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[Sardegna 1986] [Sardegna 1986 p3]

Sardinia (Dec. 1986 / Jan. 1987)

In the early eighties of the past century Sardinia, to be precise, Porto Pollo on Sardinia was considered as one of THE must go windsurfing spots in Europe. Mister Robby Nash himself had been there once and was full of praise for this place. Pretty consistent high winds and relatively warm water in the area led to the soon over used label of European Hawaii. Many European windsurfers willingly followed this promise and many of them got disappointed because they went in summer. We started our 2 weeks trip just after Christmas.

The ferry crossing from Genoa to Porto Torres was a nightmare. Due to a heavy storm the vessel already took the longer route passing Corsica by the east in order to avoid the heavy seas on the windward side. It was still bouncy enough to make a good 50% of the passengers seriously seasick. We had booked places at the Poltrone (sleeping seats) deck. But the noises and the odors of too many people not making it outside fast enough to get rid of their stomach ingredients, made it very hard not to get seasick ourselves. The icing of the cake was a young mother, constantly feeding honey to her seasick baby and making things only worth this way. We finally fled and spent most of the night on the outside deck and were really happy when we reached Porto Torres after 14 hours.

Besides Porto Pollo the island was pretty much uncharted considering windsurfing potential. We had heard rumours about good wavesailing at the “north shore” in the area between Vignola and Capo Testa. But here the predominant Mistral usually blows onshore or side-onshore at the best. Nothing did we know about the surfing potential of this island.

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