Arriving in Olbia
After an hour’s flight from Geneva, we reached Olbia. Our arrival was rather conspicuous because we were travelling with a load that did not go unnoticed: classic sailboards, foils with all kinds of canvas to cope with any conditions... Among our luggage we also had wingfoils and kiteboards, drones, cameras, and other filming equipment to create maximum content. Two cabs were therefore necessary: one to transport all the equipment and a second one for the passengers.
Olbia is a port city located in the north-east of Sardinia. At the bottom of a relatively narrow gulf, commercial and passenger ships stop there regularly. On paper, it’s not a dream setting, but it’s an enviable location in relation to Olbia’s international airport, which is very well connected to Europe. Thanks to its location, Olbia also allows you to easily get started with the boat and to quickly discover some of the arid and not- so-arid landscapes combining cliffs, beaches and, of course, the long-awaited turquoise waters...
Getting to grips with our Bali 4.2
Our base was located 10 minutes by cab from the airport, which allowed us to bring our luggage and equipment there directly. It was time for all the formalities: charter papers, skippers’ nautical CVs... There were lots of people milling around, as all the boardings are done at the same time. Once the formalities were completed, we took a cab to the nearest shopping center - Superpan - to prepare the supplies for the 11 people on board the two boats. Then we had to organize everything on board in order to optimize the space on the two vessels. We decided to dedicate the starboard front cabin of the Bali to the storage of the windsurfing equipment. The catamaran entrusted to us by Dream Yacht is practically new. However, we noted the absence of a Code 0 - we will have to make do with the small self-tacking jib... The volumes offered by the Bali are impressive: the tilting door really opens up the nacelle, making it incredibly user-friendly for a 42-foot catamaran, without closing off the cockpit, which is in fact enlarged by this opening. Once this door is opened (two people at least are needed to handle it), to the left of us is a beautiful table that can comfortably seat 10 people. We then enter the U-shaped galley facing the chart table and the onboard instrumentation. A door leads to the foredeck, which is fully decked on this unit: no trampoline, but a large outdoor lounge that overlooks a beautiful sundeck. A huge anchor locker (containing two anchors and the chain) is hidden here. The raised helm station, relatively uncluttered, is accessible from the starboard side. An electric winch on the helmsman’s left hand is used to hoist the mainsail, trim the jib, the port mainsheet and to manage two of the three reefs. On the helmsman’s right hand, there is a manual winch to adjust the starboard mainsheet, the third reef, the jib furler and the tilting davits to launch the dinghy. Behind the helm station, we find a lounge that can easily accommodate 5 people. It is accessible by a staircase on the port side in addition to the one initially dedicated to the helm station on the other side. In the floats, which are totally symmetrical, there are 4 cabins with 4 bath-rooms and toilets: the services are top notch and it’s an immediate pleasure to be on board. There is also a skipper’s cabin in the starboard forepeak and a bathroom in the port forepeak. In terms of equipment, our catamaran is equipped with a huge refrigerator and freezer with its own inverter, which makes it easier to organize the food on board. The presence of a watermaker allows us to gain storage space by reducing the size of the tanks, which is very appreciable given the size of our cargo.
Leave before night falls!
Once the loading is finished, we proceeded with a technical explanation of the Bali. Then it was time for the skippers’ briefing - which explains in detail the anchoring areas to be avoided, the main rocks indicated (or not) on the charts... and then it was already time to leave! Indeed, we couldn’t lose any time, as part of the Dream Yacht contract, we are not allowed to sail at night. It was already 6:00 pm and, as the sun sets around 7:30 pm in this season, we had to leave immediately if we didn’t want to be stuck on the pontoons of Olbia’s marina. For this first trip out under motor, I was accompanied by two friends with limited sailing experience. So, I had to operate alone. This is actually quite simple: the very good visibility from the helm allowed me to see the surroundings. The instrumentation on board is very ergonomic and accessible thanks to the 12-inch screen at the helm. The only small drawback is that it is mandatory to leave this position to drop the anchor, as there is no remote control. In any case, when anchoring you have to go to the front of the boat anyway to put the bridle in place. For the first anchorage, 35 minutes under motor from Olbia, we chose the bay of Liscia delle Saline. Once the two boats were immobilized, we launched the dinghies and met up for dinner.
