September 24 – October 1, 2020
On September 22, we walked into Mahon and had our Covid tests done late morning (340 Euros; yikes). Modern clinic and relatively efficient. Prepared the boat for a departure at 1730 for Carloforte, Sardegna. It was overcast and drizzling when we left. As forecasted the winds picked up a few hours later and started sailing. Had a good sail through the night with a spectacular lightning storm to the north of us almost all night. Very little boat traffic to worry about. It was eerie being the only boat on the water. The next day was a bit of motoring but mostly good sailing. Had Pink Panther up for a brief time and reached 8 knots. Doused that sail as the winds picked up later and good strong winds for the rest of the day and most of the night. So much so that it looked like we were going to be about 5 hours earlier than our ETA. Did not want to enter the Carloforte harbour in the dark. Started looking for a sheltered bay close to Carloforte to anchor until sunrise. Turned out that was not necessary as the wind died (but not the swells following us) and we did not switch to the engine as we were in no hurry. Had to take down the mainsail in the dark with the swells. It was a challenge. Arrived in Carloforte at 0915 on September 24, quite tired.
Lightning show 
Enroute to Sardegna 
Passenger enroute to Sardegna 
Carloforte, Sardegna
We received our negative Covid tests from Mahon within a couple of hours of arrival and were free to get off the boat.
We spent three more nights in Carloforte because of bad weather. High winds and a torrential rains some of the days. Carloforte was a nice town but small. Very family oriented as whole families would be out walking at night with their children running around. Seemed everyone knew each other. During the days, an oft repeated scene was the men gathered in cafes having coffee, the women no where to be found, presumably working. All restaurants offered takeout and we sampled the calzones and of course the pizza. Was delicious. Had what turned out to be our last restaurant meal at a small restaurant in town.
Calzones 
Real Italian Pizza 
Carloforte 
Carloforte
Shock absorbers Italian style 
Leaving Carloforte
Our next stop was Cagliari, Sardegna. In order to go to Tunisia, we had to “check out” of Italy (passports stamped) and could only get that done in Cagliari. The weather let us go on September 29. Long sail. A mixture of sailing and motoring. Cagliari is the capital of Sardegna and like almost all ports has a long history apparently even going back to the Neolithic age. Probably because of its fine harbour. Busy city with a mixture of modern (because it was bombed heavily during WWII) and old buildings and wide boulevards around the port and narrow streets in the old districts. Crossing the main drag of Via Roma was challenging with the Italian drivers choosing which rules to follow, and yielding for a pedestrian at a crosswalk was not one of them. With our very poor Italian, we found the port police to have our passport stamped. We stocked up at the San Benedetto market, the first market we saw since Sete, France. Great place. Picked up some local wine poured from the cask into a 3 litre plastic “pop” bottle. Would not win any rewards but good quaffing.
Cagliari Port 
Local Wine from San Benedetto market 
