October 2006 - Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, Western Italy
October 31, 2006
Buongiorno, Happy Halloween. From what we could see kids wore masks/hats and went to their school to celebrate. The young man who cut Al's and my hair today was driving 3 hrs to the largest disco in Italy to celebrate. It was a beautiful sunny day again here. Our marina is a promenade about two thirds of a mile long with about 80 shops along it ending with a McDonald"s! Then the promenade continues for miles along the ocean and beaches. We saw a news cast last winter about Italian women not having children and the fear that the Italian race would soon disappear. Not so here. We must see 10-15 pregnant women and 30 babies in buggies everyday walking the promenade especially on the weekend. It's much quieter here during the week but on the weekend it's elbow to elbow. We saw a riverboat land on the beach and unload visitors last Sunday. We walked uptown and shopped today. We had a beautiful sunset and grilled steaks for dinner. Fresh Italian bread is my downfall or is it the cheap excellent wine?
Love Sally and Al
October 30, 2006
Buongiorno, Today we did laundry. It costs 6 Euro's to do one load wash and dry. That beats being at the mercy of someone picking it up and not telling you up front what it'll cost. We paid as much as 35 Euro's for a load!! We met another American couple Ruth Ann and Bill through Mark and Murphy. They own their slip and we may rent theirs while they haul out and go home to Florida for the winter. The advantage of taking their slip is that it puts us on a dock with other English speaking cruisers who are wintering aboard. The docks are gated so it's the best way to keep in contact with others. Our particular dock is quiet especially now that the Dutch boat, Walter and Ellen have gone home. Our friend Rich sent us a weather forecast calling for rain and colder weather. So I took advantage of this sunny hot day and waxed the cabin top of the boat. :-) It's dark earlier with the time change but it's still lovely and Al is grilling chicken for dinner. Tomorrow is Halloween but I'm not expect ing any Trick or Treaters. Ciao,
Love Sally and Al
October 29, 2006
Buongiorno, We were heading to church about 9:00 when Ellen popped her head out and reminded us it was daily light savings time and we turned the clock back to 8:00. We walked the 20 minutes up to the market area where we had seen a modern looking Catholic church. We stopped at a bakery along the way for a roll. Mass was at 8:30 so we arrived just in time. They like to sing in this church so that was fun. After mass we went walking toward the downtown area of Lido di Ostia. We found a wooded park area we walked through. We visited another Catholic church we found downtown. St. Dominics is a much older church. We wandered around checking shop windows and stopped for pizza at lunch time. We walked along the ocean back to the marina and had ice cream. It must have been mid 70's today, sunny and people were dressed like a Minnesotan in the Fall. They wore darker clothing, long sleeves, sweaters, quilted vests. We were sweating and they looked to be cold? Lots of people on the beaches but fe w in their swimsuits. Ciao,
Love Sally and Al
October 28, 2006
Buongiorno, We had a lazy morning resting up from our trip to Rome yesterday. But then Saturday, cleaning day kicked in. I cleaned below and Al took after the deck for a while. The boat next door has a Dutch couple on board Ellen and Walter. They invited us over for cocktails at 5:00 and we visited until well after 10:00. Unfortunately they leave for home tomorrow and won't be back until December. Ciao
Love Sally and Al
Italy | Rome | Colosseum
October 27, 2006
Buongiorno, What a glorious day. It was sunny, hot and beautiful in Rome. We arrived about 11:30 and had a picnic on the grounds outside of the Colosseum. The entrance fee is 11 E plus 3.50 for a guided tour. We highly recommend the guided tour. First you don't wait in the longer lines and the guides are excellent, very informative and personable. After our tour we visited the museum on the second floor and then toured the lower floor.
