The former IoW Wightlink ferries must be disappointed...

[MapisM]

...if they expected a pleasant and easy retreat, after heading towards the sunny Med.
Which is actually true, most of the time. But not always - see below! :ambivalence:

Btw, the crossing is almost exactly two years old, but the video was only just brought to my attention.

 

[Pinnacle]

...if they expected a pleasant and easy retreat, after heading towards the sunny Med.
Which is actually true, most of the time. But not always - see below! :ambivalence:

Btw, the crossing is almost exactly two years old, but the video was only just brought to my attention.

Blimey P!! That’s boisterous.

 

[BruceK]

Awesome. I'll keep this one bookmarked for the next time one of you Med boys decides to do the obligatory periodic "gloat and tell"

 

[ST840]

Is that a view from your dash cam Bruce ??

 

[Mr Googler]

Is that a view from your dash cam Bruce ??

Nah.....no supercharger whine

 

[BruceK]

Those superchargers add to the drama and suspense. You petrolheads all wish you had superchargers that screamed like mine.

 

[petem]

Nah.....no supercharger whine

LOL !!!!

 

[petem]

Those superchargers add to the drama and suspense. You petrolheads all wish you had superchargers that screamed like mine.

I'm surprised your kids aren't threatening you with a call to Childline!

 

[BruceK]

I'll confess that thought has crossed my mind on a number of occasions They get particularly grouchy when we have late season Bucket Wars. I keep one chum bucket for the two of them. The squabbles that break out for possession will have you in fits of hysterics.

maybe it's a dad thing.........

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

...if they expected a pleasant and easy retreat, after heading towards the sunny Med.
Which is actually true, most of the time. But not always - see below! :ambivalence:

Now you know why we left Carloforte

Seriously we took that ferry many times and never saw it anything like that

 

[MapisM]

LOL, yeah, that can be annoying.
Otoh, it never happened (to my knowledge) that San Pietro island remained cut off completely.
In fact, it's only the last half of the crossing from CF to Portovesme that can get as bad as above, because it's exposed to Mistral, and with a 300+Nm fetch, all the way from the Golfe du Lion.
So, whenever conditions get even worse (which can happen, albeit very rarely), they just re-route all ferries to Calasetta, where the route is more sheltered.
Besides, to be honest we don't mind being a bit hard to reach, down in the island of the island, as we call it. Helps keeping the hoi polloi away...

 

[Portofino]

How long does it take by car from near Torino ?
To a ferry port ?
Typical door to door time ?

Just wondering seen some nice ( ish ) properties on Sardinia , but don’t really fancy the logistics either flying then + car hire out , or driving ( ferry out ) to get about the rest of the EU .

Feels like a unnecessary elective layer of hassle considering Italy isn’t short of beautiful mainland boaty bases .

 

[MapisM]

Feels like a unnecessary elective layer of hassle considering Italy isn’t short of beautiful mainland boaty bases

I can't argue with that.
In fact, TBH, it wouldn't be fair to recommend CF as a permanent berth to anyone who doesn't appreciate (and have enough time to enjoy) also the small island lifestyle, aside from the nice cruising grounds.
And being Italian, or at least fluent in IT, plays a big role in that.
It's no coincidence that several non-IT friends of ours (Brits, French, South Americans) who spend in their CF homes/boats a lot of time, are all fluent in IT, or even married with ITs.

A good combination, as I think BartW can confirm by now, is using Cagliari as home port, and move to CF in summertime, whenever your agenda allows to spend more time for actual boating.
This way, reaching your boat is just a matter of half an hour more flight time vs. SoF, and less than 10 mins by train from the airport to downtown, right near the marina.

But of course, if you wish to travel with your own car (we don't, but just because we leave an old car there permanently), the plot thickens - a lot!
By and large, you must consider an overnight ferry passage from Genoa to either Olbia or Porto Torres, then the best part of a three hours drive to reach Cagliari.
Reaching CF makes the drive only 10 mins or so longer - you must leave the motorway well before reaching CA, and head towards Portovesme.
But from there, you must take another ferry (the one in the above video!), which means another 40 mins, plus anywhere between one minute and two hours, depending on how lucky you are with your arrival time vs. the ferry schedule...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

, it wouldn't be fair to recommend CF as a permanent berth to anyone .

