If you don’t like the risks of sailing don’t read this week’s notes. At Panormous a wind whistled in from the north at night and two boats dragged anchors, not us. So it was midnight manoeuvres for them, torches flashing. Motoring with a light morning northerly the wind on the beam, but not enough […]

    The island is clad in greenery and shaped like the back of a  dragon, being like all the Sporades a  mountain that has risen up from the sea  bottom. Along our journey to the port town, of Skopelos port we see inlets and south facing  havens. (there are almost none on the north […]

  Motoring east on a calm morning brought us into the large south facing bay on Skiathos island: Platania. The soft green curves of the mountains around it seem to have been sandpapered by time. A lace netting of many shades of green overlays them, for this is a very verdant place.  One beach bar […]

Its so nice to re-discover how easy the spring cleaning was in this hot climate. I had forgotten how many things we had fixed…. Culminating in a stern hose spray tap for after swimming rinse. This being a one of many treats after our first swims this week. The yard is run by Sia, who […]

Shearwater, our moody 346, had brought us from Rouen through the canals. We motored with the mast on deck up the Seine, down the Marne, then through the Champagne and Burgundy canals. We put the mast back in at Port St Louis. The journey, which took us through over 200 locks, took about 6 weeks, […]

We had anchored outside Antibes, ready for an early start to Calvi, slipping away at 5am. The day of motoring to Corsica was on a sea like a flat mirror. Strangely, there was nearly half a knot of current with us for most of the time. A lot of motor cruisers set their auto pilots […]

With a light following wind we motor sailed using the genoa in calm sea under this huge suspension structure. Its five-span four-pylon cable-stayed portion of length 2,252 m (7,388 ft) is the world’s second longest cable-stayed deck. Shipping traffic is controlled for smaller boats, so that they  use the side spans. During our approach the radio controller […]

Motoring out of the long entrance of Messalonghi we passed the fishing shacks on stilts and the swimming corner at the entrance. Hundreds of wrecks lay under us from one of the largest battles in the Mediterranean between rowing galleys. In October 1571 more than  400 ships were here, and the Holy Roman Empire overcame […]

Our sailing cruise took us eastwards towards the Corinth canal under the huge suspension bridge of Rion. On the mainland we again tied up in Mitika, a small town with a very small, shallow harbour, some 2m (6ft) deep. There was just enough room for 3 yachts, surrounded by many fishing boats. One water tap […]

We named these bays to remember why we went there. The finger bay of North Meganisi    ( Ormos Kapali) ,we call kingfisher bay, after seeing them there last August. The bay with a quay and beach for a few yachts we call rose` bay, because the beach bar sells its own brand. ( Kastos). Vulture […]