Italy | Rome | Forum
We then vistited the Palatine and Forum. By 5:00 we were worn out and headed back to port. It takes just about an hour to travel the trains, buses and walk to our berth. We had Italian Dunkers for supper. (leftover sausage/sauce and bread) We're tired but ready for more. Rome can not be enjoyed in a day. Ciao
Love Sally and Al
Italy | Lido di Ostia | Touristica di Roma
October 26, 2006
Buongiorno, We moved our boat into the marina to a quieter slip. We ended up moving twice because the girls in the office made a mistake and told us the wrong berth number. Oh well... We met a couple from Boston, Mark and Murphy. They will be wintering here also. They've met another American couple and one from England. We had a short visit on the promenade as they were headed into Rome today. Paid bills and shopped the internet. No WiFi in the marina so we can't have internet on the boat. :-( We went shopping. We found a Pamida type store and a small mall. We went to the fresh fruit and vegetable market and then to the Supermacati. We are grilling halibut, and having fresh green beans and bakery bread. We plan to head into Rome tomorrow.
Love Sally and Al
October 25, 2006
Buongiorno, Today would be considered boring by most of you but it just flew by for us. The winds died down so we gave the boat a good wash down to rid her of salt. I polished the stainless steel to get rid of the ever accumulating rust. We started cleaning out the v-berth getting ready for guests on board and emptied the shower of an accumulation of junk. I even washed windows and screens just like I'd be doing if I was back in Burnsville. Al fixed a couple of lights that had quit working. He made a DVD of our Sardinia and Corsico pictures so we can mail them off to Patrick tomorrow. He is grilling chicken for supper tonight...my kind of cooking.
Love Sally and Al
October 24, 2006
Buongiorno, Today we went wandering in the area near the marina. We walked 3 miles down the shore then 4 blocks inland and walked back toward the marina. We wanted to see what we could see. We found the open market for fruits, vegetables, breads, meats, fish, cheese, drapes, laundry, wine, and clothing. There was a Supermercato grocery store across the street with a very nice selection. It's only half mile from the marina so it'll be a nice walk. We plan to stay here for awhile so we wanted to see where things were. I want a haircut but I don't want to send 35 Euro's (over 45 American). So I need to shop for a place. They wanted 18 Euro for Al's Hair! I'm making spagetti and sausage sauce for supper. It smells so good simmering. :-) Now it's time for a nice bottle of wine.
Love Sally and Al
October 23, 2006
Buongiorno, We successfully traveled to Rome and back. We took a bus to a train which took us to the Metro train. We walked around just to acclimate ourselves to the area. We found the US Embassy and Consulate, Trevi Fountain and St. Peters. Mainly we just wandered around, went to the internet cafe, had beer and pizza for lunch and went to St. Peters. Something was going on at St. Peters we suspect it was a special mass for Vatican North American College students and families. We saw a group of parents from Michigan who were attending. Anyhow they had everything closed off at St. Peters so we didn't get a good look but we know where it is. We bought an official tour guide of Rome and Vatican City so we can plan our next trip to town.
Love Sally and Al
October 22, 2006
Buongiorno, We had a good overnight the winds were cooperating SW 10-15 kts. It actually got warmer as the night went on. Channal 16 kept squawking gales and isolated thunderstorms for Central Tyrhennian. Not so for us we had a starry sky, few clouds. We had to slow the boat down and wait for daylight. We didn't want to make the entrance with seas crashing in the dark. We tied up to the quay by 8:00 and went to sleep for 4 hours. We ate some lunch and now we're heading up to register and take showers.
Love Sally and Al
October 21, 2006
Hi all, We waited around in Bonifacio hoping to get our fender back but "Outlaw", the raceboat who took it, was only on the north end of Corsica. They did expect him in until tonight so we decided to leave about 10:00. It rained and drizzled off and on until about 2:00. I made some homemade chicken/vegetable soup for lunch which really hit the spot. The French custom boat came along side as we went out the Straits de Bonifacio. You could tell they got a kick out of questioning us by the big grins on their faces. Very good English by the way. We have SW winds 10 kts so we are motorsailing. We expect to arrive at Porto Turistico di Roma early tomorrow morning. The marina is about 20 km from Rome. This will be our last overnight for awhile.
