The mighty Maestrale

Our next stop was the Sardinian capital of Cagliary.  Here we picked up Julia’s friend Rossella and her brother Marco (R&M).  Julia has known Rossella since high school in America and being Cagliary residents, the whole family came down to welcome us.

​That evening we left Bumblebee firmly secured to the pontoon at Marina San’Elmo, while Rossella’s father took us out for some proper pizza.  The next day R&M whisked us off for a high-speed tour of their city, before returning to the marina and setting sail by mid-afternoon.

​After too many nights staying in marinas we were determined to anchor whenever possible.  We decided to make the anchorage at Pula our first stop.  From there we would spend three days making our way to the island of Carlo Forte where we had been invited to a party and where R&M have a house.

Other boats taking shelter from the wind at Malfatana.

The next day we made our way to Malfatano, just a few hours further around the coast.  During the journey the wind built up and we had our first taste of the infamous Maestrale, which blows in hard from the northwest.  The current fought against the wind a kicked up an unpleasant sea.  Luckily we were close to our destination which offered a safe haven from the gusts.  We motored in and set our anchor; unaware we would not be able to leave for the next two days.

The Maestrale blows relentlessly during the day but dies down in the evening.

​There is a great beach bar in Malfatano where we got spaghetti bottarga to take away, as they were fully booked.  It turns out there are far worse place to be stranded than this idyllic bay and we spent an enjoyable day hanging out on the boat.  R&M’s friend Michele joined us and sourced a couple of sea urchins from down below for me to try –actually not bad!

As I write this, the mighty Maestrale continues to blow at around 30 knots.  With all our faith in the anchor and chain, Bumblebee forms cocoon in which we ride out the weather.  Food, drinks, games and the occasional trip ashore keep us sane.  The forecast for tomorrow looks promising so we should be on our way again soon.

The direction we hope to sail tomorrow.