Perfect summer days

On Sunday after coffee and a short swim we sailed off. We wanted to see the islands of Lavezzi and Cavallo. Near them, but already belonging to Italy, or rather Sardinia, is an archipelago of Maddalena, a bunch of very pretty islands, that are all in Nature reserve and one has to pay entrance to sail there and to stay over night. For our boat, with discount for sailing boats, it would be 30 EUR per day. After checking the map we saw that French islands of Cavallo and Lavezzi are so near, they almost belong to the group, but there were no restrictions for sailing or anchoring there. So we decided to visit those two instead of Maddalena.

We sailed South in light wind and before too ling we saw the North sore of Ile Cavallo. There were many pretty rocks there.

We circled both islands and saw this pyramid on South end of Ile Lavezzi. It it is memory of 773 French soldiers who drowned when their ship wrecked on rocks in 1855, they were on their way to Crimean war.

We anchored in a bay on SW side of Ile Cavallo and before too long we saw this ship anchor relatively close to us. Captain recognised it at once - it is Sir Robert Baden Powell, a ship we were sailing on for a week around Menorca some 10 years ago. Of course we had to dinghy there and say hi.

Afterwards we dinghied around the area a bit, views were even better from up close. Captain wrote some time back in his journal that I like rocks better than people and it might be true.

But isn't this just beautiful?

Ile Cavallo is populated, it even got a small marina. Needless to say, only very rich can afford to have a house or a berth there.

I love how anchored boats look tucked in between the rocks.

Apparently old Romans used rocks from here to sail them to Italy and build with them. There is a rock, that clearly shows that it was cut off...

...and there are very rectangular pieces lying next to it, but I'm not sure if they're there from old Roman times.

After lunch we sailed off, along the West side of islands. We saw many more boats anchored between the rocks.

I was so glad we visited the islands, I can't imagine the Maddalena islands could be any more beautiful.

The wind was still from NE, so we decided - let's sail to Sardinia. We had more options, depending on weather, either to go back to beautiful bay we were the night before, or to sail around Corsica to it's SW side, but wind decided for us. Sailing was good and we reached bay of Liscia in late afternoon.

While wind was still blowing, there were many surfers and kiters there.

Luckily, in the evening wind died down, the waves also and we had a nice and peaceful night.

Bay is really something special, with blue water and sand dunes on the shore. So in the morning we had to dinghy ashore and explore a little.

There are fences, so one is not allowed to wander everywhere, and the scenery is really different when you look away from sea.

There are many plants there growing in the sand.

In the middle of the day we sailed off again, this time South along Sardinian coast. We saw some pretty rocks again...

...and some very well manicured properties among them. I have to say, most of the buildings are of very "gentle" architecture, they blend in with the surroundings very well, so it looks like the money can do some good.

We sailed between Sardinian coast and Maddalena islands.

And we saw the bear on top of the hill near bay of Arzacena.

In August in Sardinia one sees also the costly toys of rich people, this is S/Y A, it was anchored at the entrance of Arzacena bay. I must say I prefer more classic shapes.

After anchoring near Cala Bitta for swimming and lazying in the afternoon we sail into the bay and anchored in front of the town of Cannigione. We dinghied ashore and bought some provisions and had a great dinner of fresh made pasta in one of the restaurants.

Since I mentioned it - Captains is writing his journal and it is posted on  www.sailmala.com/heron . It is in Slovene, but he writes it every single day. So, in case you didn't know... and understand Slovene...