Italian Anchorages and Marinas
2013 Part 1 of 3
Anchoring is our preference when we are cruising, we like
the evening breeze, the lack of mosquitoes and the free space around the boat
but not all countries offer ideal locations for anchoring like those found in
the Eastern Caribbean where the wind blows from the East 95% of the time, so
leaving your boat in a busy anchorage is not too stressful.
We started our 2013 summer cruising season in May of 2013 from Cap Monastir
Tunisia where the Maltese Falcon spent the past ten months tied up to the
pontoon. From Cap Monastir we headed to Malta to get all the gear, new
upholstery we had in the apartment where we stayed for the past ten months and
loaded back on the boat and replaced all the standing rigging. Due to the topography of Italy it will be very
hard to find comfortable anchorages at all the stops so be prepared to have
options for your stays at some marinas especially along the west coast of
Italy.
Our aim was to head north from Malta and anchor near Marina
DI Ragusa, so on July first we left Malta and head north for a 52 nm leg to
Marina the
Ragusa, Sicily: N 36 46.753
This is a
large bay with sand beaches and sand bottom with excellent holding; we only
stayed here for one night as the early morning roll woke us up so from here we
headed east towards Sardinia. If you decide to hang around here, the marina to
the west is a good option. The town offers a variety of nice restaurants and a
few supermarkets, an open market every Tuesday and a couple of well stocked
hardware stores. There is a wonderful waterfront along the beach that goes on
for miles. It is a very relaxing town mainly comprised of low level multiplexes
which are mostly vacant during the winter months.
Licate,
Sicily: N 37° 05.774'
E
013°55.655'
This is a
somewhat protected anchorage west of the main harbour entrance at Licate. The
bottom is sand with excellent holding. The town offers a variety of banks, a
large supermarket within the marina complex.
Cagliari, Sardinia: N 39
12.075
E
009 07.574
We sailed into St Elmo Marina and took a
berth for €50.00 per night. This is a very clean marina with showers and a
laundry. Took a taxi for €10.00 to Coast
Guard at La Calletta to get our Costituto, afterwards the taxi took us to the
very big Mercato Civico di San Benedetto, this is an amazing market with stalls
selling bread, fish meats and vegetables at very good prices, it opens 6 days a
week, from there we took another taxi for another €10.00 back to the marina. It
is a short walk to the city center where you will find many restaurants and
other attractions mainly the old citadel.
Fuel fill at west break wall far end to
the west inside before the boat yard.
Villasimius: N 39 12.075
E
009 29.349
This is very nice to anchor, with a lot
of sand for good holding in about 20 to 24ft. At some places close to the new
marina the holding is suspect and we had trouble digging in. It has very nice surroundings and many little
bays to choose from. Sometimes the swell gets in from offshore but in light air
it is a great place to just relax.
E
009 42.436
We anchored in the first bay in 32ft
over sand with very nice and calm surroundings. Holding is excellent, open to
the South and South East, dingy landing is on the beach where allowed. The
marina is north of the headland within the main harbour.
Golfo Brandinchi N 40 49.924
E
009 42.249
Anchored in the NW cove in 20 ft. on a
sand patch, a lot of weeds and rocks on the way in, almost went over the rocks
by mistake as the CM 93 chart is not very good with the location of the rock
especially if coming in from the south, you have to make sure you keep the last
big rock to your port side, you will go over some depths of 9 feet but that
will drop off further north you go.
Isola
Tavolara N 40 53.549
E
009 40.893
Just
a short ran from Brandinchi to this very nice bay with protection from all
sectors. The bottom is mostly sand with dead weeds that wash in during a
southerly blow, excellent holding. The view is spectacular with a backdrop of
the steep rock to the east of the anchorage. We checked out Capo Coda Cavallo
on the way here looks also very nice with very good protection. A bar
restaurant ashore. Most of the island is off limits.
Golfo Aranci N 40 59.962
E
009 37.133
We almost sailed to Olbia but by the
time we got to the third set of channel markers we had decided we did not like
the black colour of the water or the surrounding, mostly cantieri (boat yards
and repair facilities)one after the other plus muscle farms everywhere. So we
made a U turn and headed out and north to Golfo Aranci, anchored in 30 ft over
clear water and sand bottom, the protection is very good except for strong
southerly wind which could fetch steep waves by the time they get here. Dingy
can be tied up at the Lega Navale pontoon or any of the ladders attached to the
nice boardwalk. Most supplies in Town plus a couple of small chandleries and
the usual restaurants and bars, pharmacy and even a Guardia Medica Turistica
(Tourist medical center) anyone can visit a doctor for a minimal fee of €10.00.
To €20.00. Every evening starting at 20:00 hours the main road is closed and a
market is set up, this is the time when the restaurants get busy, we found this
tradition all over Sardinia. It is very nice to walk around during the evening
hours. There is also a fruit and vegie open air market every Tuesday morning,
where you can find a lots of local cheeses and local nougat.
Cugnana N
41 01.552
E
009 31.231
We anchored in 9ft over sand, very good
protection from most parts but open to the NNE.
The holding is suspect in some spots so make sure your anchor is set as
some of the sand patches are of a very thin layer of san above a rock base. There
is a marina to the north of the anchorage. The anchorage is very peaceful with
not much traffic around.
