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 30, 2001 

Castelsardo, Sardinia

Our Italian cell phone works! We relied on it for communication with our son, Jonathan, who called us yesterday morning to tell us his ferry had safely arrived in Olbia, but that there were no buses on Sunday. We were in Castelsardo, an old fishing village built in tiers up the rocky promontory. Steep alleys wind up to the castle sitting on the summit: a spectacular sight. We suggested he hitchhike. Mid afternoon he called to say he had found a bus to Porto Torres, 15 miles west of us, arriving at 5:15 PM, so off came the lines and we were underway. As we approached the rather grubby, commercial port at 5 P.M., the phone rang a third time. Jonathan's bus had arrived early. He was on the dock to take the lines from his mother, as we motored in at 5:30. We had a wonderful reunion.

The following day, we whisked him away to experience an idyllic summer sail and his first Mediterranean anchorage: a lovely bay crowded with boats by day, but emptied of all the daytrippers after dusk. We are anchored in Baia Santa Reparata, surrounded by the wind and wave washed boulders of Capo Testa, which is a rocky promontory connected to the mainland by a thin sandbar. The headland houses ancient and modern quarries, which supplied the Romans with the granite for the columns in the Pantheon. The anchorages are getting more and more crowded, but so far we still share them with few boats at night. And each evening the heat of the day also leaves with the crowd and it is cool and pleasant for dining and sleeping.