The Blue Dolphin Marina – Isola Sacra- The Tiber
Since Covid we have allowed ourselves to have longer times away exploring the Mediterranean as we wanted. And at the end of our last season in 2025 there was a feeling of ‘needing to do it different’ next year and we contemplated selling Marley.
The choice to spend more time at home, completing some larger tasks that we wanted to prioritise and that needed our being present.
And the choice to start the season late at the end of August knowing that the weather would begin to change, autumn to arrive but still a lovely time to be in Italy and on the water. And a little quieter as Italians go back to work and school.
Marley lives at the Blue Dolphin in Isola Sacra on the Tiber. We arrived to see her clean – so clean – and tidy and the sails going on. And in fact it was our fastest preparation ever – in 24 hours she was ready.
The choice to spend more time at home, completing some larger tasks that we wanted to prioritise and that needed our being present.
And the choice to start the season late at the end of August knowing that the weather would begin to change, autumn to arrive but still a lovely time to be in Italy and on the water. And a little quieter as Italians go back to work and school.
Marley lives at the Blue Dolphin in Isola Sacra on the Tiber. We arrived to see her clean – so clean – and tidy and the sails going on. And in fact it was our fastest preparation ever – in 24 hours she was ready.
We headed to Puglia for a few days – by plane – to stay with friends and had a wonderful time in the sea, visiting cute coastal villages with tiny coves and lots of colourful umbrellas. Right down at the tip close to Santa Maria di Leuca. Popular with Italians – you rarely hear another language. It’s hot but not too much and already the evenings are getting cooler.
Back to Marley and Gabriele and Jurgen are coming on board with us to sail to Sardegna. They are flying in from Munich and the conditions are perfect for us to leave immediately and we anticipate an 18 hour sail – arriving in Porto Pollo in the Maddalenas about 10am. Easy – and pleasantly the bay is quiet and anchoring is no problem. This bay has a sailing school and a residential programme for children and youth sail training. Very soon the water has a lot of small sails dotting back and forth.
Tonight – our first night we are actually going to head over to Bonifacio on Corsica. Only 18nm from here it is a spectacular harbour and town and as it is Thursday night it should be quiet – weekends can be too much – and we get a reservation no problem.
It’s quiet – perhaps only 3/4 capacity and for those of you who know Bonifacio – yes the nightclub is still pumping out the music but we were far enough away from it this time to not be affected. And the music was good if you chose to listen. We had a lovely morning walking around the city and exploring the edges of the wall and the amazing views. The wind has dropped completely and this allows us to anchor under the white cliffs of Bonifacio and have an afternoon swimming in this clear water. Perfect.
We sail back across the straits with lots of wind – back into the Maddalenas and now down to Golfo Aranci. Another great anchorage and very protected bay with a small village. Tonight we are in luck as it is their big event – The Palio of Aranci.
Horses and their riders ride as fast as they can – one at a time – along a prepared track on the waterfront. It is 100 metres and at around the 70 meter mark they have to catch La Stella – the star – on their lance. Very exciting, only 4 people managed to catch the star and in the end a winner with 6secs -the fastest ride and the star. Only one incident when a rider slipped from his saddle and had to be taken to hospital with minor injuries – luckily.
janeandrogersadventure 