La Maddalena Archipelago National Park and Marine Reserve (Part 2)

Spiaggia Rosa

We left Dead Man’s Passage at 1120hrs on 6 July and just before we hoisted sail we motored slowly past Spiaggia Rosa (the Pink Beach) just to south. It’s now buoyed off with no water access; not even swimming is allowed there now. From our vantage point it looked like any other nice beach and not particularly pink. Maybe we’ll walk there next time we visit and see what all the fuss is about.

We were blessed with a good sailing wind and enjoyed working our way between the islands, often having to tack backwards and forwards to make progress. Just like in Brittany, the pink granite has been weathered into shapes which often looked like animals. It meant that there was always something interesting to look at either on the water or on the coastline.

Flying Fox and 6711   

Having said earlier that we didn’t see many superyachts, on this short passage we were passed by Flying Fox and her support vessel, 6711 (named because she is 67 meters long and 11 metres wide!). What else do you do if you don’t want to clutter your nice superyacht up with big toys? Get a 67 metre support vessel! 6711 is home to Flying Fox’s numerous toys, several large motoryachts and a Dauphin helicopter. Simon, a friend of ours, sometimes works as the aviation engineer for the helicopter and so when we saw the two yachts we naturally thought of him and his tales of the friendly rivalry and tricks played by the two crews.

Entering Cala Stagnali on the transit   

Our sailing brought us around to the entrance to Cala Stagnali on the western side of Isola Caprera. The entrance has a few rocks and shallows to avoid but there is a transit to follow (2 posts to keep lined up) plus a rock close to the transit line in is marked with a post and orange container for good measure [Ed: but it should be left to starboard, not port, which you could have been forgiven for thinking was the case given the colour scheme!].

Cala Stagnali   

Once the transit has been identified (and the black and white vertically striped posts are surprisingly well camouflaged) it is not a difficult cala to enter but, once inside, we had it all to ourselves. We’ve read reports that this ‘secret anchorage’ is hardly visited which is surprising when most of the others are so busy. Here too we saw some more animal rock sculptures; I thought that the one above looks like a gorilla pointing at its forehead but the crew was not unanimous in this assessment.

Cala Stagnali   

After the busy anchorage at Dead Man’s Passage it was really nice to spend the evening in a wilder, quieter anchorage. We eventually shared this peaceful and sheltered spot overnight with just one other boat.

BV anchored in Cala Stagnali   

Close by on Isola Caprera is the property that belonged to Giuseppe Garibaldi. He bought the island when he effectively withdrew from public life in November 1860. Retiring there, he set up a farm and built the house which is now a museum. Prior to that, his military and political actions around the world, and in Italy in particular, brought him significant international acclaim and his is credited with making the unification of Italy possible.

Garibaldi’s house   

The following morning, we took the dinghy ashore and walked a couple of km north to visit the museum. As at the Favignana tuna factory, visitors are only allowed access as a part of a group and accompanied by a tour guide. Again, the guide only spoke Italian but here we were lent an A4 brochure detailing the important parts of the tour, so that we didn’t miss out due to linguistic inability. We were not permitted to take photos inside the buildings but they house memorabilia from Garibaldi’s life, both military and on the island. Most interesting in Nicky’s view is the selection of clothing (ponchos, hats and shirts) and other items from his time in South America. Garibaldi died in the house and, fittingly, the final room on the tour is the bedroom where he died. The room was a special extension to the property and has large windows on 3 sides so that Garibaldi could sit in his bed and see out across Caprera and over the Straits of Bonifacio to Corsica. Apparently, he even asked his bed to be moved to the middle of the room so that his last views would be of the turquoise bay to the north and Corsica beyond.

Causeway and bridge to Isola La Maddalena   

Garibaldi’s deathbed view seemed to have some nice anchorages in it and so as we walked back to our dinghy (the bus service never materialised) we decided to move BV around to them. However, getting there would be a roundabout route. Walking back we got a clear view of the causeway and bridge between La Maddalena and Isola Caprera which blocked the direct route for us. With no clearance for BV to pass under the bridge we would have go all the way around the island to reach our next destination.

La Maddalena Archipelago National Park and Marine Reserve, Sardinia, Italy