Love Sally and Al
October 20, 2006
Bonjour, We woke up to a thunderstorm and rain this morning. It was still drizzling at 10:30 so we decided to make our overnight trip tomorrow. The winds are still favorable and we can start out dry and comfortable. Hopefully we can also get our fender back from the race boat that lifted it.
We took a 3 hour hike along the cliffs from Bonifacio out to the lighthouse marking the passage for the Straits of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia. Low and behold we discovered the ruins of Nazi bunkers from World War II. Rather interesting. We got caught in the rain but tucked into one of the ruins during the worst of it. We bought a warm baguette and made sandwiches for lunch. Al took the windlass foot switch apart and discovered the part was actually fixable so it's working for now. We visited our friendly butcher on the quay by our boat and bought some pork loin. He stands on the quay and calls out to us, What do you want for dinner? Baaaaa....? No Baaa! Then I walked down the quay and picked up a fresh baguette and salad fixings. Some of the race boats that gave up, torn spinnaker etc. have started coming in. The real contenders will start arriving around 10:00 or 11:00. Au revoir,
Love Sally and Al
October 19, 2006
Bonjour, Lazy morning...it actually rained during the night and was sprinkling all morning. I made omellettes for brunch. The race boats left at 11:00. The boat tied off to us was sponsored by the restaurant, Kissing Pigs. We discovered later they had taken one of our large fenders. We have 4 different fenders on each side and our biggest one was like the ones they had. We suspect one of the crew thought it was theirs. The race lasts 32 hours and we're leaving in the morning. So much for being a good guy and letting them raft up. A new fender like that will cost us $75. We took showers and did some laundry (self serve laundramat). Picked up some groceries. We go through fresh produce rather quickly. Al figured out the refrigeration thermostat problem. He followed the wires back and discovered salt water had corroded the wires and they had come apart. Fixed! Looked at getting haircuts. But Al refused to pay 20 Euro's for his 10 min. haircut so we'll wait until Italy. We plan to cross the Tyrrhenian Sea tomorrow to Rome. It's about 145 nm so an overnight. The winds look favorable from the SW 10-20. No Gale Warnings. At least they're from the right direction. Everything has been on the nose lately. We plan to have a nice bottle of wine, grill pork from our friendly butcher next door. Happy Birthday to sister Kate a day early. We won't send mail on Friday because of our passage. The SSB screws up the autopilot and if we're riding down big waves I'm not hand steering for a half an hour while Al tries to send mail. :-( Au revoir,
Love Sally and Al
October 18, 2006
Bonjour, We cleaned the salt off of the boat and had lunch aboard. We walked up to the old town again. We walked the wall surrounding the town overlooking the sea. Awesome views. The stark white limestone and lush green of the trees are quite a beautiful contrast. The wind was howling on the sea and the seas crashing on the shore. 'Twas a good day to be in port. Visited St Dominic's, Sainte Marie Majeure, and an interesting cemetery with small mosauleums.
