Waiting out the Mistral - Porto Pino
Images Mark Chew.
With the wind sweeping out of the Rhone Valley and fanning out towards the south and east, across the western Mediterranean, we chose an anchorage off the south coast of Sardinia to wait out the blow. It’s not a full on gale, but a steady tugging 25 knots, that nags away in the rigging, bothering and teasing the anchor.
Porto Pino takes its name from the Aleppo pines that line its shore, but it’s the port itself that’s the heart of the place. Tucked behind the main beach, where a channel connects a lagoon system to the sea, it has that unhurried, functional feel of a place that’s been around for a long time…and it has…the Phoenicians used these waters, attracted to the timber and the natural shelter of the bay.
The small port runs laterally along either side of the channel linking the inland lagoons, which are calm, shallow, and apparently rich in fish, to the open sea. Mullet, sea bass and eels have been pulled from these waters for milenia. The stone quays, made possible by an almost tideless Mediterranean, the net stores, the scrounging cats and that particular smell of a working harbour are a refreshing change from a sanitised marina.
I walked up and down the quay at dusk with my camera trying to find the daily reality of fishing at Porto Pino — The techno music ridden tourist beaches are only a few hundred metres away, but the port has a different rhythm, that beats through the seasons, not just for the summer crowds.
All the images from this “Porto Pino” series, are available to SWS readers as archival, art prints on heavy textured cotton rag paper, delivered anywhere in the world. See the examples at the bottom of this page.
(click to enlarge)
All the images from this “Porto Pino” series, are available to SWS readers as archival, art prints on heavy textured cotton rag paper, delivered anywhere in the world. Contact SWS for sizes, pricing and more information.
