Sailing Sardinia’s East Coast

At first light, we continued our journey along the coast of Sardinia, avoiding the many fishing pots as we left Arbatax behind. The sea state was very confused and swell was coming from two directions, but fortunately the current was running with us, so we were easily making 6 kts as we cut through the rolling sea. The cliffs along the coastline were spectacular.

We had a northwesterly wind for most of the journey, so for a change we managed to keep close to our course and after 42 nm we arrived at La Caletta, in time for a late lunch. We had set off early that morning so that we could arrive in good time to hopefully get a space on the free dock. (Sorry about the map, we seemed to have lost connection before reaching La Caletta).

At various public harbours around Italy there are ‘Transito’ docks, where vessels on passage can rest for a night, you cannot book in advance and there are no additional services provided, such as electricity, water or toilet facilities, but if there is space, you are able to stay without charge. With the recent commercialisation of most harbours, these docks are becoming increasingly rare, and even where they do exist, they are often fully occupied with boats that have been impounded due to their use for illegal trafficking of immigrants. However, the Transito dock at La Caletta is still operational, so we were very happy to find that there was one space left, which was a perfect size for Ziggy.

La Caletta is a small coastal village and harbour. The area is a popular tourist destination as the long coastline has golden sandy beaches and clear blue water.

The village has everything you would need for a traditional family seaside holiday. We found a shop for a few essentials and a very nice wine bar for an Aperitivo.

The following day, we slipped our lines and with a force 3 easterly wind, set off on a 14 nm trip further up the coast. After an hour, the wind increased to force 5, so with reefs in both sails we were crashing through the waves at 7 kts, it didn’t take long to reach our destination of Porto Brandinghi.

The hills around the bay were lower here than we’ve previously seen in Sardinia, the houses are hidden amongst the trees with just their terracotta roof visible.

After a couple of peaceful, calm days watching the super yachts come and go, it was time to move on. There are two small islands lying just a couple of miles off the Sardinian coast, within a marine protected area. We first visited the larger of the two, Isola Tavolara, a cigar shaped island.

It took several attempts to get the anchor to hold in a good position away from other boats. The wind was blowing 20-25 kts, it was 10-15 metres deep, and being a protected area, we had to avoid any sea grass, the sandy spots were difficult to see with the wind and waves disturbing the water. Eventually, we succeeded and settled in the shelter of the big rock at the end of the cigar.

Tavolara is just 5 km long by 1 km wide, with steep cliffs. Its highest point, Monte Cannone, is 565 metres. Currently, the island is inhabited by only a handful of families. Most of the population left in 1962 when a NATO military communication station was constructed on the eastern half of the island and the area was restricted to military personnel.

In 1836, during a hunting trip to the island, the King of Sardinia, Charles Albert, verbally appointed Giuseppe Bertoleoni ‘King of Tavolara’. According to Giuseppe, Charles Albert also (verbally) sanctioned the use of the title Prince for the oldest male heir, and ‘Lord of the Islands’ and ‘Lady of the Sea’ for the younger children of the king. Evidence for this was a scroll written to confirm officiating him as King.

Through generations, the Bertoleoni family continued to be the ruling family of the ‘Kingdom of Tavolara’, which claims to be the smallest kingdom of the world. The island is partly owned by a family in Rome and by NATO, but the King has more influence over the island than anyone else.

Since 1993, the current ruler has been King Antonio (Tonino) Bertoleoni. Along with the Crown Princess, they run the islands two restaurants and sell souvenirs to visitors of the Natural Park. Due to the increase in the number of tourists, the income of Antonio’s kingdom has also increased, but the family still like to live their normal life enjoying simple activities such as fishing, gardening, and taking long walks around Tavolara.

In the evening the wind finally calmed down, the day trip boats left and the beach emptied. The water was flat so we rowed Fred ashore and walked along the beach, over the small isthmus to the tip of the island.

We then followed a walkway which took us over some rugged rocks and small hills covered with a range of protected flora and fauna, past the islands cemetery ending up at the ‘royal’ restaurants, where we thought that it would be polite to stop for a drink!

The following day we decided to visit the neighbouring island, Isola Malora, which is surrounded by the bluest water. When we arrived, it was already busy as it is a popular place to stop for a swim in the clear water. Making the most of the opportunity, a small boat came through the anchorage selling ice creams, a welcome treat in the heat. By the end of the day, everyone had left apart from us and just one other boat.

Our next destination was just a couple of hours away. We sailed towards Olbia avoiding rocks, ferries, boats and fishing pots and motored up the long marked channel towards the town passing many mussel farms along the banks. There is another Transito dock in Olbia town, but unfortunately, when we arrived it was already full.

We turned back and anchored in Golfo Saline close to the entrance of the Olbia channel. It was quite windy in the bay which had a nice beach and there were lots of kite surfers weaving around us.

Hopeful that there might be space on the Olbia dock in the morning, we planned to give it another try.