39 54.2 N 008 21.5 E Aristano Sunday 26 Sept

We're just over 50nm south of Alghero now, on the Costa Verde. Mountains rising inland, the coast is strange - it is green rock. We stopped overnight at a place called Bosa (nothing there but enabled us to take a sample of said rock for later identification). Now in a place called Aristano, Torre Grande marina. The approach comes around a cape and past the ruins of Tharros - two huge columns remain standing and the impressive ruins are spread out over a large area.

There is not much near the marina, but Aristano is a bus ride away. We're staying to see out some weather - rain on our way here yesterday! - and the forecasts are dreadful for today and tomorrow. Mistral blowing and gale warnings out from Provence to Menorca, and Corsica to N Sardinia, and S Sardinia to Algerian coast. We're mid Sardinia, so no gale as such but the wind is strong and the sea state that gets up is horrid. And no shelter from that for about next 40-50 miles. So.

Saturday took the bus to Aristano - lots of tourist info and very proud of their heritage. There are a few interesting buildings and squares and bits of old wall. More interesting was the fact that there was a demonstration going on watched over by the Carabinieri with their handguns. It was all good natured though, the Sardinistas protesting about the state of the economy, taxes, living standards, government official standards, Berlusconi, etc.

Very Loudly and Enthusiastically. There were banners for each sector - the pensioners, the students, the agriworkers, the government workers, the fishermen and so it went on - they seemed to be colour coded. But when that finished and everyone went off to lunch, the town was completely deserted for the rest of the day. So we took a bus to Cabras, thinking that would be interesting, only to find nothing there and no bus back to Torre Grande. So we walked. Probably about 4 miles. Oh well.

Sunday, we decided to cycle to the ruins at Tharros that we had sailed past on the way in. Founded by the Phoenicians at the end of the 8th century BC, the two pillars that have somehow remained intact stand as beacons for the ruined town. The trouble is you can't get there directly. Inland there are large lagoons (called Stagnos and I think they are, or were, swamps!) and you need to go around them, not across them. There is lots of info about Tharros, but no means of getting there without a car - no buses. A 10 mile cycle ride there and 10 miles back. We are unfit….. But we made it and glad we did too. The site is impressive and the setting of Capo San Marco on which it stands is scenic. It also gave us
the opportunity to see first-hand the sea state we are sitting out. The wind has died to a F5 by now, but the waves are still impressive. It will calm down overnight and we can make our way further south.

Get sailing again. Too much land-based stuff means the poor little legs are tired!

ps. 27th Sept Portoscuso - Still a big swell, but sailed down to a place called b*****u - I am sure it isn't pronounced as most of us English-speaking folk would want to!

Unfortunately, we could see water breaking completely over the breakwater, tiny entrance, not safe, so pressed on to here - about 45nm S of Oristano.