September 16 , 2001 Gaeta, Italy September 3 , 2001 Stromboli: The Lighthouse Of The Mediterranean August 26 , 2001 Cefalu: Another Medieval Jewel August 23 , 2001 Sicily: Land of Lovely Desserts August 15 , 2001 En Route to North Africa August 10 , 2001 Ormeggiatori August 8, 2001 Supermarkets and Amphora August 6 , 2001 Sailing South in Sardinia August 2 , 2001 La Vie en Corsica July 30, 2001 Jonathan Joins Us July 27, 2001 One Sea, Seven Colors July 24, 2001 Say What? July 23, 2001 "Va Bene" July 21, 2001 Venturing Into Italy July 20, 2001 And The Mistral Blew July 18, 2001 The Spell Of Menorca July 12, 2001 Culture And Concerts July 7, 2001 Cha Chas July 6, 2001 Red Dust July 4, 2001 Rare Birds July 3, 2001 Clear Empty Water June 27 , 2001 Quick Friends June 22 , 2001 Reconnecting June 13, 2001 Eastern Hemisphere June 6, 2001 A Weekend in Cartegena May 30 , 2001 A Time Or A Place May 29 , 2001 Several Lovely Sails May 21 , 2001 Free At Last May 25, 2001 On The Hard May 18, 2001 A Boat Again May 14, 2001 Time Warp to Morocco May 03, 2001 Still On Stilts in Malaga

 July 23, 2001 

We passed the impressive limestone promontory of Capo Caccia early morning, motored into a beautiful bay on the northwest coast of Sardinia and arrived in Alghero at 9:30 A.M. on the 22nd, mooring without incident at a brand new marina, with no facilities, but extremely helpful staff.

The 196 mile motorsail from Menorca was easy, except that at 3:30 on Sunday morning, we noticed the newly installed spare engine seawater pump was spraying salt water throughout the engine room. We shut down and in very uncomfortable seas Sid changed to a third spare pump. In 45 minutes we were up and running again. Everything was fine until about 5 A.M. when we realized the salt-water spray had caused serious electrical problems, shutting down all our electronics. Our German friends, with whom we had left Menorca, were en route to Corsica, but they changed course and came to Sardinia with us in case we needed assistance. While we did not end up needing their help, it was a much appreciated gesture.

Within a few hours after arrival, three good brains had diagnosed the problem (a simple faulty connection at the fuse). We went exploring ashore and out to dinner to celebrate. Founded in the 12th century, the old walled city of Alghero is a fusion of browns and reds and tiled roofs (Spanish heritage) and includes a Gothic style cathedral, Gothic chapels and midieval towers. Italians consider Alghero to be "more Spanish" than Italian because of its history under Aragonese rule.

Once more we bid arrivederci to our friends, as they continued to Corsica. We stayed on in Alghero to do city things such as converting our Spanish mobile phone to an Italian service and attending another first class, wonderful concert (clarinet, cello and piano trio) in another smaller, but even lovelier, cloister.

The Europeans are far ahead of the States in terms of cell phone use and technology: absolutely everyone has one with him/her at all times and 75 percent of them seem to be on the phone at any time! We have found the mobile phone system is very convenient for international wanderers-as you move from country to country you buys a SIM smart-card, about the size of a postage stamp, which fits into the phone and you are up and running with a local phone number and service.