Then we walked Escolier du Roy-d'Aragon (legend the soldiers carved the 164 steps down to the water during the night to make their escape. It's a neat walkway through a tunnel down the hillside. We spent an hour or so at the internet cafe. Sometimes we have difficulty sending emails from the boat when the hills are high and we are surrounded by tall masts. The race around Corsica is tomorrow so we are surrounded by race boats and crews. We bought steaks from the butcher on the quay by our boat. He assured us this was excellent Corsican country cows. He kept wandering out of his shop and checking to see if we were cooking yet. It was excellent, tender meat. We enjoyed a quiet evening people watching from our cockpit. Au revoir,
Love Sally and Al
France | Corsica | Bonifacio |
October 17, 2006
Bonjour, We had a great sail from our anchorage over to Bonifacio, Corsica. Of course it was a NE wind 20-25, the direction we wanted to go but we could sail the 10nm to Corsica then we motored the mile up to the harbor entrance. What a spectacular coastline and entrance into Bonifaceio. Beautiful white limestone cliffs and caves. Bonifacio has been identified with the harbor of the Laestrygonians in the Odyssey and it matches the description well. We had lunch in a cafe along the waterfront. This was the best meal we have eaten out since we left home. The French cuisine is a treat! I had a lovely green salad with tomatoes and pasta, Corsican cheeses lasagne with a red sauce on the side, and a lemon dessert. Al had a vegetable Corsican sausage soup, prawns and lightly fried fish, saffron rice and salad, and lemon dessert. We walked up to the citadel for a quick look around. You go through the entrance and drawbridge then through a zigzag tunnel into the old town. The houses of the o ld town are 4-5 stories high and are on narrow cobblestone streets. The view from the old town is awesome. We plan to explore further tomorrow. Au revoir,
Love Sally and Al
October 16, 2006
Buongiorno, The east winds died down and I'm back in my shorts again today. We left Castelsardo around 10:00. Motoring again beating into 1 meter seas. We are in a lovely anchorage on Cabo Testa NE Sardinia directly below Corsica. We had dinner on Eirene tonight...our good-bye dinner. We grilled chops, Pam made eggplant, carrots, cilantro rice and tomato salad, great bakery bread and we made blueberry/peach cobbler for dessert. We've so enjoyed their company. Just knowing when we'd separate that we'd meet up again has been fun. I loved having another woman to yak with! If the weather cooperates Al and I will head for Bonifacio, Corsica tomorrow. It's only 8 nm but the strait between Corsica and Sardinia can get wild. Steve and Pam are heading to the La Maddalena archipelago and down east coast of Sardinia. They are heading to Tunisia to winter their boat. They fly back to the states Nov. 3.
Love Sally and Al
Italy | Sardinia | Castelsardo
Italy | Sardinia | Castelsardo
October 15, 2006
Buongiorno, Brrr... It was cold today I had to wear my fleece! The wind was howling 30+ kts and the seas were breaking at the harbor entrance so we decided to stay put. Al and I walked to town and found the cathedral. Mass wasn't until 11:30 so we went for coffee and a roll then walked around the castle. What spectacular views. The town of Castelsardo has the old winding, narrow. cobblestone streets and staircases leading up everywhere. It was fun exploring and they have plaques on all their old buildings so it makes it easy to know what you are looking at. They are building a beautiful walkway and rebuilding the city walls along the sea. We had baptism for a set of twins during mass. Just like at home.
After mass we went for lunch...always an experience. We are never quite sure what we are getting to eat. Today our first course was spaghetti with egg, cheese and prosciutto then our second course was roasted calamari. Interesting but Al says he prefers his calamari fried! We spent some time planning our next few weeks. It looks like we will go to Bonifacio, Corsica and then cross over to Anzio, Italy below Rome and head down the east coast of Italy to Vibo Valentina. We plan to be there sometime after the first week of November. The winds died down and we had a lovely evening in the cockpit. If the weather is good we'll head out in the morning.
Love Sally and Al
October 14, 2006
Buongiorno, We found internet and checked the weather hopefully better than the grib reports we've been getting on the SSB. Sounds good to go. We got the phone working. Yeah! Porto Torres has some of the best Roman ruins we've seen so far. We could view from a distance but the site wasn't open. We walked an old Roman bridge too. We found the Basilica di San Gavino too. A wedding party was processing down the street the bride on her father's arm leading up the steps to the plaza outside of the church. Lovely. We went back, paid the bill and left the marina at 11:15. Well so much for the weather. It couldn't be more wrong. We had 20-25 kts of wind right on the nose again and 3-4 meter seas. We decided to head for Castelsorda yesterday's destination about 15 nm. away. We motored in to it and were slowed to under 4 kts a lot of the time. We arrived with 25 kts blowing us into the harbor at 3:15. We circled the inside harbor trying both VHF and land phones and no one would answer. Finally som e men on the dock motioned us in and they'd help us land. We were sandwiched between two boats so that helped alot with the landing. Darn wind! We cleaned up the boat and found Eirene was still at this marina and hadn't moved on because of the weather.