Petra Ruja: N 41 03.647
E
009 32.086
We explored this cove and to our
surprise it is just fabulous, anchored in 13 ft over sand in water the color of
the emerald. There are no bars or restaurants here but it is a very nice place
to just do nothing and watch the shoreline with its white sand beaches and the
many rocks that jut out of the water in many places. This anchorage is well
protected from the Mistral but open to the SE.
By 11:00am the place filled up with mostly small power boaters but also
included some of the 70ft and 4 other 40ft sailboats which stayed outside
farther.
Granu Bay: N 41 08.793
E
009 31.764
On the here we entered Porto Cervo and
asked how much for a mooring the answer was not what we expected but here it is
for a boat 10-12meters long = €105/night and €400.00 in the marina. So being
cheap and on a budget we scooted out of there and went in Cala Granu which to
our great surprise is a wonderful anchorage with very good protection from the
SW to NW but good all round in settled weather. We anchored in 20 ft over sand
in very clear water, there is a small beach at the head of the bay and then the
rest is villas. It is only 1 nm so attainable by dingy to Porto Cervo from here
so we later. In the evening we
got swarms of mosquitos and I had a very sleepless night because of this. No
wonder we were alone in this very nice anchorage. We had a bad smell of sewer coming
from outside in the early morning hours. We left that day, but still a good
spot to anchor if you want to visit the place of the rich and famous.
La Conia, Cannigione: N 41 07.438
E
009 26.553
Anchor just south of the "Island
of India Figs" in 13 ft over sand; this is a very good anchorage if the
wind is strong from the NW. It is a very good anchorage with good protection
even in strong N wind, the island and reef next to the island break down the
waves. It is easy access to a very nice supermarket within a 10 min walk. Many
restaurants and bars on the main road. This is worth a stay longer than just a
day.
Maddalena Archipelago is a group of
islands just north of the north coast of Sardinia better known as the Costa
Smeralda. This is a protected area where no one is supposed to stay overnight
and it is also a -no discharge zone but
what we found out is that there is a lot of pressure from the very large Italian
and foreign boating community against the rules so that overnight anchoring is
allowed, we did not find out for how long but we did stay at a couple of places
for more than 3 days. The Park
Authorities
come around and check to see if you have a permit if not you will have to buy
from the Park Authorities and pay more
for it than you would if you pay online. We prepaid € 78.00 for a 15 day pass at
a tourist office in La Conia. There is a lot of very nice anchorages with
crystal clear water and some great snorkeling close to shore around most of the
archipelago. A permit can be obtained online from this site below: http://autorizzazioni.lamaddalenapark.it/index.php?ssez=Acquista
Or you can
ask around for the tourist office where you can buy from. The following spots
are all round the Maddalena Archipelago, this has to be one of the top cruising
areas in the world, and it is definitely worth a visit.
Porto Palma, Isola Caprera: N 41 11.296
E
009 27.084
We sailed north from our anchorage at
La Conia with just the genoa as the land breeze was still coming from the south
so it was a relaxing sail in flat water albeit slow at 3 knots max. We arrived
at Porto Palma at Isola Caprera and we were very lucky to find a free mooring,
I had to get on the dingy and handle our lines through the stainless eye on the
mooring ball as there is no rope attached to the mooring to facilitate the
grab, but all worked out well anyway. During the day the bay fills up with local
boats and then there are the sailing schools that weave around the anchorage at
full tilt, they do now what they are doing so it seemed the danger of them
hitting any boat at anchor or moored is minimal. The Park Authorities came by
to check our pass. By 8:00pm all the local boat left and we spent a nice
evening watching the sunset in perfectly calm water with a southerly land
breeze.
E
009 27.407
This is a very nice anchorage with
excellent holding and protection from everywhere except N the only problem is
that one cannot drop or pick up any one from the concrete dock at the club Med
(which is not even open) or at the old unused and broken quay to the NE corner
which is a military area. I would not recommend landing on the beach as it is
too busy but one can always drop and anchor off the beach to go and visit the
Garibaldi Memorial which is worth all the trouble and the long walk up to the
fortress where it is located. Not many boats came here during the day and the
few that came left within a couple of hours. There are some very nice little
beaches that you will see on the way in from the North which are worth a dingy
trip to snorkel on.
Cala Portese, Isola Caprera: N 41 11.072
E
009 27.996
This is a very nice bay with sand
bottom with excellent holding and protection from S to NW, if the NW is strong
a swell will probably find its way here. You can land the dingy on the beach
and there are nice walks once you go out of the beach park. There are about 12 laid moorings but by the
time we got there they were all taken. The water is crystal clear and it is a
pleasure swimming in it at the beach early in the morning.
Cala Corsara, Isola Spargi: N 41 13.762
E
009 20.642
Very nice anchorage with protection
from most points, excellent holding over sand bottom and crystal clear water
you can almost count the sand granules just amazing... Nice hiking ashore just
land the dingy on the beach or swim to shore. Like most places around these
parts of Sardinia it gets very busy after 11:00am but clears out by sunset. You
can dingy around to other spots to the east shore and do some nice snorkeling
in emerald water.
Passo Cecca Di Morto, Isola Budelli N 41 17.002
E
009 21.562
Moorings are available but one may also
anchor, this island has many spots to explore with the dingy, like along the
west shores of Isola Santa Maria with very good snorkeling all over the area.
There is another mooring field and anchorage to the northeast of Isola Budelli.
Mario Borg
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