September In Sardinia
We arrived at the Bay of Carbonara in the southeast corner of Sardinia to some of the clearest water yet and a nearly deserted white sand beach. Over the next two days we swam, snorkeled, paddled and played in the sand. Then we picked up our new deckhand, Gus, who was already in Sardinia leading a group of university sailors. As with Osman and Hannah, we interviewed him via Zoom and extended the offer on gut instinct. Writing this months later, I can say we are lucky to have him and we weren’t wrong!
With a full boat we sailed our way up the east coast of Sardinia making overnight stops in beautiful harbors along the way. The coastline was rocky and the beaches were empty. The days started to get shorter and the water colder. Only in looking back do I realize now it was the twilight of summer and nearly the end of our Mediterranean season.
We managed to find a few small towns with bakeries and butchers to replenish our stock - but no English spoken here! Jordan accompanied me to one butcher and watched as I motioned my request for the chicken’s feet to be cut off, since they were still attached. He has always hated chicken and I thought for sure he would never look at it again. To my surprise, he told me, “I thought chicken was so boring, but maybe now I’ll eat it!” Unfortunately, seeing chicken carcasses with feet still attached wasn’t enough to hold his interest. I keep serving it and he keeps refusing it.
We landed in Olbia for almost two weeks, during which time I flew to Rome for a weekend to meet my dear friend Jill, from Annapolis, and a few members of our online book group, in person. We had an amazing time, and it was my first time away from the boat and family since we moved aboard. I realized that from the time I left the boat- taxi, plane, taxi, walk- to meeting friends in Rome, was the longest time I had not been in nearly constant conversation in over 15 months. It was odd to move alone, to feed only myself, and to sleep in a quiet hotel room without water moving beneath me. I was both ecstatic and a teensy bit unmoored.
Olbia is a cute town, easily seen in a day. The waterfront slips are so convenient, and even more convenient was the cheese guy who showed up within minutes of our docking to sell us large rounds of homemade gouda and mozzarella out of the trunk of his car. I tasted them, he weighed them, and 50 Euros later we had two multi-kilo cheeses in the fridge, just like the Sardinians of my imagination. Olbia was a good spot to have workers on the boat so while Russ threw more money at the chronically ill generator, the kids and I had some beach days nearby, and then we said goodbye to Captain Osman, who returned home to Turkey ready for his next gig.
In other boat news, I got my first barbershop haircut ever, in Olbia, the least I have paid in time or money to have my hair done since my Mom took us to Fantastic Sam’s in the 80s (it was not fantastic). $20 and 20 minutes later, I was a new person, though decidedly not the truly fantastic person I felt like after leaving the salon and my stylist of 20 years in Annapolis. But it’s worth it because I like to remind Russ regularly about all the money I’m saving in boat life.
The La Maddalena islands are a little cluster north of Sardinia with no real towns or infrastructure except for some leftover WWII buildings. We hiked around, admired the pink sand beach from behind the rope, waited out some wind, enjoyed strawberry caipirinhas every time the cute boys in matching Hawaiian shirts in the bar boat came by, and soaked in the last of the summer sun.