Love Sally and Al
October 13, 2006
Buongiorno, I should have known it's Friday the thirteenth! We left Cala Torre de Conte for Castelsarda 50 nm at 8:20 this morning. We had a great 5hr sail. We motored through the Fornelli Passage and hit 30+ wind out of the east, right on the nose. That wasn't bad enough...the seas built to 3 meters. We had 20 miles to go. After pounding and soaking ourselves down we decided to head for Porto Tores 8 nm away. Thankfully we had help landing the boat as we were being blown starboard. It felt great to wash the salt off and have a beer. We walked uptown for beer and pizza (opps again) We'll sleep well tonight
Love Sally and Al
Italy | Sardinia | Neptune's Grotto Escala del Cabirol |
Italy | Sardinia | Cala del Bollo | Neptune's Grotto
October 12, 2006
Buongiorno, I mailed off some pictures to Patrick this morning. We have some great shots of the Baleares Islands. We left the marina and moved just 8 nm to Cala del Bollo. We took a cool dingy ride around the cabo (cape) spectacular. The limestone cliffs and wooded hinterland! We went into the caves and saw Neptunes's Grotto from the sea. We went back to the boat and grilled chicken and had loaf of bread and wine for lunch. We took the dingy to the ferry landing and walked around the cliffs to the staircase, the Escala del Cabirol (Mountain-goats staircase which descends to Neptune's Grotto. What a magnificent sight well worth 10 Euro's. It's one of the most fun things we've done this whole trip. The Grotto rooms were 100 by 150 ft. with fantastic stalactites and stalagmites. 650 steps down to go in wasn't bad it was the 650 on the way out that killed you plus all the steps inside the grotto. We also walked 2 miles each way from the boat. Felt good when we were done though. We moved th e boat across the bay for a more protected spot for the night. Another beautiful anchorage. I made Insalate di Riso (cold rice veggies, olives, mushrooms, olive oil salad) at lunch time today so supper was easy. Love and God Bless,
Love Sally and Al
October 11, 2006
Hola, Al and I headed out to see what we could see. We found a place to get our Italian sims card for our phone. We do not pay for incoming calls so feel free to use it. 0039-346-772-6629. We picked up some groceries and wine. We got things unloaded at the boat and went to lunch with Pam and Steve. Don't anyone tell our kids but we each had a 14 in pizza and a draft beer and we ate the whole thing! The ice cream is to die for here...so creamy! We went back and changed the oil on the main engine. I went to a chandlery and bought a Sardinia courtesy flag. We've decided to spend another night in town. We'll move out to an anchorage tomorrow. We have to visit Neptune's Grotto and the caves before we move on.
Love Sally and Al
Italy | Sardinia | Alghero |St. Elmo Marina
October 10, 2006
Hola, Well for once the weather forecast was accurate. We did sail for a while during the night but we arrived at Alghero, Sardinia on calm seas at 10:15. You can tell this is not the height of the season here. We were met by dingy as we entered the harbor and escorted to our berth at Sant Elmo. Two guys helped us with mooring lines and dock lines. Then he went off and came back with a step to make my climb down to the dock easier!We washed the salt off Artemis, had showers, lunch and a nap. Al and I walked the old part of town. As in Spain the shops are closed from 2-4:30 so we visited the cathedral, the architecture, statues are not as gaudy as Spain. Simplistic beauty. The alter and pulpit both were inlaid colored marble. Alghero is a 16th century walled city much of which still remains. The old town itself has cobblestone streets, old homes in Catalan-Gothic style which were owned by noble families and merchants. Once again you find the shops, restaurants, homes all intermixed . We tried to get our Italian sims card for our phone but they wanted a passport which was on the boat. We had spaghetti, sausage, a great loaf of real Italian bread and a bottle of wine to celebrate Italy.
