The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!

We were shadowed.  The 20th of August, they were the boat looming immediately next to us, at anchor, in Golfo Pevero.  The 21st, as Peregrinus sat unsuspecting at Porto Liccia, they passed us by.  Not once, but twice.  The 22nd, we anchored at Cala di Volpe and after dinner at Baretto, what did we find as we tendered back aboard in the dark night?  The Russians again, this time anchored not a mile away.  The 23rd, we thought we had gotten away, as there was no sign of Russkies at Golfo Aranci.  Free at last!

Not so.  As we steamed up the canal into Olbia on the 24th, there they were, right on our tail, and gaining on us.  Full speed ahead!  We only lost them by heading to the old fishing port, too shallow for them.  They went into the commercial port, and stayed in town for the next couple of days.

Dilbar, the Russian boat, is the largest yacht in the world by volume, and the fourth by length.  Maybe next time someone shadows us they'll use a more subtle vehicle.

Objects in rearview mirror are closer than they appear.  Dilbar hot on the heels of Peregrinus, and gaining!  Port of Olbia access canal, Sardinia, 25 August 2016.  iPhone 6 Plus.

Rush hour in Porto Cervo

August in Porto Cervo.   Rush hour happens twice a day: half-past noon, and six o'clock in the afternoon.  At six o'clock, there is a mad rush to return to the docks, and get ready for cocktails, dinner, and parties.  

Of course this means getting up in the morning is best left to the yacht crews and other hired help, who are seen running around from soon after sunrise, cleaning decks, polishing windows, and provisioning fresh delicacies at the mini-market by the Costa Smeralda Yacht Club clubhouse.  Their employers only start to roll-out of their cabins by late morning, so it takes until after high noon for the mad yacht cavalcade out of port to start.

On this rather random photo, almost a dozen yachts are gunning their engines on their way out and Peregrinus' Zodiac tender pretty much had to get out of the way, or get run over.

Porto Cervo, 12:27 PM, 19 August 2016.  iPhone 6 Plus.