On of the most beautiful things while sailing around is the ability to just stay in the shoreline wherever you want to. Ofcourse it is not that black and white because there are a lot of areas that have restrictions.
Apart from that there are also a lot of areas that don't have a decent anchoring ground or where it is too deep especially when you are travelling on a small boat. Small boats is usually less anchor chain and you need that to get into deeper waters.
Marinella bay in Sardinia is one of those places which are perfectly suitable for easy anchoring. In pre season it is not that crowded, the water turns more shallow very slowly so there is enough space for everyone, the bottom is mostly sandy and it has a decent shelter from the most common winds that usually are blowing there.
Where you want to anchor is also dependent on where the wind is coming from if that is a good idea or not. On of the apps that helps you finding a decent spot can be an app called 'Navily' where other boaters leave reviews of the anchoring spots. It also takes the current wind into consideration and because of those things you can decent if that is a spot where you want to be hanging out for the night.
For me this is often a bit stressful as I had more unsuccessful anchoring attempts than successful to my name, so that means I am very sceptical for the first period of time to check if my anchor is buried deep into the bottom. Almost always I will also take a dive with a snorkel to see if the anchor is placed in a decent manner.
And then at night when the stars are there and everything turns silent and the wind also dies down. That is when the true magic of anchoring in a bay comes up.
The lights in the distance, the slow sound of the small waves crashing into the bow of the boat. But also the uneasiness of still every time checking if the anchor is still holding and you are still in the same position and not dragging the anchor.
And that is not always easy to see as the boat also spins around the point of where the anchor is dropped, so you need some points of interest to hold on to to see if you are still in the right place.
And then waking up when the sun is starting to rise, that is also when the magic is happening again. It is so silent and and it a perfect moment to just jump off of the boat and do a little morning bomb into the ocean even before having a breakfast.
Fish gather around you and it feels like you are one with nature, even though there a also some boats around you in the far distance.
Time to make some old bread from the stash that you had from the day before or swimming to shore or taking the dinghy to shore to grab some supplies.
Boating life takes effort but it is also very low pace and that is the magic of it. It is like nothing else is around you and that is just fantastic for everything.
Waking up in Sardinia just in a random bay. What a dream!!
