Tai Returns

Position: 39°06’48″N 8°22’14″E

No matter how many nautical miles you’ve got under your keel, or how many oceans you’ve crossed, you still have to find your sea legs when you reboard your ship. Every sailor gets queasy at some point. Some lay comatose in their berths until thrashed into action by a first lieutenant. Most find their footing a few days from port.

So it was with our bosun and engineer, Tai, when they re-joined Aleta after two years ashore. Putting the drudgery of a 9 to 5 job and escaping the post-pandemic dreariness of life in general, Tai had booked a ticket for Sicily that cleverly coincided with our return from London. There wasn’t much time for swanning around the marina in Ragusa, however. Aleta was due in Spain in three weeks, including a stop in Sardinia.

Goals

Tai had several items that needed ticking off a long list of life goals, including visiting the ancient ruins of Sicily and eating authentic pasta whenever possible. There’s nothing like a deadline and the right weather window to throw the best plans overboard. Carol’s Schengen clock had only a couple of weeks left on it and Aleta needed to be back in Cartagena before we left the EU for 90 days.

To combat seasickness, Tai glued on a Scopolamine patch. Although a proven cure, Scopolamine comes with side effects like drowsiness. Couple that with the stress relieving powers of Aleta under sail and Tai went down for about 18 hours of solid sleep.

Egadi

With that we immediately set sail from Ragusa to the Egadi Islands at Sicily’s far west end, bypassing Agrigento and its ancient ruins. We reassured Tai the ruins would still be there when they returned at some point in the future. The Egadis are perennially magical. Bleached by brilliant sunlight, cooled by fresh sea breezes, and replete with restaurants serving local specialties, there is something for every taste. Gelato shops abound. The last time we landed there Marlon was our only crew member. While you could argue trading Tai for Marlon is more than a fair swap, all of us missed the little bugger. (Time for an update from Marlon – ed.)

Sardinia

Calasetta lies some 386km (240 miles) from the Egadi islands. On arrival it looks like you never left Sicily. Whitewashed buildings and narrow streets swept by warm sea breezes and, well you get the idea. Tai’s list ran long, and we dashed down to the local car rental shop and booked a Fiat Panda for three days.

On our last trip we started at the top of the island. The land travel we undertook then involved little more than a Covid test and a walking tour of Alghero. This time we were determined see as much as we could. Turns out Sardinia is a big place and circumnavigating it takes much longer than you expect. High mountains dominate the centre, while the south has a jagged, cliff-edged coastline. The central east coast drops onto white sand coves, while on the west low marshes made fertile ground for centuries of occupiers.

The headlands and coves just north of Alghero have protected ships for millennia. The cliffs are quite terrifying when you get close to the edge. Just to the west we found the ancient Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju. Dating back to 4,200BCE, the partially excavated ruins seem like another link in the chain to the ancient worlds we explored in eastern Turkey. Exploring the interiors is a job for the nimble, and Tai fit that bill perfectly.

On our way south we paused at the city of Bosa, the prettiest on the island says the local council. It is hard to argue with them. We took in the Cattedrale dell’Immacolata Concezione, and wound our way through the narrow lanes uphill to the castle and its splendid views.

Tai’s List

Despite the unexpected distances, we did our best to tick as many items off Tai’s list of things to do in Sardinia as we could:

Walking on a white sand beach
Paddling in the Mediterranean Sea
Eat gelato
See a lake
See a mountain
Visit a church

On our way to Maggazzini, a broad set of sand dunes down a long rough road under the hilly southwest coast, we found the remains of a mining operation that quit work in the 1970s. The shells of the large processing buildings lost their roofs years ago. Meanwhile, mine tailings redirected the course of the small river heading out to sea. Although the manager’s accommodations survived and became a hotel, no sign remained of where the workers lived. The tarmac ran out a couple of kilometres from the hippie beach at road’s end. A storm had whipped up the waves and even the kite surfers decided it was a good day to be indoors.

Farewells

Aleta’s weather window opened up a day earlier than we would have liked. Tai left us and made their way to Cagliari and on to the airport for the long, complicated, and therefore relatively inexpensive, trip home. The good news is our plans take us back to Portland in early November and we would see each other soon.

Pointing Aleta westwards, we picked up favourable winds for the start of our three-day passage to Cartagena. Our first such passage for three years. See Heave To for more.