a family sailing blog
The Red line shows our approximate route from Spain to Greece. Here are some brief trip stats: We visited Spain, France, Italy and Greece. The main islands visited on route where; Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Sardinia, Corsica, Capri, the Pontine Islands, the Aeolian Islands, Sicily and lots and lots of Greek islands... We travelled just under... Continue Reading →
As we travelled towards Greece in July, we met many boats heading away from Greece and toward Italy and Croatia. We were advised, by fellow sailors, not to go. We heard tales of corrupt port officials. We were told you couldn’t buy bread and milk. There was no diesel fuel, oh and by the way…bring... Continue Reading →
In the old part of Corfu town we had our first experience of Greek tourist prices...1 beer, 1 orange juice and 2 ice creams…wait for it…30 Euro’s!!! We were none to happy and after a frank chat with the bar owner made our way off to look around the old Citadel. We left Corfu the next day... Continue Reading →
The trip to Greece was 250NM and as we thought we would be motoring most of the way, we decided to break the trip into two, calling into a fishing town called Crotone. Leaving Taormina, late in the afternoon we had a visit from a turtle at sunset and a lovely night passage, with a... Continue Reading →
My guide book informed me that Reggio di Cabrili is a Cosa Nostra (read Mafia) hot bed and recruiting ground. This little fact was foremost in my mind when the kids and I were walking near the port and a car pulled in front of us, effectively blocking our path. The driver jumped out and in... Continue Reading →
The Straits of Messina separate Italy and Sicily and they had a formidable reputation amongst Sailors of old. Greek Mythology talks of Scylla, a monster and Charybdis a whirlpool on opposing sides of the narrowest part of the Strait where only a mile separates Sicily and Italy. Boats trying to avoid Scylla would be sucked... Continue Reading →
We have had a great few days in the Aeolian Islands - a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The highlight of which was climbing Stromboli – an active volcano that spews lava and other volcanic stuff on a regular basis. Stromboli rises 1000m straight out of the Med and It’s a tough 5 hour trip... Continue Reading →
We decided to do the cultural thing, so after days on beaches and floating around on our own we pulled into Naples and went to Pompeii. It's an awesome place, but it was a hot, hot day and we had grown unaccustomed to tourist spots and large crowds....and it was packed, almost too busy to enjoy.... Continue Reading →
After Bonifcaio we headed back to Sardinia and the Maddalena Islands to meet up with another yacht, Calyxa, that we had bumped into in Menorca. Calyxa is a cruising family like us – they are a Danish-Cuban family with three kids Milla, Emma and Hannibal – all about the same age as our two and... Continue Reading →
Life on a boat isn’t that much different to life on land. We still eat, sleep, go to the toilet, kids still do schoolwork, etc. just things are adjusted a little. Eating/Cooking Apart from it being called a galley, there isn’t much our kitchen is missing compared to home. The fridge opens through a removable... Continue Reading →
a yacht more to life 