a family sailing blog
It just so happened that there was a festival on in Otranto on our last night there. Summer is in the air and everyone was out late into the night listening to traditional music from the Salento region of Italy. The kids were the early entertainment highlight with them congo dancing and waltzing around the... Continue Reading →
The morning after arriving in Italy we woke and it was still blowing hard. The coast guard appeared in a high-speed rib, full of bedraggled looking figures wrapped in foil survival blankets. Yoannia (from Calyxia) and I walked over to see what was going on. They were refugees, I have read a lot about the... Continue Reading →
Cruising through the Peloponnese has been fantastic fun. I think it's one of the nicest parts of Greece we have visited to date. It is well off the beaten track for sailors, which makes it super quiet. There are no charter yachts here – only live aboard cruisers. It is rugged and remote but... Continue Reading →
Before leaving Milos we managed to hook up with another cruising boat full of kids. Sarah and Dan and their three kids Bee, Cormac and Rory are sailing on an Australian registered boat called Antigoni had got in touch with us through ayachtmoretolife. Cruising families are all pretty much on the same wavelength and needless to... Continue Reading →
The Greek Islands are a fantastic cruising ground. From a sailors perspective, anchorages are plentiful and the distances between them as long or as short as you want them to be and as long as you keep an eye on the wind, there is not much to go wrong. To my surprise though, at this time... Continue Reading →
Our first sail was from Aegina Town to Poros. A short day sail on a blustery overcast day. Unfortunately as we had put up our main sail the previous day we had furled it with out sufficient tension and on un furling it jammed. It would furl in ok, but we could not get it... Continue Reading →
Having arrived in Greece on Monday, we launched Vega on Thursday. There is no travel hoist at Planaco, so the re launching is undertaken by tractor and a large trailer. It is always alarming to see the supports for your 10 ton yacht knocked clear as she balances on just two chocks while the trailer positions... Continue Reading →
After late nights packing and a couple of long flights we arrived back at Vega to find her looking a little folorn after her 8 months wintering on the hard at Planaco boat yard on the small island of Aegina. She was covered in a layer of grey dust and although we had stripped most... Continue Reading →
Yesterday I was pawing over an old meteorology book handed on to me by my father-in-law, Peter. As I was reading it I noticed some dog eared bits of paper protruding from the pages towards the back of the book. I pulled them out for closer inspection. They were a series of hand written... Continue Reading →
One of my earliest recollections of sailing is being below deck’s on my parent’s Leisure 23 on lake Windermere. The breeze on Windermere can be fluky and variable thanks to the steep wooded hills that surround it. As we heeled over in the puffs, I can clearly recall sitting in the cozy, warm saloon sketching... Continue Reading →
a yacht more to life 