Logbook Entry

Dates: 09/23/08 – 9/26/08
Distance: 197 nm
Sailed from: Mahon, Menorca (Spain)
Lat: 39°09’N
Long: 08°19’E

We arrived in Sardinia after a rougher than expected crossing from Menorca and had no problem making a night entry just after sunset.  We followed a ferry into the harbor and tied up alongside a floating dock recommended by friends on s/v Onyx which turned out to be part of Marina Sifredi.  With no one around after hours, we checked-in the following day.  Carloforte is a wonderful, small town on Isla San Pietro, connected to Sardinia by ferry.  Like many small islands we visit, the pace of life is slower here and the people are more relaxed than on the mainland.  The locals are very friendly and eager to chat with sailors arriving by sea.  We struggled a bit to make the transition from hearing and speaking Spanish to Italian, but luckily the marina staff spoke English to help smooth the way.

On our first day in Italy, we slept and cleaned sea water off the boat, finally making it ashore for a late lunch in the afternoon.  Although several great looking restaurants were busy with mid-day diners, restaurants stick to a set meal time — 2:45 pm was too late to get served.  In Italy, the dinner hour is around 8:00 pm, but we couldn’t wait that long.  We did find a bar willing to serve us a cold seafood salad and house wine, both of which were delicious.  However, Lisa did not have much appetite for the octopus which dominated the salad after having watched a fisherman catch and kill one on the dock earlier in the day.  We’ll spare you the details here, but according to Lisa, “Those guys put up a good fight!

On Day 2, David led us on an excursion to the city museum where we found interesting exhibits about the traditional tuna fishing and processing methods as well as the geology and natural history of Sardinia.  We also found excellent provisions at the Conad supermercado, including delicious local cheeses, wines, bread and pastries.  Lisa selected a mystery item from the cooler known as “pardulas” which turned out to be a traditional, homemade, local delicacy: sweetened ricotta cheese in a pastry “basket”. 

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