Love Sally and Al
October 9, 2006
Hola, We left our anchorage about 4:30 this morning with a full moon. We've had East winds 5-10 on the nose all day so motoring. The seas are about 1 meter so we aren't pounding and we're able to maintain 6-6.5 kts. I took a nap then Al went down for a couple of hours. Al decided to try some fishing. He caught two small mahi one on each line at the same time. We threw them back but haven't caught anything else. We did see two big sea turtles during the afternoon. So a little excitement. Now while I was making supper the dolphins came to visit. They were greenish brown color, much larger and not as playful as some others have been. So we think it was a Rissco's dolphin. I took the first watch. After dark I noticed some kind of organism in the water. Hundreds of iridescent sphere shaped about 3 in. diameter. Cool how they flow in the boats wake. My guess, they're jellyfish. Eirene called on the radio. They left 2 hours after us and they have caught up. They have a much longer waterine...brings greater speed. We'll keep in touch throughout the night. They're 2 miles off our starboard side. Big old Harvest moon came up bright orange about 8:30 then turned yellow. It's lost in the low clouds but will soon be above and shining brightly again. It's not so dark and lonely on night watch with the moon so bright :-) A cruise ship came at us but then cut behind us 2 miles off. I'm tracking another vessel on radar but it appears to be staying 9 miles off our port side. Checking the radar helps break up the monotony of night watch.
Love Sally and Al
October 8, 2006
Hola, We took the dingy into Mahon for church. The town is on the hill above the waterfront. So we had lots of steps to climb. We had to visit a couple of churches before we found mass. After mass we did some internet work and went to lunch. Shops aren't open on Sunday but we had fun walking the old part of town. We met the couple from Golden Valley. He used to coach wrestling and knew Roger Pribyl from Monticello...small world. We are leaving for Sardinia, Italy early tomorrow morning. It's 188 nm to our destination of Alghero so it'll take around 32 hours. It's a full moon so if it's not cloudy we'll have moonlight to guide us through the night. Hopefully the light east winds and calm seas predicted will hold true. We are grilling the tuna the other American boat from Marblehead caught on his crossing from Mallorca.
Love Sally and Al
October 7, 2006
Hola, Mahon (Mao) is a beautiful old city. We took the dingy from our anchorage into town about 20 min. with our new slow moving dingy. We visited with Pam and Steve then went grocery shopping. Had another visit before we headed back to the boat. We took the dingy to visit La Mola Fortalesa Isabel II near the boat. The Spanish government built it in 1848. The walking tour took over 2 hours so once again we got our exercise. Two other American boats came into our anchorage one from Boston and one from Golden Valley MN!! The Golden Valley boat has been out for 12 years. The one from Boston brought us over some tuna he had caught today. His family flew home to put kids in school and he's headed for Barcelona. We grilled some nice steaks and enjoyed another beautiful, full moon night at anchorage.
Love Sally and Al
October 6, 2006
Hola, We woke to a rainy morning but it cleared by 9:30. We left for Mahon (Mao)after topping off our fuel tank around 10:45. We dropped anchor at Cala Taulera at 16:30. We had a great sail most of the 34 nm but motor sailed the last 2 hours. It was cloudy and chillier today so I had on pants and a fleece for the first time in a while. We are tucked behind an island inside the approach to Mahon Harbor. There is a fort on the island and one on shore. What a lovely anchorage we had dinner and a bottle of wine then when for a moonlit dingy ride. I love cruising.
