Texans in Sardinia

We were looking forward to collecting my brother (Lonny), sister-in-law (Nicole), nephew (Ben), and cousin (Jon). Ben had never been aboard Sabática before, but everyone else was a repeat customer. 🙂

Of course, we had grand plans – We’d collect them from the northeastern city of Olbia, spend time in the beautiful and popular Maddalena islands, possibly cross back to the stunning town of Bonifacio in Corsica, make our way across the northern coast of Sardinia, and drop them off in the northwestern city of Alghero where they were flying out. But guess what scuppered our plans? If you guessed the wind, you’d be correct. Our Plan B had us dodging Mistral winds, so we headed north, then south, then north again. Skippy did a great job planning on the fly, and we had a great time…

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Golfo Aranci

The gang were all flying into Olbia, but unfortunately we were not able to secure a spot there to meet them. It was a Friday, and that’s the day all the charter boats return to flip their guests. We were able to secure a dock in nearby Golfo Aranci, and we arrived with a couple of hours to scout out the little village. This is a great little spot to use as a base for exploring this popular area of Sardinia. A thirty minute taxi ride brought the Texans from the airport to us, and it was great to welcome them back onboard. We all cooled off with a dip at the beach, enjoyed a yummy local dinner, got everyone settled on the boat, and had time to catch up. The next morning we took off and began the adventure north…

Marinella

We had just left this large protected bay before collecting everyone in Golfo Aranci. So yes, it was a quick return, but we knew it would be protected from the blasting Mistral wind and swell. It’s also a lovely spot, and we learned that some of our Dutch friends from Licata, Andre and Belinda from Mr. Bean 2, had just arrived there as well. We enjoyed a relaxed afternoon on the boat, and Andre and Belinda came over for a friendly catch up. People and boat watching was also a fun activity. Jon was debating which yacht he would choose, and Nicole was excited to get a tour of Mr. Bean 2. She even got to stay awhile waiting out a rain shower. In the evening we all went ashore to catch the Italy – Switzerland football (soccer) match of the European Cup. We thought it would be fun to watch given we were in Italy, but sadly, Italy lost. Aperitivo time ensued followed by dinner at the high-end beach club. Fun chats and laughs were had all around! We were also having fun introducing Ben to a variety of wines, beers and cocktails. 😉

La Caletta

The crew were keen to have a longer day at sea, so Skippy found this village destination down south for the night. We had a beautiful sunny day, enjoyed the scenery, stopped for a lovely lunch swim spot, and had a surprisingly fun night in La Caletta. After a yummy dinner, we strolled the main street in which a fun market was being held. We were amazed because it was a Sunday night. And, we were strolling at midnight! Have I mentioned yet how incredibly friendly the Sardinians are? Well, they are. We have found this to be the case everywhere we’ve been in Sardinia so far. A particularly entertaining encounter was with one stall owner who was extremely chatty. She didn’t speak English, and our Italian is limited. However, we managed to communicate for at least thirty minutes, largely hearing all about her travels literally all around the world. She was amazing! I think La Caletta proved to be the crew’s favorite locale of their trip. Oh, and Lonny and Nicole were so kind to share their wedding anniversary with us this day!

Nodu Pianu

With the shifting prevailing winds, we turned around and headed back north. We wanted to get as close to Olbia as we could but still stay at anchor. Olbia would be our final stop, and we’d tuck in there just before the next Mistral arrived. We enjoyed another long day at sea then found a beautiful spot at the beach of Nodu Pianu. Swimming, chilling, boat watching, sunset, grilling dinner, and playing games all made for a lovely chill day. This night we also witnessed one of the wildest lightening shows we’ve ever seen. (We’ve been noticing that each new Mistral seems to be preceded by a storm.) Skippy stayed up on the helm to “keep tabs on everything” until the storm had passed by. No issues.

Olbia

Olbia is a city of around 60,000 people and is a busy port with plenty of ferries and cruise ships coming and going. It’s an extremely popular tourist destination sitting in the middle of the Costa Smeralda (which we had been cruising up and down) – the northeast coast of Sardinia known for its white sandy beaches and turquoise waters that draw the rich and famous. The only space we could get was at the Marina di Olbia, a posh spot for super yachts (of which we are not one). Marina di Olbia is about a three-mile walk away from the city itself, so for our first night we stayed local and eventually found a good neighborhood restaurant for dinner. We took a taxi into town the next day and strolled the lovely beach promenade and through the quaint old town streets. We had a yummy pizza lunch, took in a couple of churches, and found a fun crafts market going on. There may have been a gelato in there too. The crew decided that a relaxed dinner back on Sabática would be the ticket since they had a very early departure the next day. 

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Throughout their stay, we enjoyed plenty of seafood, pasta, pizza, gelato and wines. 🙂 Turquoise waters never ceased to amaze and refresh. Scenery and nature were awesome. And, the company was great fun and funny! Interestingly, everyone found a role…

Ben was our DJ. He orchestrated the music playing through the boat speakers and kept everyone happy. He also regaled us with some cool guitar tunes. I hear he might consider working at the radio station in college. 😉

Jon was our Grill Master. He grilled to perfection chicken, steaks, vegetables, you name it. You want to invite him to your next cookout.

Nicole was our Cleaner Extraordinaire. Anyone that knows her knows that this is one of her super powers. Each night after we cooked dinner on the boat, she magically made everything disappear. 

Lonny was our Game Master. We played Scrabble and various card games like Spades. (Ben and I were new to Spades.) I think Lonny won every game, every time. I’m not sure if you want to invite him to your next game night. 

Given we had to implement Plan B, and everyone was flying out of Alghero, an hour and a half taxi ride saw them to the airport. We were sad to see them go, but know we’ll see them back Stateside this fall!

*Thanks to everyone for the memorable time and for sharing photos!