Cannigione

Our permit for the Maddalena Islands expired on Monday 10 July and, on balance, we felt that 7 days was about right for exploring them this time around. We discovered that overnight we’d been running off the wrong battery bank which prompted us to move a little earlier than we had expected to so that we could charge up the low engine start battery. So, at 0930 on Monday 10 July we lifted our anchor in Porto Palma and sailed 4½ miles south to anchor off Cannigione. There were lots of jobs to do and so, as soon as we arrived, we inflated the dinghy for a trip ashore. We crammed all of our laundry into a machine at the laundrette and set it running which gave us time to visit the rubbish dump. You are not permitted to leave rubbish in the Maddalena Islands; bins are not provided at popular anchorages and we understand that it is even difficult disposing of rubbish at marinas. After 7 days at anchor we had amassed lots of recycling waste and rubbish which we needed to get rid of. Fortunately, Cannigione has a municipal rubbish tip within easy walking distance. Also, the fridge was decidedly empty and so we planned a 2-run food shopping trip: the first to get the heavy stuff and the second run to restock on fresh food. In between these we did a couple of café visits to check e-mails and to catch up on home admin. Equally important was checking on the weather for our sail north to Corsica.

Anchored off Cannigione with the washing drying   

Everything looked good for a departure north the following day and so our stop at Cannigione was very much a re-victualing one. To fully charge the engine battery we ran the generator and charger for several hours and to load up the generator we switched on the water maker as well. As a result, by the early evening BV was full of food, the water tanks were full and we had clean and dry clothes, towels and bed linen. We were all set to go and even had a favourable weather forecast for the following day. The only disappointment was that the local red wine we’d opened to go with dinner proved to be distinctly average and we’d bought several bottles of the stuff. It’s a bit warm for coq au vin but we’ll find something to do with them.

Cannigione, Sardinia, Italy