Actually I think you are wrong. Carloforte has an excellent secure marina with low berthing fees and a good maintenance yard opposite with nearly every skill. Apart from that there are shops and restaurants open all year round although of course it isnt exactly bright city lights stuff. IMHO its an excellent base for somebody who spends long periods on their boat, such as yourself, although it isnt really suitable for people like us who spend short periods on our boats due to other commitments because of the rather tortuous journey to get there. If/when I ever get to retire and have more time on my hands and I have to watch my pennies a bit more I would certainly consider CF as a base again

 

[Hurricane]

Actually I think you are wrong. Carloforte has an excellent secure marina with low berthing fees and a good maintenance yard opposite with nearly every skill. Apart from that there are shops and restaurants open all year round although of course it isnt exactly bright city lights stuff. IMHO its an excellent base for somebody who spends long periods on their boat, such as yourself, although it isnt really suitable for people like us who spend short periods on our boats due to other commitments because of the rather tortuous journey to get there. If/when I ever get to retire and have more time on my hands and I have to watch my pennies a bit more I would certainly consider CF as a base again

+1
Actually, we are close to planning another season in CF for next year.
We loved our last visit a few years ago.
The only mistake we made that season was that we went too early. Next year I think it might be better to go from July to September/October instead of May to August.

Still some planning to do yet

 

[MapisM]

Actually I think you are wrong.

In hindsight, yes I was, to some extent.
In fact, I perfectly understand your point, but I was focusing on PF thoughts about the availability of good alternatives in IT mainland, easier and faster to reach.
Which is undeniable: for instance, I know pretty well Loano, where he recently moved from SoF, and on top of the very modern marina, it's am overall nice and welcoming area, also inland.
So, it's pretty obvious that if he was interested in a location conveniently reachable by road, that's by definition a better alternative compared to anywhere in Sardinia, let alone CF.
Otoh, if and when travel convenience ain't a big factor anymore, as you are envisaging, S Sardinia is definitely an area worth exploring, for anyone interested in one of the best seas that you can find anywhere on this planet.

Having said that, let me try to clarify my previous post where I sort of dismissed CF as a permanent berth, albeit with some caveats.
First of all, by "permanent", I mean the place which eventually you can call your home.
In this sense, I can see why someone living for instance in northern Italy or also much further north can decide, even just based on what you can find out on the internet, to establish a home away from home somewhere in Liguria, or SoF, or also the N Adriatic.
There are of course many alternatives further South, either along the Spanish or Italian coastline, but the obvious drawback is that the road drive becomes much longer.
And once you accept to fly, you can as well consider the islands, opening up a whole new horizon of possibilities.
Otoh, I don't think that in practice anyone ever decided upfront to call home CF or other similarly secluded places, of which there's no shortage of in the Med - like around Sicily, Greece, or Croatia, to name but a few.

We also didn't, in fact.
When we left Croatia, our rough plan was to stay in CF for a couple of seasons or three, explore S Sardinia from there, and then head either towards Costa Smeralda or the Baldricks.
But that was back in 2006. 13 years later, we have no plans to leave CF.
And even if you know how much I love our cruising grounds, I would never dare pretending that there aren't others comparably good elsewhere in the Med.
It's only the overall lifestyle and the people which can be truly unique, hence attracting (or not!) someone to live "permanently" in a place and call it home.
Which is exactly what happened for us, over time. It can't be an overnight process, even assuming to fall in love at first sight.

These are the subtleties which I think are hard to appreciate without being Italian, or at least understanding IT.
Then again, as always, all rules have their exceptions.
Right in our marina, there are several non-IT boaters (I can think of two French, one Swiss, one Brit and a German) who would still struggle to order a beer in Italian, after having been based in CF for quite a number of years, and not having any plans to move, afaik.
So, what do I know? At the end of the day, it takes all sorts to make a world, I guess...!

 

[MapisM]

The only mistake we made that season was that we went too early.
Next year I think it might be better to go from July to September/October instead of May to August.

Tough call M, because both early and late season have their pros and cons.
The former is actually a forced choice for anyone interested in a full fledged giant bluefin tuna experience, including the tonnara dive, which is a very unique experience.
But overall, yes, I would agree that the latter is probably a better choice for "normal" cruising.
If nothing else, the timeframe from July onward is typically a bit better weatherwise, and sea water is definitely warmer.
Looking fwd to catch up there, whatever timing you will eventually prefer! :encouragement:

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Just seen that an Americas Cup world series regatta will be held off Cagliari in April next year. 75ft monohulls doing up to 50kts! Yikes

Got to be worth heading over there from CF? I assume you'll be cheering the British Ineos team on

 

[MapisM]

Haha, no need to remind us, M.
With BA moored very close to the dock where Prada HQs is based, and having the excuse to keep an eye on her on behalf of BartW, where else do you think we could be, in those days...?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Haha, no need to remind us, M.
With BA moored very close to the dock where Prada HQs is based, and having the excuse to keep an eye on her on behalf of BartW, where else do you think we could be, in those days...?

Ah ok enjoy it!