Yacht Skyran

The final leg

2010-12-31T21:27:00.001Z

coming soon....

Messalonghi to Aegina

2010-10-30T15:15:00.004+01:00

In the last month we have travelled through the Gulfs of Patras and Corinth, through the Corinth canal, island hopped through the Saronic Gulf and travelled along some of the Peloponnese coast. We've suffered electrical problems on the boat, slowing our progress, and met some lovely people along the way.

After we left the Ionian we anchored in Messalonghi harbour, a pleasant and secure anchorage with turtles occasionally popping up their heads in the water. This was where we met another cruising family, Philippe, Natalie, Lounis and Celian living on Parci Parla. Lounis & Celian are the same ages as Isla & Maggie and they enjoyed swimming together and exploring each other's toy collections, as well as a bizarre collection of decommissioned military equipment (planes, tanks, rocket launchers, missiles) on the shore.

Isla with Parci Parla

After Messalonghi our next stop was the island of Trizonia, passing the impressive Rion-Andirrion bridge on the way. This coincided with Isla's first official day of schooling, so it was a bit distracting! The winds were favourable for us to continue east to Galaxidhi so we only stopped one night in Trizonia, which was a very quiet island with a sheltered half-finished harbour with a big boat sunk in the middle of it.

We came to Galaxidhi with the expectation of stopping a couple of nights, visiting Delphi and then heading on to Corinth. It's a lovely little town which had an important ship building industry (pre-steam age) and the picturesque waterfront is of well-maintained 19th century townhouses, now restaurants and cafes.

We relaxed for a couple of days to enjoy the atmosphere, rented a car and headed up to Mount Parnassus and the ancient ruins of Delphi. Delphi was the centre of the world according to ancient Greeks and thousands of pilgrims flocked to consult the oracle at the sanctuary of Apollo. The setting is spectacular, sited amongst the mountains. We explored the museum first, where the staff are highly protective of the displays and when it comes to young children they verge on the paranoid so we didn't linger too much, just time to admire some of the statues. By then it was almost dusk, a far more comfortable time of day to explore the site itself, which leads up the hillside.

The following day we left Galaxidhi harbour for Corinth, but just minutes out of the harbour a problem with the electrics/engines arose, where the engines were putting out too high a voltage, potentially dangerous and damaging to the batteries. We quickly cut both engines to drift a short time and then restarted them but it happened again so we headed to Itea, a town only 4 nautical miles across the bay from Galaxidhi which we'd visited it with the hire car and stocked up at the supermarket the day before! What next? Colin suspected there was a problem with the diode splitter (I know this is a bit technical), a box which directs the charge from the engines to the battery bank. I took the girls off to give him some space so he could spend time checking the connections and test running the engines. It seemed possible that the fault had corrected itself and next morning we set off again. But then shortly after leaving it happened again and so we put in to the nearest harbour, this time Galaxidhi which although lovely we were starting to tire of slightly!

Galaxidhi has a small chandler and the owner suggested an electrician who could come and look at the problem. We waited a day for him to come but when he did he obviously had no idea what he was doing. Fortunately, while we were sitting in the harbour wondering what to do next, La Vida, a really friendly Norwegian boat arrived. On board were Harald and Torrill, Svend Erik and Rita. Harald spent 5 years building their boat and he and Torrill had sailed down from Norway. He suggested a way to work round the problem so that we could run the egines safely to move on. They were also heading our way and offered to accompany us in case we had any difficulty. Finally a week after first arriving we had a chance to get out of Galaxidhi!

The 30 nm journey to Corinth the following morning began smoothly, with the engines running and very light winds. So light that we ran out of wind and behind us the crew of La Vida stopped for a swim. Then in the space of 30 mins the wind increased from 0 knots to 30+ knots and the sea came up behind us, completely against forecast. Suddenly we were sailing downwind at 8 knots, with the end of the gulf rapidly approaching. Fingers and toes were all crossed that the engines would behave for the approach into Corinth harbour. After ploughing through a confused lumpy swell around the harbour mole we swung into the marina and tied alongside painlessly. Phew. Half an hour later La Vida arrived and we enjoyed great hospitality on their boat.

Next morning we headed out of Corinth harbour but just missed a transit slot, so we drifted with La Vida and several other boats outside the canal entrance. Luckily it was glassy smooth and totally relaxing, unlike the previous afternoon. Eventually boats started to come through from the Aegean side and then we got the green light for our transit. Go go go!

We followed behind La Vida and each documented the other's journey through with comprehensive photography. The canal is amazing, it's got bridges that sink as you approch and everything! Ancient mariners used to drag their ships across here on a paved road and it's easy to understand why as it's only 3.2 miles between the seas (and even though it is one of the most expensive canals in the world per mile it was much easier not to have to carry the boat).

From the canal we had a good sail downwind to the town quay in Aegina Town. La Vida came into Aegina the next day and we spent a nice few hours with them in one of the waterfront cafes on Svend Erik & Rita's last night before going home to Norway. In the end we spent 4 days in Aegina, with a local mechanic again failing to properly diagnose the elecrical problem but we had a sociable time meeting the crews of the other boats around us, especially Karl and Laura from Edinburgh (who had just launched their boat Madison from a stay in a local yard and were in town before starting a 3-month cruise) and Helge, Vibeke and their friends from Denmark on Sheban Gold who gave us some contacts on Poros, a short hop south.