The Enigmatic Isola Tavalora
The next morning, we decided to sail close to the island since we had to pick up some friends who were landing in Olbia that evening. For this first day, we raised the anchor relatively late to sail around Isola Tavalora, a small mountainous island 3 mi/5 km long with a high point of 1,840 feet (560 m). The conditions were fair: clear skies with 15 knots of wind and gusts to 20-23 knots - enough to quickly get the hang of the catamaran under sail. Once the mainsail was hoisted and the headsail unfurled, it was time to cut the engines. Now let’s see how you sail upwind on such a vessel - I must admit, I was full of prejudices regarding cruising catamarans! To start with, I positioned myself at 65° to the apparent wind. However, I quickly realized that it is possible to get closer to the wind to reach an angle under 50° to the apparent wind and thus avoid tacking too squarely (even though we had quite a bit of leeway). This is the advantage of our little self-tacking jib... As for the speed, we were sailing at 5 knots, and it was difficult to do more. Once the autopilot was engaged, we could take full advantage of the space offered by this catamaran: almost 860 square feet (80 m²) for a 42-footer! Three tacks enabled us to leave the bay of Olbia, so we started to sail around the Isola Tavalora. We got a surprise when we arrived on the southern side of the island and discovered a totally different landscape with vertiginous cliffs plunging into the dark blue depths of the sea. There were clouds stuck to the summit, which made for a somewhat dramatic atmosphere. We arrived quietly downwind at the small, sheltered anchorage of Cala Girgolu where we had arranged to meet the rest of our crew that evening.
Maddalena National Park
We left our anchorage early in the morning and this time decided to cross, heading north, between the coasts of Punta San Diego and Isola Tavolara. This zone is full of rocks some of which are more or less visible, so it is better to make this crossing when the sea is calm. We quickly arrived at the wreck of the Relitto Chrisso, a commercial ship flying a Cypriot flag that ran aground in the 1970s. This one is very easily visible, even for beginners - some parts of the ship are actually at the water level. We were still heading north, towards the Maddalena. There was no wind, so we cruised at 1,800 rpm, which propelled us along at about 4-5 knots with a reasonable fuel consumption of 2 to 3 l (½ to ¾ US gal)/h per engine... Consumption was reduced even further when we decided to hoist the sails in spite of a relatively light wind (8 knots). It was time to do some trolling, and we hauled in two beautiful bonito that we prepared as a tartare: a real treat! We covered about 20 nautical miles before arriving at our destination in the early afternoon. This one was located on the island of Caprera, in the Maddalena archipelago. Of the two small bays that were sheltered from the wind, we chose Cala Coticcio. As this is a national park, a sailing permit must be purchased in order to anchor and sail in the area. This pass costs around € 50 per boat for one week. It is the ideal place to take out the sailboards and wings for the first time. The huge sundeck connecting the two floats of the catamaran is an ideal area to rig up the boarding equipment. Our windsurfers attached the foils and sails to their boards and were ready to sail in the turquoise waters. The divers could enjoy the variety of the unperturbed fish, such as the bluish seabream. Fishing is forbidden here. Those who enjoy walking on land can choose the option of hiking along the island’s arid cliffs, thanks to paths that are often trodden by goats. It was on this island of Caprera that Giuseppe Garibaldi settled during the second half of the 19th century. His house has been converted into a museum and can be visited.
Fascinating Lavezzi
The decision was made to head for Corsica - Bonifacio to be precise - which many of our companions on board had never visited. Once the anchor was raised at the end of the morning, we took advantage of a crosswind that accompanied us to the Lavezzi and Cavallo islands, and we passed right through the middle of them. At this point, the wind had increased a bit, which allowed us to shoot some great drone images along the Lavezzi islands where we anchored our catamaran for a short while to wait for the Dufour, which had not kept up with our pacy yet peaceful Bali. There we discovered the granite pyramid erected to commemorate the wreck of the Sémillante. This French navy frigate sank after hitting a reef in a heavy storm on the night of February 15, 1855, causing the deaths of the 773 crew members and soldiers on board. Although nothing very visible remains of the wreck, swept away over time by the waves, it is possible to visit the cemetery where some 250 sailors are buried. We set off again for Bonifacio. To keep us busy, we worked out a sports routine at the front of our catamaran. Space is definitely an asset on this boat! Arriving in the beautiful city of Bonifacio, perched on its rock, is always an emotional experience, especially as we arrived as the sun was setting! Coming from the south, we could easily see the famous staircase of the King of Aragon carved out of the cliff. According to the legend, it took only one night to hew it out, thus linking the sea to the city center. We decided to try a relatively secluded anchorage in the Catena Cove just off the fortified town of Bonifacio. The town provides mooring lines, but we had to use our own to pass them through the rings that were fixed to the cliffs. You have to launch the dinghy before carrying out the maneuver. This can be tricky, especially as the water is not very deep. However, the catamaran’s two engines offer very good maneuverability, and the boat’s very shallow draught (3’10”/1.15 m) allows it to approach such areas without too much risk. We took advantage of the old town’s proximity to discover some traditional restaurants and to enjoy a lovely evening’s stroll in the remarkably preserved citadel in the upper town.
Boots, jackets and salopettes
We awoke to a veritable deluge. The lack of heating to help dehumidify the air was starting to be a problem - well it was autumn. We went back and forth with the dinghies to dispose of our garbage and glass in the containers provided for this purpose on the main dock and filled our jerry cans with gasoline at the pump for our two dinghies. A quick bit of shopping and we were on our way again. There was a change of atmosphere as we left Bonifacio: boots, jackets and salopettes replaced the polo shirts and shorts of the day before... We decided to sail again towards the Maddalena. The wind was around 25 knots. We sailed south at 45° to the wind. We quickly reached the Lavezzi Islands, on our port side.
