Paddle Posts

Jan 19 Update

We had a fantastic time paddling in Raja Ampat Indonesia. I’ll load the daily paddle posts and pictures when we get home. The Paddle Tracks are up and you can tell paddling vs moving on the Jakare very easily.

Right now, we just checked into our beach front cottage on Koh Chang Island, Thailand. The water looks great and we are excited to start paddling on Saturday. We’ll paddle south on the west coast and then cross over to some smaller island for a couple days, then up the east coast, around the north end and back south to the start. These posts will follow the Raja Ampat posts. Paddle Tracks will be live on Saturday so you can follow along as desired. They will be real time.

Happy Paddling

June 20 – Day Nine, Sardinia

We were all up and done with breakfast so we could get an early start. The plan was to drive to the north side of the island and do the crossing to Isola Santa Maria then to Isola Buddeli to see the famous pink beach, Spiaggia Rosa. Check out the paddle tracks to get an idea of our days paddle.

Our launch location. Remote, beautiful, Crystal clear water. Lou and Julie are already on the water. Marco and Lidia discussing the plan
Looking east from the launch site
And looking west from the launch site
We will cross over to two little island that can be seen just to the right of my bow (off in the distance)
At the first two little islands. We will continue north to another island right in front of Marco and then turn to port and head towards Isola Santa Maria
Heading to a little beach around the point for a break after the crossing.
No pictures of the “pink” beach as it lost all its color. No worries, it’s been a fantastic paddle so far. Headed into and anchorage area where many boats drop anchor and party all day.
We made our way through the anchorage and found our own little pocket beach which was perfect for lunch
Marco and Lidia paddled out to the boat you see near us and actually talked them out of cappuccinos. Such is life

Then we do it all in reverse. After a great paddle, we got back to town, had a gelato snack and beers then off to a great spot for drinks and dinner.

The view looking north towards Corsica way off in the distance. The low lying islands in front of Corsica are where we paddles today
Looking west with Spargi under the evening sun
Our dinner crew – Me, Lou, the two owners of the B&B where we’re staying, Marco, Lidia and Julie
Julie’s a Happy Paddler with her seafood dinner

That’s it for our last paddle day in Sardinia. This is a fantastic place to paddle and I would come back anytime. Tomorrow we’ll load up and drive to Olbia to drop Lou off at the airport. Then, Marco, Lidia, Julie and I will catch the ferry back to main land Italy. Julie and I will spend the night and fly back to the states the following day.

Happy Paddling!

June 18 – Day Seven, Sardinia

We started the day with a tour of the training ship.

We launched on the east side of La Maddalena and paddled under the bridge and over to the island of Caprera where we paddled the north west side of the island. Here are a few pictures. The rock formations and little pocket beaches were fantastic.

After the tour we got organized and headed to our launch spot.
Kayaks are better – ya right :)
The nicest little beach just perfect for kayakers
It was pretty hot so you found any shade you could
Steps going where???

That’s it for this day. We all got cleaned up, had dinner in town and hit the sack.

June 17 – Day Six, Sardinia

We all packed up our gear and the kayaks and after a good breakfast headed into Palau. We spent a little time wandering the market and then caught the ferry for La Maddalena. It’s a short hope over and has beautiful views of places we had paddled. Our accommodations in La Maddalena are a really nice B&B in the middle of town.

Marco checking the kayaks on the ferry to La Maddalena

After unloading we explored town a little. I found the best gelato shop right around the corner from where we were staying and would visit multiple times over the next few days. This is a great little town and not so busy as yet. We were told that it would be jammed with people next week as the the tourist season gets going.

We were told that the Italian Navy training ship would be pulling in later in the day so we’ll keep our eyes out for it. The Amerigo Vespucci is a three mast square rigged sailing ship and is beautiful. Julie and I hung out on the pier and were able to see the ship come in. We are hoping to be able to do a tour tomorrow.

What a beautiful ship!

After a little rest we headed west of town to another beautiful beach for a short evening paddle and then a seafood dinner overlooking the beach. What a fantastic way to start our stay on La Maddalena.

Julie loving fresh fish for dinner

After dinner it was back to town and visit the gelato shop. They always give me a hard time for not trying multiple flavors. All I want is chocolate 😛. After gelato we all went in different directions to explore the town some more. Julie and I went down to the pier and found the Amerigo Vespucci all lit up in the color of the Italian flag. What a sight against the night sky.

Back to the B&B for some good sleep and that’s it for this day.

June 16 – Day Five, Sardinia

Another excellent day! Julie and I launched the kayaks from the same beach as yesterday and headed out along the north coast to the west. We paddled from Porto Rafael to Port Puddu which had a nice beach with a restaurant so we could get lunch. Marco and the two ladies went out for a sail with Andrea on his little sloop. The cockpit has enough a space to accommodate four people so the arranges are working out perfectly.

