a family sailing blog
The passage from the Aegadis to southern Sardinia is about 140NM and the forecast wind looked good but the swell/waves looked a bit gnarly. As we left Marettimo the wind was a good F6 on the beam and we were flying, but soon we were out out of the island effect the wind dropped away... Continue Reading →
In our first season we had been sailing for 7 weeks and not met another family. To be fair it was very early season and there weren't many boats about, but our kids, and especially Ben were crying out for other kids. One afternoon we pulled into an anchorage in Mahon, Menorca and next to... Continue Reading →
Valletta is an amazing city, perched on an elevated prometory surrounded by water on three sides. From its amazing natural harbour that has been used for centuries, to its wonderful old buildings and its alfresco cafe and dining culture it is a must visit destination. I loved it, even if it was seriously hot in... Continue Reading →
Malta is 55NM south of Sicily, which makes it about a 10 hour trip on Vega. The night before setting out we had sailed from Syracuse down to Porto Palo. As we upped anchor at 4am in Porto Palo there were fishing boats everywhere and we had to work hard to dodge boats and nets.... Continue Reading →
While in Syracuse we hired cars and headed for Mt Etna, the largest and most active volcano in Europe. Mt Etna is a 1.5 hour drive from Syracuse and being a big tourist draw card, it gets busy, so we headed off early one morning to avoid the crowds. Navigation was easy, we just headed... Continue Reading →
Syracuse is a superb town to visit by yacht and is one of the Medierraneans best natural harbours. Its town quay, which is grand on any scale, was until recently free of charge to use. Even now you only get charged 10 Euro per night to stay here, bit of a bargin where most wharves/quays/marinas... Continue Reading →
Exploring the west coast of the Ionian Islands by yacht can be a risky proposition. The prevailing north west/west winds can, in the wrong conditions, make them a formidable lee shore with limited options for safe anchorages should the wind and swell pick up. However, the weather was settled for a couple of days, so... Continue Reading →
Launching Vega went without a hitch and 30 minutes later we were tied up to Preveza town quay and heading off to the super market for provisions. Next stop was Corfu town to meet up with the kids and my mum and dad. As we slipped away from Preveza at 6am the following morning it was... Continue Reading →
In prepping Vega for launching and sorting out the many pre launch items we had over looked checking that all our stop cocks (for non-boaty people, thats the valves that stop water getting in the boat) were working effectively. So on the day before our launch I was opening and closing the stop cock on... Continue Reading →
I must have flown through Dubai over 20 times….I went through 4 last year alone but have never stopped off for a look around, I know a lot of people who have lived or passed through all with differing opinions, so we decided it was about time we took a look for ourselves. We booked... Continue Reading →
a yacht more to life 