We were thrilled to have Leo and Tafline join us. Before we could set sail, we needed to complete a final few chores - provisioning and the refilling of a gas bottle. Provisioning can be a lot of fun so Taff, Leo and Kim were let loose in the supermarket. Sometimes choice is not always a good thing…rows and rows of amazing produce to look at and ponder. Taff and Kim went to the wine section to buy the wine for the week. Six litres of white and red wine should do us. Leo came over after looking into the trolley options and had a near heart attack. Leo procured a case of each and even then he was not sure if we had enough. Mmm…bit of denial going on there. The latter job was also more complex than expected; simple tasks in foreign countries take more time and effort. Simon took several trips to the chandlery to confirm a matching thread/gas fittings, the job required the purchase of a new gas bottle. The two large shopping trolleys were loaded on board and we were soon on our way.

Fortunately, Leo was big on photographing everything, especially when it comes to boating. From the many gigabytes of images the select few are published and so this blog is more of a picture book.

These are just a few of our highlights.

Olbia and Isola di Porri

After leaving the marina at Olbia, we motored a massive 2nm out of the channel of Olbia to a lovely bay for a swim and relax after our hectic morning.

Porto Cervo

Aura was secured to a mooring and we sat back and enjoyed the show watching the world of the mega wealth go by. We enjoyed drinks by the pool at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. An Australian favourite for as home of the Sydney to Hobart legend, Wild Oats XI and the club was selected by the Royal Perth Yacht Club as the Challenger of Record for the 87 edition of the America's Cup.

We kept an eye out for Ricky Martin, he was playing the following night. General admission 1800 euro included a buffet dinner but not drinks. The private area, close to the stage was our choice….3,000 euro, drinks still not including… cough..…this is definitely mega yacht territory.

La Maddalena Archipeligo

This region is a marine national park, with numerous islands off the Sardinian coast. We moved to the national park, anchoring or using the park authority moorings. These anchorages may have a handful of yachts overnighting but by mid-morning the beaches are full of day trippers andthe anchorage fills up with a range of motor yachts and super-sized RIBs (super-sized inflatable type dingys).

Isola Caprese – Cala Portse

As we left Porto Cervo, the wind picked up and we had a great sail to the Island of Caprese. The wind was blowing fairly strongly from the north so the bay of Cala Portse had waves breaking over the beach. We decided to go around the corner for lunch and wait for the wind to die down. We anchored next to an old army barracks from the 2WW.

After lunch, the wind died down and we found Cala Portse to be near empty. So we picked up a mooring and enjoyed two nights in this lovely bay.

Unfortunately it rained on day two but did not reduce the fun factor. Check out Leo’s dance moves!!

Isola Caprese - Cala Coticcio (locally known as Tahiti Bay)

This is a gorgeous sandstone bay and by 11am it was just like Thompson Bay (Rottnest) on the Australian Day long weekend. We had boats anchoring on top of us. Plus a local day 100’ tripper boat decided to park itself in the middle of the action. Meanwhile we had to keep an eye on “old mate” with a family of 12 who kept on dragging anchor with his rented 50’ Bavaria….maybe if he put down more than 10m of anchor chain, he wouldn’t have a problem.

Taf, Leo and Kim swam to the beach…turquoise green water….stunning. There was also plenty of sea life around the boat.

La Maddalena - Porto Massimo (Super Yacht only bay)

Our pilot book detailed two bays with national park moorings. This wasn’t the case. At the first bay the moorings were owned by the restaurant and the second bay is now privately owned with access for a fee. You had to dine at the restaurant to be able to pick up a mooring. Consequently, we indulged by having dinner at the “super yacht restaurant”. They kindly provided a return dingy shuttle service. Great food, view and wine and of course super yacht prices!

Back to Isola Caprese(Porto Palma and Cala Portese)

I must say that as beautiful the islands are, they get plenty of wind. We therefore decided to return Isola Caprese for protection. Our first stop was the bay Porto Palma. Here we met an Australian couple, Claire and Andrew from Sydney who had recently purchased their yacht Orison from France. Si took the dingy over to their boat and invited them back to ours for a sundowner.

The next day we decided to finish of the week by going back to our favourite bay, Cala Portese. It did not disappoint with a great snorkel and a visit to the beach.

Porto Palau – Farewell Leo and Taff

All good things must come to an end. We sailed to Palau which is a small village on the mainland where Taff and Leo could get a bus back to Olbia. We anchored in the bay and took the dingy into town. After a farewell lunch, we walked them to the bus stop and said our sad farewells. It was a great holiday and sad to see them go.