Love Sally and Al
October 5, 2006
Hola, It's fun to be in port for a day. We had showers and then headed out to explore. We decided to walk 4 km out of town to find the "Naveta des Tudons" It's a collective funeral monument dating 1000 BC. Menorca boasts it's the oldest monument in Europe. What a walk and along a busy highway to Mao. We certainly got our exercise. The guide at the monument was very articulate which helped make the trip more worthwhile. We stopped for a late lunch then wandered the streets of town again. We visited the cathedral but it was in renovation stages and the statues were all covered. The stained glass windows were spectacular though. We came back to the boat and Al grabbed a short nap and I read for a while. We had a light dinner of cheese, meat and crackers. We studied our guide books to see where we want to go next. Sardinia is 180-200 nm depending on which direction we head. So our next move after Mao will be an overnight passage.
Love Sally and Al
Spain | Balerics | Menorca | Puerto de Ciudadela
October 4, 2006
Hola, We left Mallorca and a beautiful rainbow presented itself as if to wish us well upon our way. We had a nice sail NW off the quarter 15-22 most of the way to Menorca. We found a berth at Puerto de Ciudadela, a long natural harbor consisting of a long narrow cala leading to a small inner area edged with ancient quays. This harbor has been in use since prehistoric times long before the Phoenicians came in 1600-1200 BC. Our berth is in front of several little sidewalk cafes. We climbed off the bow of our boat and had a beer, some mussels, and calamari. How cool. Al and I took a walk up into the old town. Palaces of old families open up onto squares. Lots of winding streets and blind alleys and unexpected turns. Evidently this was to confuse intruders as it did Al and I. We didn't find the 14th century cathedral but did find another Church of St Francis. We'll try again tomorrow. We ended up on a road above the cafe and quay were are boat was. A set of steps took us straight down to our boat. How convenient. We plan to stay another day here. So much to explore :-)
Love Sally and Al
October 3, 2006
Hola, We left Cala de Figuera and went to Alcudia. This town dates back to the Phoenician times. We anchored outside the harbor and had lunch. Then the wind started to howl. We were seeing 30 kts. so we decided not to leave the boat. Good thing about 3:30 the anchor broke lose and I was yelling for Al. We reset the anchor and by 5:00 the winds had died down. We went to shore with Steve and Pam and visited the old part of town. We were to late for the Roman ruins but the church was lovely. We shopped a little and came home for supper. Leftover tuna and zuccinni tonight. We plan to head to the last of the Baleares Islands tomorrow Menorca.
Love Sally and Al
October 2, 2006
Hola, Al and I had breakfast then took the dingy to the beach. We walked back to the lagoon then through the 150 meter long cave to the other beach. It had holes and you could look out to the anchorage. We got some need shots of Artemis.
Then we walked a neat mountain road for 8 kilometers to a spectacular lookout over the second anchorage. We walked a bit further but it headed inland so we knew we wouldn't see Artemis in our anchorage. The road curves back and forth up the mountainside and through a cave. The walk back was a lot easier and quicker. It was a great scenic 2 hours of exercise! Of course that meant we needed to stop for ice cream before going back to the boat. We went for a swim and then grilled pork tenders and fresh green beans for lunch. We hauled anchor at 12:30 and moved 19nm to Cala de Figuera. Another beautiful spot :-)
Love Sally and Al
October 1, 2006
Hola,
What an absolutely beautiful day. The sun didn't come over the mountain until 9:00 but when it did it was sunny and warm. Steve and Pam did the walk to the village of Deia that Al and I had done last night. We took showers and had a nice brunch. We left for Cala Tuent at 12:20. It was a lovely spot but not enough room for us between the rocks. We decided to move 2 more miles to Cala de la Calobra (Torrente de Pareis) This is the most amazing anchorage we have ever been in. We are anchored 120 ft off shore in 5.6 meters of water, between high rocky cliffs with a slit where the Torrente de Pareis (more often a gentle stream) enters the sea. There's a lagoon too. Now I hope the weather cooperates and we can spend the night. I can't wait to go ashore to the beach, lagoon and cave that goes through the mountain to the other beach.
Love Sally and Al
