Nisida's Mediterranean odyssey has so far taken her and LCSC to Sicily - see the club newsletter. She's now set off on a figure of eight tour starting and finishing in Malta and via St Tropez, Rome and Tunisia. En route to St Tropez for the Giraglia race we thought she should explore some of Sardinia and Corsica, and I managed to escape work for a long weekend to meet up with her in northeast Sardinia.
My guidebook claims the English language simply does not have enough words for shades of turquoise and blue to describe the colour of the seas of Sardinia. A claim I would normally take with a large handful of salt, but flying over the coast en easyJet route to Olbia I had to admit the authors have a point. The blue hues of the beaches and coves were quite extraordinary and I couldn't wait to get out sailing.
Luckily for me the rest of the crew (Peters Hopps and Horton, Jeremy Whiting and Alex Key) had made excellent speed from Malta and Nisida was already waiting in Olbia's marina. Olbia itself is an unspectacular town which has benefited from its proximity to the Costa Smeralda - summer home to the rich and famous - and the opening of an international airport. 5 mins by taxi from the airport and I was on board and we set sail.
The Maltese had recommended Porto Rotondo (the round harbour) as a worthy port of call and in a brisk northerly force 5/6 we beat our way quickly up the coast. Come 5pm we were tied up in a pretty marina and quaffing cold beers as we got the boat ship-shape enough for its very smart surroundings. There is a charming yacht club to visit and a selection of restaurants. But something was missing. Not just people (May is very out of season here despite the ideal sailing weather) but also the feeling that this is more like Disneyland or a film set, with everything just that bit too perfect. And my guidebook warns that the Costa Smeralda itself will be even more so.
A marina fee of 60 euros at Rotondo reinforced our view that we should give the Costa Smeralda a miss and we sailed on past Porto Cuervo, tacking into the harbour to glimpse the luxury yachts, and headed straight for the Archipelago de La Maddalena. A more gentle easterly wind allowed us a full view of the small but perfect selection of islands as we sailed round and through them towards the most northerly outpost of Sardinia, the uninhabited island of Razzoli and our chosen anchorage of Cala Lunga.
I've been pretty spoilt in the past by cruising in Scotland's many lovely anchorages, but none of them matched this one. A narrow entrance through spectacular rocks (the Mistral has had a dramatic effect on their shape) opens out just enough for comfortable swinging room - all to ourselves. Clear sand underneath allowed full view of our anchoring settling and holding nicely. We blew up the rubber dinghy, on went the outboard motor and off we went exploring.
The next morning we climbed over to the far side of the island and up the deserted old lighthouse to look across the narrow stretch of water to the more rugged and snow-capped outline of Corsica. The wind had died right down so we motored Nisida round to Isola Budelli and what our bible, Rod Heikell's Sardinian pilot, described as the best of the beaches, Cala Spiaggia (the pink beach). He warned that the beach itself is roped off for swimmers and that anchoring might be tricky given the number of tripper boats.
Imagine our glee then when there were no boats or swimmers in sight. We anchored just off the buoyed rope and swam ashore to discover the reason for the name - pink sand from the pink granite of the rocks. But just as we were revelling in such perfection our peace was disturbed by a carabineri (police...) helicopter overhead, whose gestures clearly indicate that our presence on the island was not appreciated.
Returning rapidly to the boat, our lunch on deck was then interrupted by a boat with two 'park rangers' informing us that anchoring was not allowed either. Please would we also pay 40 euros for the privilege of sailing in their national park. (Tickets for 28 euros can apparently be purchased in advance at a marina or on the Internet).
We took our rather shame-faced skipper out of the park to the safety of an island town, La Maddalena itself, for the night. This has no stunning beaches but instead is blessed with lots of charming sea front bars. Our navigator, not known for his love of nature or swimming, visibly cheered up and took Jeremy for a tour of them.
But we're getting into the way of anchorages by now so the next day we tried one on the mainland, Liscia. This long stretch of beach, with surprisingly excellent holding, is home to a host of windsurfers and kite surfers. But this meant, to Horton's relief, that there is also a beach bar so we whizzed over in our little dinghy to relieve them of several bottles of Becks while admiring the skill of the surfers. Come 6pm the wind magically dropped, the surfers packed up and we have the bay to ourselves.
Alas the next day was our last at sea and we weighed anchor and hoisted sails for a short trip round to Santa Teresa, where we were leaving Nisida for two weeks. The marina is tucked into the far end of a cove offering great shelter and Olbia is 1 hour away by bus or taxi.
Based at Santa Teresa is also a yacht charter company www.capotestayachting.com. To hire a Beneteau 33.7 for a week in May, early June or September - described as 'out of season' - costs 1,150 euros. And out of season you can enjoy deserted beaches and coves, which will be packed full come August. But just remember that the most perfect one has now been declared too fragile for human use. Or you can leave that embarrassment to Peter and come and sail elsewhere on Nisida's odyssey.
Copyright © London Corinthian Sailing Club, 2006