Sunday was mostly a clean-up day again, returning the boat to normal, and some of the crew rented cars to tour other parts of northern Sardinia. John, Chris and I window-shopped in Porto Cervo village (everything closes from 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm), ogled the enormous motor cruisers in the port and found a good spot to have cappuccino and panini.
For the evening of Sunday 14 we organized a crew dinner at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, but when we arrived we were told we could only have a very limited menu (a change that they made no effort to contact us about) so we moved to a restaurant in the marina called Open Party where they were very happy to take our group of 16. It was the best thing that could have happened because the only other people there were from Zen, which had won the Swan 45 division and were celebrating big time. The PBO (poor bloody owner) was Irish, as were many of the crew which may have influenced their decision to have drinking races with limoncello. Ray Richards decided to join their crew at that stage and kept pace with the much younger team, but Steve Blewett showed them who was really the master drinker with his lay-back Margueritas (one shot tequila, one shot cointreau, one shot raspberry cordial, in separate glasses, poured down your mouth quickly one after each other by another person while you are in chair with your head right back and mouth wide open). I was asked to stand on a chair at one point to join in with the other crew to sing Waltzing Matilda and I'm sure the limoncello helped to keep me in tune. The serving of the food was the most higgledy piggledy we have ever experienced but everyone enjoyed themselves. Bill Reilly even wore a shirt with a collar because it was such a grand occasion (really because he thought we were going to the club). Some of the crew partied on at the Clipper bar but the Wipflis and Snowballs decided to take Jim Shields home to the boat. It was a great night but I'm not so sure that some people enjoyed rising very early the next morning to catch flights to Rome and then home to Australia.
The regatta was an interesting experience with beautiful areas for the racing, but it's a pity that they had no really special event for the crew.
On Monday we finally had the boat back to normal and that night I cooked spaghetti carbonara for Doug, Jim, the Wipflis and us to eat on board. The weather had cooled considerably and the wind had not abated so it was a perfect night to stay aboard.
Our berth was on the outside dock and during the night the surge from the sea caused the boat to lurch backwards and forwards, causing a most uncomfortable situation. Jim left at 5.00 am for his flight back home and he was probably pleased to leave the boat by then. Usually large motor vessels are placed at the outside dock and it really was not a suitable berth for a boat like ours. It was such a high dock that we even had to walk steeply up the passarelle to disembark.
Soon after Jim left on Tuesday morning the surges became so great that our lines were beginning to fray because of the pressure on them and our passarelle hit the dock so hard that the upright aluminium poles were bent! Greg decided it was time to leave so we headed for Marina di Portisco, with me driving the car and the others staying on the boat. It was a pleasure to be away from Porto Cervo and we were soon tucked into our new port.
After a very late breakfast we did some road touring, driving inland to Arzachena then to Palau and Porto Rafael on the northern coast. What a treat it was to discover Porto Rafael (thanks to the Lonely Planet Guide), an enclave of gorgeous homes nestled around a little cove where a tiny piazetta right on the bay includes a cafe/bar and a few extremely interesting shops. We felt much more relaxed sitting in the sun enjoying some excellent coffee and cake, or in John's case 3 scoops of gelato.
We had considered visiting some of the area's historical sites such as a series of mysterious nuraghe (stone tower) ruins and tombe di giganti (literally "giants' tombs") which are ancient mass graves. The nuraghe were built in the early Bronze Age, 1800 to 1500 BC and are thought to have played a military role as villagers built
Walls around the towers and clustered their houses within these walls. We were just not in the mood for history as we needed something far less serious to help us relax after such a torrid week.
We drove back through San Pantaleo, a charming village surrounded by huge granite peaks in the hills above Portisco. We found the delightful Caffe Nina in the tranquil piazza at the town centre and again did just as Lonely Planet suggested - joined the locals for aperitifs (such as vermouth rosso) with pecorino cheese and olives, contemplating our good fortune to be there. Cheese has been produced in Sardinia for about 5000 years and 80%of Italy's pecorino romano is made here so we have been tasting many different pecorinos.
Another Lonely Planet tip led us around the corner to Ristorante Giagoni for dinner and I felt like the cat who licked the cream. The rustic family-run restaurant is renowned for local dishes such as roast suckling pig served with grilled eggplant and roasted potatoes(selected by 3 of us) and gourmet pastas (John and Christine selected a ravioli filled with a cheese similar to ricotta). Everything was exquisite and complemented by a Sardinian red wine made from the Cannonau grape, introduced by the Spaniards in the 13th century. Yes, Sardinians have been producing wine for millennia but have more recently been producing lighter, drier whites and more sophisticated reds (according to Lonely Planet).
By the time Greg drove us home to the boat and bed we were feeling normal again.
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