Intrepid Travels

To our astonishment, we got back to an email from Fabio, saying that not only was he was in Sardinia, but he was only about 50 miles away, sailing in our direction! A few emails later, we had agreed a meeting point and the next day set off in very strong winds with three reefs in the main sail, north and then west to Arzachena. There we found Fabio and his 4 fellow travellers, 3 men and a young woman.
We literally 'flew' into the Gulf of Arzichena, greeted by Fabio wildly gesticulating on the bow of their Grey X-Yachts 55 foot monohull. Soon afterwards, safely anchored and feeling very windswept, we joined Fabio on a brief visit to shore, enjoying his company and the wonderful opportunity to find out more about the Italian culture (including what food to buy!)
It turned out that we had arrived on the 15th of August, midsummer holiday in Italy. We were invited to join Fabio and his shipmates for a celebratory dinner that evening, and headed off at the very late hour (for us) of 9 pm, for dinner at Fufo's restaurant. The meal was excellent, with delicious 'carpaccio' (very thin slices) of various types of fish, followed by pasta. Fabio, and his friend, were wonderful company and we really enjoyed the conversation and their zest for life, and sense of humour (his friend is a dentist but always tells people he is a postman, so he avoids having a consultation with every person he meets!) The rest of Fabio's crew are like a set out of Coronation Street or Neighbours: the 67 year old owner of the boat, his 27 year old girlfriend, and her father. We watched and listened to the remarkable interactions between them all and felt quite sad, despite the humorous manner in which Fabio described the antics of his 'crew'.