On the way to Porto Puddu, we passed this remote beach and planned to stop there on the way back.
Julie loving the waves in her Atlantic Evolution kayak
A nice house with a great location but no way to launch kayaks – booo
Pose for the camera :)
After lunch and on the way back, we land on the beautiful beach we saw earlier. I decided to paddle the Stellar and use a Greenland paddle today instead of using the Taran and euro blade
Julie getting out. That’s Spargi in the distance.
After getting back to our takeout, we decided to paddle further and check out the town a little. Pretty nice!
There’s a nice little bar at the marina and this was our view while we waited for the rest of the team to get back from their sailing adventure.
Back at the “ranch” we had a special treat. Andrea made homemade pasta for dinner

That’s it for this day. It was great that the rest of the team had a good sail and Julie and I had a fantastic paddle.

June 15 – Day Four, Sardinia

We got an early start today and drove ti the village of Porto Rafael. There was a little bit of a walk to get the kayaks down to the local beach but it was a very nice paved path and beautiful launch spot.

Marco’s the last to get on the water.
We will paddle around the small marina where Andrea, our host, keeps his small sailboat.

Our plan is to do the crossing out to the island of Spargi and circumnavigate the island. Spargi is an island of Italy. It is situated in the Maddalena archipelago, in the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia.

I’d live there in a heartbeat
That’s Spargi in the distance
The lighthouse on the north end of Sardinia
Spargi is getting closer
We landed on the east end of Spargi for a nice break and swim.
All the rock formations make for great paddling
In order to explore the batteries, you have to land the kayaks. There is only one spot to do it and it was quite tricky. But, we succeeded. We got out of the kayaks at a little lower spot but had to pull them up over this wall.

We explored the batteries with Andrea giving us a great tour and explaining the history. It was a relatively short hike up to the fortifications of Petrajaccio and Punta Zanotto, old military batteries embedded and camouflaged in granite rock.

Once we started the hike, we got a good view of our landing spot. Most kayakers would bypass this and miss out. But, not for the faint of heart.
We had to use our flashlights to follow this passage
Back into the kayaks
And more neat places to paddle along the way around the island
Completed the return crossing and are back by Sardinia proper
Back at our takeout. That was a fantastic paddle “again”

June 14, Day three, Sardinia

The plan for the day was to do a nice evening paddle and land at a very remote restaurant for dinner.

We started the day walking around the little town of Santa Teresa Gallura. Definitely a tourist town but really nice. Julie and I hung out a a cafe for a while. We had the best view overlooking a beach and across the water to Corsica.

That’s Corsica in the distance. And, Marco and I paddled around that shore line a while back.

My favorite drink in Italy.

I did find some excellent gelato when we walked back into town. Yum 😋

After that, we all met up at a great little pizzeria for lunch and then the drive back to the agrotourismo for a short rest.

After collecting all our paddle gear and hooking up the trailer we headed back to the water. Our launch location was very close to the town we had visited. After getting everyone situated we were on the water at 1700.

About ready to launch

We paddled along a magnificent coast with late afternoon and evening colors from the low sun. What a great place to paddle.

We landed at our takeout just below a remote restaurant. Marco knows the owners and they stayed open just for us. Marco got a ride back to get the van and Lou and I carried the kayaks up some very steep steps.
Our takeout beach with the sun getting low.
Our dinner overlooking the Mediterranean. Life is good!
Look hard and you can see two sets of lights. The ones on the right are where we paddled from.

We loaded up the kayaks and headed back “home” to get some good rest. Another fantastic day.

June 13 – Day Two, Sardinia

We had a great breakfast at the agroturismo and the headed out to the coast.

Breakfast and every other meal we had at the agroturismo was family style, outside, with our hosts and their two teenage sons and the food was excellent.
Another huge boulder where we are staying. No way to climb them.

Our destination was the little town of Paula which is right across from the island of la Maddalena.

Photo op on our way to Paula. Lou, Lidia, Marco, Julie and me. La Magdalena in the background. When we launch, we’ll paddle to the right between these two islands.

We had a great launch spot where we parked the van right next two the beach.

All lined up and ready to go

After getting all the kayaks unloaded we walked around the harbor and got sandwiches and fruit to take with us. Back to the kayaks and we were off. The plan was for a short paddle day and picnic on a beach along the way.

Heading east between Sardinia proper and La Magdalena. The water is crystal clear and a great temperature. Hard to beat.

Before we rounded the point and headed south, the wind started blowing big time and the waves picked up pretty good. The wind and waves were being funneled between the two islands and made for great down wind rides. So much fun. No good pictures as I was having too much fun paddling the conditions.

We found a beautiful little pocket beach only accessible by boat or a long hike through the rocky surroundings. A great place to stop for lunch.
Heading towards our takeout beach.
At our takeout. Lou and Lidia are Happy Paddlers.
There was a campground right next to the beach we landed on. What a beautiful spot to camp.

One of the locals met us when we got back to the agroturismo.

Another great paddle day on Sardinia.