July 7
Hi from Tapestry,
On July 6th, after our big day in the wind, we woke to calmer seas. Right
away we raised our anchor, with some difficulty, (I had fantasized we might
finally break it free and all the lights in the village would go out!) pulled
out our jib and sailed from Porto Pozzo along this simply gorgeous coast of
brown rock and green scrub reflected in bright green and blue water, to
Arzachena, a well protected town with much better holding. Along the way we
passed ferries, other sailboats and powerboats of all kinds. It was a
spectacular sail under bright blue sky and moderate winds. After little more
than a two hour sail, we anchored in ten feet over clear white sand.
Julie and I went to shore and found lovely stucco villas and restaurants.
Frangapani and Hibiscus were brilliant, lawns were watered and neatly kept.
We
went into a restaurant for a drink and crem brule. Wonderful!
Later in the afternoon we were startled by a plane flying low overhead. It
was really low and caused us to jump to the cockpit. To our amazement, white
smoke was rising from behind the hill right ahead of the boat. Sirens were
wailing in the "hee haw" tone prevalent in Europe. The plane circled
above the blaze (which was out of our sight) and then headed back for the bay
where it did a touch and go, filling its tanks with water. It then flew over
the fire and, spectacularly, dumped its load. This was a twin turbo
"flying boat", built in Canada. Each run, from water to fire to
water, took about three minutes. Each time the plane took off it cleared our
masts by only several hundred feet. Very exciting! The wind had risen into the
20 knot range again, and the fire was clearly gaining ground. Before long a
second plane appeared and joined the fight. With the two of them dumping
thousands of gallons of water per drop, the smoke began to subside. Before long
a chopper joined the two seaplanes. It was an hour and a half before the flames
were brought under control. We had cocktails on Alcid as the planes continued
their bombardment. The pilots were fearless, handling these large planes with
wonderful dexterity as they dived through thick smoke to drop their payload
and
swooped onto the bay to pick up water! While we were on Alcid, the winds again
picked up. Out of the 20's and into the 30 knot range they raged, swinging the
boats back and fourth, whipping canvas and challenging chain and anchor. The
ride back to Tapestry was a wet one.
Fortunately, the winds again subsided for the night. This morning we went to
the little village here for coffee and grocery shopping. A wonderful butcher
shop, a vegetable store and a bakery greeted us, along with a little super
market. By noon, the winds screamed again. This time they touched 40 knots;
lots of wind! Still, the anchor held.
Around two this afternoon, Frank called from Alcid with the sad news from
London. We switched on the B.B.C. World Service on short wave, and listened
to
the hour by hour coverage of the terrible tragedy. Somehow, the strong winds
seemed less important; still, we are happy they have subsided a bit again this
evening. Tomorrow should be another breezy day with no relief in sight until
the weekend. All the best to you.
Hank and Julie on Tapestry, in Sardinia, Italy.