Cala Cotticcio on Isola Caprera

On Tuesday 3 June we tried to visit Cala Spalmatore on the northeast side of Isola Maddelena. Unfortunately, as we entered the bay we were met by a chap in a ‘Marina di Spalmatore’ RIB who said that we could not anchor and that it would cost us €30 to pick up a buoy for the night. All our pilot books and guides said that there were Park Authority buoys in the bay which we could use having bought a permit for the park. Clearly that was last year’s news and the bay now seemed to be a private entity so we moved on to Cala Cotticcio on Isola Caprera.

We had a pleasant lunch-stop at anchor but the westerly wind coming off the steep, high ground around the cala was producing very strong down-draughts. BV was moving in all directions around her anchor and there were some sharp rocks close to the edge of her swingand so late afteroon we moved around to Cala Portese in the hope of finding a more settled anchorage for the night.