After a couple of days rest at Caprera, it was time to move further east to Isola Budelli. We delayed departure as we had strange engine noises when we turned teh engine on but it ended up just being a squeaking fan belt. Checking that it was fine we made a discovery of a LOT of oil under the engine. And no leaks apparent on the engine itself and the oil levels on the dipstick were normal. I contacted Yilmaz (my maintenance guy in Turkey) who said if the engine runs at 2000+ rpm for a long time (>2 hours) the engine will leak oil naturally. We were running a 2100 at end of Ponzo Passage trying to push through the waves, so no issue, but we need to clean it up. He also made sure we checked the coolant reservoir level was at the minimum level when engine was cold to make sure there was enough coolant.
We departed and as soon as we arrived at Isola Budelli the rudder sensor fell apart, loose screws on the quadrant. Arghhh! And when we tried fixing it, I found seawater inside the hull! I didn’t have right sized wrench to tighten the sensor arm so had to use long nose pliers and locktite so it wouldn’t come loose again. The seawater inside the hull was from the swim platform hydraulic arm brush that allowed water ingress when we were surfing down waves. A quick fix was to duct tape it to seal it before any long passages. We had to empty the entire locker, wash with fresh water and leave sails and other equipment out to dry. Most of day was spent fixing the above issues.
When we got to our Roccia del Coccodrillo anchorage on Isola Budelli we quickly managed to find mooring ball. Beautiful views but a lot of smaller day tripper boats and a few touristy boats dumping people on the lovely pink beaches. At sunset a family on a ball behind us in the evening turned their motor on and put it up to 1500rpm to charge their batteries using their alternator, BUT forgot to take it out of gear. The boat start surging towards us and was going to ram us, but I managed to get their attention using our air horn and they quickly turned off their engine. A close all!
DESTINATION: Roccia del Coccodrillo!
Isola Budelli is especially renowned for its Spiaggia Rosa (Pink Beach), on the southeastern shoreline, which owes its color to microscopic fragments of corals and shells. Budelli was one of four uninhabited islands in the Maddalena archipelago—the others being Caprera, Spargi and Razzoli. However, from 1989 to 2021, the island had a permanent caretaker, Mauro Morandi, who took over from a married couple.
Rules imposed as of the 1990s by La Maddalena NP have not allowed tourists to walk on the pink beach or swim in the sea; however, day trips by boat, as well as walking along a path behind the beach, were permitted.
In October 2013, the island was to be sold for €2.94 million to New Zealand businessman Michael Harte after the bankruptcy of the previous owner. Harte intended to protect the island’s ecosystem. The government protested, and after a three year court battle, a judge in Sardinia reverted the island to the state, with the national park planning to use it for environmental education.