During the first hour, we were busy trying to adjust the sails and to install the helm canopy in order to keep the crew as dry as possible. Then we finally figured out how to set up the small chart plotter pilot on the chart table and decided to leave our “offshore” equipment and use our energy to prepare our lunch. What a pleasure it was for us, who are not used to catamarans, to be able to cook/eat inside while sailing peacefully upwind at 7-8 knots in the pouring rain and with 25 knots of wind! Once we had passed the Straits of Bonifacio, we were back in the Maddalena archipelago, where the wind was calming down. We tacked between the islands. The light winds made tacking difficult as the mainsail battens (too new or maybe too long?) struggled to pass through the wind. We sometimes had to tack with the battens against the wind... which did not make us look like great sailors! Our challenge of the day was to anchor near the island of Sardinia in order to disembark two of our crew members who were taking a plane the next day from Olbia. We then approached the town of Palau where we initially thought we would drop anchor. However, the back and forth of the ferry linking Palau to the town of La Maddalena, generated a lot of waves, which made us change our minds. We then decided to go to the La Sciumara beach. It is not a particularly charming beach, but it has the advantage of being well located for the disembarkation of our crew members the next morning. For her last evening, our friend Laure took a pasta machine out of her suitcase! Some amazing cooking went on late into the night. What a pleasure it was to be able to cook for 11 people without stepping on each other’s toes on a boat that was only about 40 feet long! During dinner, the wind picked up, making our anchorage relatively exposed, especially to the swell. When doing the last check before going to bed, we had a fright: our anchor had dragged by about 50 feet (15 meters). We were therefore getting close to the buoys that marked the beach’s swimming area! We quickly started the engines, pulled up the anchor and chose a safer place to spend the night. Why did we drag? It seems that our anchor landed in a patch of seaweed when we thought we were on sand...
Razzoli: an archipelago and a lagoon!
The forecast for day 5 was for blue skies, with light winds in the morning, strengthening in the afternoon. So we headed for a small archipelago in the north of Sardinia, which includes the Razzoli, Budelli, Santa Maria and Capicciolu islands. We approached carefully from the south of the archipelago as a large number of rocks and shallows were indicated. We first anchored off Pink Beach and then launched our dinghy. The reconnaissance mission could then start. Armed with a gaff, we surveyed the surroundings to find a navigable route with the Bali. We tried to anchor in the center of a beautiful lagoon where we were for the moment at least, alone. Our friends in the Dufour 460 were forced to stay outside this lagoon since their draft did not allow them to anchor where we had positioned the Bali. There we were in the heart of the long-awaited paradise, with incredible light coming off the islands surrounding the lagoon. A relatively stable wind of 18 to 20 knots on this swell-sheltered stretch of water provided us with the best conditions imaginable for a fantastic session of windsurfing. We made the most of these ideal conditions for a memorable photo session: jumps, water start, wake foil behind the dinghy... as good as it gets! We spent our last evening away from the Dream Yacht base in this location.
Surfing in a Bali: it’s possible!
The wind strengthened during the night and when we woke up, we had a solid 25 knots. One last surf session and it was time to head back. Given the wind conditions, we decided to take a more open route than the one we took when we arrived. To do so, we left the bay of the Razzoli islands to escape through a natural channel. This one allowed us to leave this small archipelago from the west. We had a headwind and a large swell. Our engines needed to be at full power for us to make progress. Once out, the north-west wind stabilized at 30 knots. We hoisted and unfurled the sails (reefed of course) and headed for the south of Sardinia. Downwind, we quickly caught up with the Dufour, making 8-9 knots. We even reached 10.5 knots on some surfs, but no more. We ended this 30-mile sail with a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Olbia – coming in under motor to avoid arriving too late at the base. The Dream Yacht staff had kept an easy access berth for us at the end of the pontoon, which made the maneuvering much easier. Last night on board and, early in the morning, it was already time to hand over the boats!
So, monohull or catamaran?
There is no doubt that the sailing experience is totally different and much less sport oriented on a catamaran similar to our Bali 4.2, but the pleasure on board and the feeling of space, without ever having the impression of stepping on each other’s toes, made it a particularly attractive cruising environment. As far as performance is concerned, if we take the two boats we sailed on as an example, they are not that far apart: the monohull, also equipped with a small self-tacking jib, goes upwind a little better than the Bali but it’s a close-run thing. On the other hand, if you have on board windsurfers as demanding as us, the catamaran is of course preferable. The surface offered by the «trampoline» offers unexpected possibilities for rigging the boards on a 42-foot sailboat. As for the steps at the back of the floats, they constitute an ideal launching platform. However, the Bali 4.2 charter price is 50% higher than for the Dufour 460 GL.
