Windsurfer’s paradise

The good: Windy days = good beach entertainment

Northern Sardinia was hit with strong mistral winds beginning Friday and ending Sunday, which lead to some great windsurfing days for M. Mistral wind comes from North/Northwest of France and can get STRONG. This weekend the wind reached upwards of 40 knots (74 km/h) but can even reach 90 km/h. This generally means a not-so-great-time for beach goers but you’ll find the sea packed with windsurfers.

Marina Maria packed with windsurfers

Such was the case when I braved the fierce wind to witness M in action. Since he’s been living in the UK for the past 5 years and hasn’t been training much the “action” has slowed down somewhat. Luckily I find wipeouts as entertaining as front loops, double flakas, and culo 540s.

M's friend training for nationals

The not so great aspects of the wind:

1. Beach sandstorms. The wind is so strong it whips the sand against you and it can get pretty damn painful, especially if it gets in your eyes! Most people either sought shelter in the beach hut or covered their head with a towel. I ended up bringing home half the beach home with me…It took me a good 20 minutes to get the majority of the sand out of my hair and I still found sand in my ears the next day.

2. Lots of wind=lots of windsurfing=damaged body parts…

Typical windsurfing hands...very sexy

3. …as well as damaged equipment

Torn sail

We’ve got a break for the next few days and won’t be getting another hit of the mistral wind until Friday. I’m looking forward to having Paulino, Marina Maria’s dog, keep me company as we tough out the wind together!

Paulino!

Mosquito bait

The bad: Asian tiger mosquito (Zanzara tigre in Italian)

The mosquitoes here are killer!!! I can handle a lot of bugs and insects but mosquitoes are the bane of my existence. And the ones here in Sardinia are especially vicious. I’m guessing they’re called tiger mosquitoes because of their black and white stripes. I’d take a picture but that would require keeping them alive and sorry, your entertainment just isn’t worth getting tortured over. If you’d like a photo of a smashed up mosquito, though, I’d be happy to oblige.

I think there are 5 mosquito bites in the photo below. There’s a big massive one just to the left of the strap that left a swollen mark the size of a quarter. I guess that bite alone wasn’t enough and the b**** decided to have dessert as well, resulting in the 3 small bites surrounding the big one and the one protruding beside my armpit.

Mosquito bites from hell

They never seem to get full because I’m pretty sure I counted 10 bites from one mosquito alone in a span of 5 minutes. A bit of a history lesson for you- apparently, the first Asian tiger mosquito was first spotted in Olbia (M’s hometown) end of October 2006 due to shipments of used tires.

Due to Sardinia’s mosquito invasion I now have two new best friends:

1. Mosquito repellent has replaced all perfumes and body sprays. I don’t care if the smell also repels human beings so long as my body remains unbitten.

2. The amazing electric insect zapper as shown below. I sleep with this clenched in my hands at night and turn it on the very millisecond I hear that incessant buzzing. There is nothing more satisfying than swatting the zapper around and seeing the spark indicating that the mosquito has made contact with the racquet.

Mosquitoes, beware! I will get you...