The beginning of our 2023 sailing year was to start with some necessary maintenance. Unfortunately this was not so easy and we went through some trouble to find the critical parts and engineers.
When the forecast was a bit better we longed to sail again and decided to go to Porto Rotunda a few miles north of Olbia and spend the night. The next morning we were wakened by the wind howling around the boat. Quickly we made breakfast to sail back to Olbia as soon as possible for we should be back for Mattia, the man who was fixing our sprayhood.
The forecast turned out to have been rather optimistic and we were in for a wild ride with plenty of sunshine and beautiful views. With two reefs and a sliver of a gib Kabaal sailed sublime and the only thing which got bruised was Bob’s nose and don’t worry; it heals nicely.
Since the wind was blowing fiercely from the west we decided to rent a car and see some more of the beautiful island. Once again beautiful hikes were made and we didn’t mind at all to have to postpone crossing the Tyrrhenian Sea towards Rome.
By car we made a visit to Orgosolo, a village in the Genargentu mountains. It is well known for its wall paintings, colourful and very professionally painted they carry filosophically and politically inspired messages which mirror the passionate feelings of its inhabitants. Those feelings once had a very different outcome and Orgosolo is the village where the last vendetta inspired murder took place. This peculiar habit seems to have been not unusual in this part of Sardinia and many murder convicted fugitives were hiding in the impenetrable mountains around the village.
Apart from their jurisdictional ideas we found the people very friendly and helpful and we got useful advise about where to drive and which hats we should wear to blend in ultimately.
On our way we passed this beautiful 12th century pilgrim church.
In Nuoro we visited an exhibition of the photographer Toni Schneiders. Interesting to see what Sardegna looked like in the seventies.
At the house of Benjamin Pearcy we were hospitably received by a very a very lively lady who spoke passionately about the house and the life of its former resident. The carpet beater would not have been approved by Maria Montessori so we gathered.
Benjamin Pearcy was a British railway engineer who was hired to lay a railway track on the island. Like us he lost his heart to it and raised a family as well as a lot of cattle at his beautiful estate in the mountains.
One of the joys of italy is the great coffee anywhere.
We like to follow the vlog “sailing Uma” and after having watched their latest episode on a rainy day it really felt very unreal when we went out for some fresh air and then came across this very boat with sailing couple Kika and Dan on board. They were very busy fixing things inside and filming it in the mean time so we didn’t disturb them. I guess we’ll see what they are up to in future episodes.
Above the link to a 10 minute movie
