La Cavetta, La Maddalena, Porto Palma

AL likes the wind knarled pine tree in front of Garibaldi's House

The weather forecast on Sunday 22 July is again uncompromisingly bad with gale force winds predicted from the north and AL due to depart the boat the next day.  It is imperative that we are placed so that she can disembark safely and be guaranteed transport to get to her flight in Olbia.  It is impossible to book in advance at La Cavetta so we turn up early ie 1030H and get ourselves a good spot right on the town wall in La Maddalena town.

The rest of the day is ours to spend how we see fit and AL is on a mission to pack it in until the last minute.  The local buses leave from near where we are berthed and there is a bus which will take us over to La Caprera Island to Casa e Museo de Garibaldi.  We are a bit unsure of just who Guiseppe Garibaldi was, but leave his residence in no doubt that he was a General and a great hero, loved by the people of Italy as a man of the people. He must have got on the wrong side of some people in powerful places because he was exiled from Italy at least twice in his lifetime.   A walk around his home and the grounds is a really interesting experience, but about three hours later we are back on the boat wondering what to do next.

AL has it on her agenda to visit Porto Cervo, playground of the rich and famous, where they park their toys and charge artificially inflated prices for just about everything.

It would cost us Euro 180 to pick up a buoy in the harbour and Euro 295 to berth the boat here overnight.  On top of this is an additional charge for electricity and water!  Needless to say we did not take SY Matelot there.

It is strangely quiet and deserted and the marina appears to have plenty of vacant spaces considering this is peak season.

We walk around the perimeter, past manicured gardens and ostentatious houses which are built on the slopes rising up from the harbour.

It is clean, well organised and very pleasant to be there though.

The church up on the hill overlooking the harbour is lovely.

It is a thirsty walk and soon we decide on some refreshments served out on the patio, just for the record.

Back in Palau our taxi driver kindly takes us up to the lookout so that we can have one last photo shoot of the surroundings before boarding the ferry back across to Maddalena Island.

On our return to the boat, there appears to be some fresh water in the bilge.  We will have to check that one out.

But for now we are still enjoying AL's company and enjoy pizza's for dinner just across from the boat.  Delicious. 

 It is Sunday and obviously a festival day because later that night the fireworks go off and the Saint is paraded past us and on to the ferry for a trip across to Palau.

Time flies and soon AL is hopping on to the ferry and off she goes to LA via Olbia.


Now for that fresh water.... oh dear.  Two leaks, one major, one minor.  Our hot water boiler is dripping water out through the electrical wiring.  Good thing we did not connect to shore power or there would have been a big bang.  We must repair it because it is connected to the cooling system on the engine.  It appears to be badly corroded inside from the lime and mineral rich water we are constantly taking on board in the Med.  Fortunately the element is okay and two days later we leave La Cavetta, Euro 400 lighter for the repairs to the boiler and Euro 225 poorer for the marina fees... ouch. 

We are grateful to the engineer who repaired it for us in double quick time.

Heartly tired of the marina life we head SY Matelot out to the lovely anchorage of Porto Palma, in the south of Caprera Island.  We have just two days left on our park permit and enjoy this lovely anchorage hugely.  There is a sailing school in the bay and we are entertained all day by young people racing small yachts all around us.

On the second evening we are approached by a tender with 3 people on board.  From a NZ registered motor yacht called 'Tara Tara' we have seen in Porto Cervo, they are very friendly Kiwis who live in Milan and run a business trading on line in high end wine.   They leave us with a gift of a bottle of NZ Pinot Noir - a huge treat and how nice.