"Pazienza" at Costa Paradiso

We are lounging relaxedly at "Il Baretto" at Costa Paradiso. The wind flaps the
flag in loud, crisp snaps. Two meter waves bash the rocky coast, a coast sculpted
to be sublimely seductive with shapes to fire the imagination.

I had an interesting night. We had searched in vain, following a winding trail through darkness, wind, bone chilling cold and flickers of lightning on the western horizon looking for a campsite. René was "fed up". The straps of our Ikea bags, filled with camping gear, were digging into our shoulders. I'm not sure of what as that was not clearly explained, and thus, I returned to the hotel next to our kayaks. I prepared my bivuoac bag and sleeping bag beneath a ramada sheltered from the northeast wind by the wall of the hotel and I buried deep inside the bivy to escape the icy wind from chilling my face. I was thankful for my down sleeping bag and wool toque. I wasn't sure where René had decided to camp for the night.

The wind rustling loose boat tarps or snapping the flag violently would arrest me from my sleep but I startled awake when I heard snorting and grunting within 3 meters of myself and in the light of the half moon saw the shape of a boar. He returned several minutes later and I startled the creature with a loud yell. Thankfully it didn't return, but the wind and distant lightning made for a restless sleep. Apparently boars are very common at Costa Paradiso and are not hunted in this tourist village and surounding area. The bar tender had a good chuckle this morning upon hearing of my unexpected encounter with a boar.

I feel refreshed from a LONG visit to the washroom, where I did a small hand wash in the sink of laundry items:-) and my hair!! The sink was covered in sand. We have been unable to find a shower during our circumnavigation so this was a great opportunity on this blustery day. I had bathed numerous times in the sea, but this biting wind has me bundled in layers of winter-like clothing, including my new Odlo turtleneck and Kokatat anorak. Bathing in the sea had caked my hair with layers of salt, leaving it nearly impossible to brush through my hair. I'd brushed the top layer forcefully and yanked the hair into a ponytail the past many days.

It looks like Karel's weather prediction was right. He emails us daily with fairly
accurate wind and wave predictions. We're landbound certainly for today. And it
appears this strong wind will not diminish for the next few days. At least my hair
(photo) and laundry items (see photo) will dry quickly.