the States and we continued on. Andrew was flying back and my old friend Tom Scanlan would be joining us. We went to Olbia on Sardinia to do the crew exchange. It turned out to be a nice town and we enjoyed some shopping and a nice dinner. The harbor was way to dirty to swim in though so as soon at Tom arrived we headed out.