Here are some navigation insights from my 1 week bareboat charter on the southern coast of Sardinia leaving from Cagliari.  More detail can be found in my sailing log.

Weather– It was tricky getting an accurate weather forecast at Punta Menga as it is right in the middle of 3 forecast zones:  Sardinian Sea, Sardinian Channel and the SW Tyranean Sea.  Turned out none of the forecasts were accurate for this area.

Passages –  Passages are pretty straight forward with the only care that needs to be taken is in the San Pietro channel, there are sand bars at 2.5m.  A channel is properly marked.

Anchorages – All anchorages had excellent holding in sand though many were open to sea lane traffic so they experienced bounce or roll in the evenings.  Here are some notes for particular anchorages:

• Punto Pula – tuck into the eastern corner of the bay to avoid sea lane bounce for a calmer night or beneath the illuminated lighthouse for a romantic setting
• Porto Pino Dunes – It is important not to anchor too far east of the dunes as that is the beginning of a restricted area because of mines laid during WWII.
• Cannai Bay and western side of Punta Menga – either side of the Golfo di Palmas has substantial roll
• Tuarreda Island – the bay west of the island gets crowded very quickly, you probably have to arrive well before 4pm to anchor in appropriate depth with adequate space, though before the night is over there will be limited swing room
• Piccolo Poetta Beach – Yes it’s like Florida, but, it’s very calm with the prevailing mistral wind and only 6m from the marinas which makes it a great last night if you want to stay out and return early in the morning.

Boat Review– This was the first time we sailed a Delphia, ours was a 37 footer probably built in 2007.  Here are our thoughts about chartering this Polish build boat.

• Very similar to a Beneteau in layout inside and out
• Outfitted with a furling jib and battened main
• Closed on the wind well up to 23 knots without reefing the main
• Marine refrigerator was smaller than most, but, did a good job
• This boat was equipped with a spray hood, but, no bimini.  There was a tarp we could set-up over the boom, but, it was useless while sailing.  Given my fair skin, the bimini was truly missed.
• Motor was less than satisfactory for the following reasons:
  • Accelerator throttle had problems sticking in reverse.  We tried to spray it with something similar to a WD-40, but it didn’t help
  • The motor could not be revved in neutral so it was hard to charge the batteries unless motoring.  Therefore, we motor-sailed a bit more than necessary even when we had good wind.
• The dinghy worked fine, but, the motor was the heaviest we ever had  and did my back know it, too.   After a few uses, we decided to row where possible.

Other Area Insights: Before Departing  Provisions/Living Aboard  Sailing Stuff