More Ionian photos

2010-10-07T20:00:00.002+01:00

A private cove on Ithaca

Dinghying to the beach

Isla at Fiskardo

Cliffs along Meganisi's south coast

Maggie enjoying cream cheese

Greece - The Ionian

2010-10-03T14:55:00.005+01:00

Our crossing from Croatia to Corfu took 40 hours, bypassing Montenegro (unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit here, it is apparently beautiful) and Albania (deliberately as apparently they are not quite ready for tourism yet). The conditions were very calm and we spotted two turtles on the way, one of which appeared to be mounting an inflatable swimming ring! We were 30 miles offshore and the water was 31C so we took the engines out of gear for a quick swim - a very quick swim as all the movie scenes of what could happen next sprung to mind! At one stage we were overrun with flies even though we were so far from land. The fly swat earned its place on the boat that day. On our second night we were engulfed in a thick fog which reduced visibility to just past the bow navigation lights, and spent tense hours watching blobs on the radar screen moving around us (lots of blobs as there are lots of ferries go between Italy and Greece).

We arrived into Gouvia marina to complete our arrival procedures as recommended in the Greek pilot guide (written by Rod Heikell aka Rod the God to many sailors for writing the first ever pilot books, and Rod the Cod to us). However this is Greece and the bureaucracy was not as joined up as it could be. We couldn't get our cruising permit on a Saturday so had to visit the port police again on Monday, then take a taxi to the local tax office to pay a small fee (in company with the population of Corfu paying their taxes) and then return with the receipt to get the last forms completed! No other country we have visited makes it so difficult to pay your money on entry, espcially such a token amount. No wonder the economy is in such strife.

We then anchored in Garitsas Bay, Corfu Town for most of the next week and enjoyed some family time with a reunion of the Sing/Scotters - Louise's Mum and Dad, brother Jon, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan, who moved to Corfu before the girls were born. Grandma enjoyed celebrating her birthday with everyone and treated the girls to oversized balloons which they loved. The holding in this bay is good so long as you find a suitable patch of sand - our anchor had held well through weed for the first 3 days but then unexpectedly dragged as for the first time on our trip. And unfortunately with no one on board. We were exceedingly fortunate that Skyran gently nudged a German boat called 'Escaped' (yes, we know, the irony wasn't lost on us either, our boat escaped, theirs didn't) lying downwind, whose owners tied her alongside. The lesson we learned that day is that an anchor can drag even after you have felt secure for several days.

Family gathering at Paul and Jan's

A balloon almost bigger than Maggie

Garitsas Bay

View of Garitsas Bay from the fort

After that we made certain our anchor was in the middle of a big sand patch, and it's just as well we did, for our last night spent here was rough but our anchor held, unlike some of the other boats around us. The forecast was for strong winds from the south in which case the bay would have been protected, but instead it came round to the east with Force 5 gusting 6 winds blowing straight in and giving us our most uncomfortable night at anchor yet. It was completely open and each time as the bows crashed into the oncoming waves we felt like our anchor would be pulled free. Several boats around us were dragging and resetting in the dark. One boat thoughtfully anchored just meters in front of us (in the dark), which was bad enough, but then their anchor light promptly went out giving us even more cause for concern! Once the morning light came we upped anchor and moved round to the marina at Gouvia for some shelter, rest, and to service the engines. At Gouvia we met another sailing family, a couple and their two sons on a 32' trimaran who had spent the summer travelling round the Pelopponese. Shame we only met them an hour before we left the marina, this keeps happening to us!

Before leaving Corfu we stopped in at Benitses, a few kms south of Corfu Town to check out the free marina - one of several built in recent years which are not officially up and running - no power or water but no charge either. Paul and Jan keep their boat here and showed us around, including the impressive 80' converted racing yacht they are caretaking while their friends who own her are back in the UK.

M is for Mmmm chocolate mousse

From Corfu we headed south towards the Gulf of Patras making stops at Paxos and Antipaxos (stunning turquoise waters and sandy beach here - we were the first to arrive, within half and hour we were surrounded by boats!), Preveza, Lefkas, Ithaca and Kefallonia. The weather was a bit mixed and it really began to feel like autumn on the cloudy days, although there was still a lot of heat on the sunny days.

Preveza was ok, the noisy nightlife and bouncy town quay were fine for a night. From here we set off for Lefkas. There is a swing bridge which opens on the hour at the entrance to Lefkas and we left it a bit late leaving to reach it, so had an exciting motor sail down in a stregthening Force 5 wind racing towards the bridge and arriving just as it opened, slightly later than it should have, perfect! We couldn't get tied up on the town quay in Lefkas Town, the local liveaboard community closed ranks and tied ropes between boats blocking any spaces, claiming it to be a private quay (not sure how British yachties can own a Greek town quay). Along with a few other boats we anchored off to go shopping and then had a good downwind sail to Vlikho Bay near Niddri. Niddri will never win any prizes for being the prettiest town but the bay is incredibly well protected. We anchored in the gooey mud with many others and sat out a couple of days of wet windy weather. Hiring a car for the day was a good distraction.

The bridge at Lefkas

Antipaxos

From Lefkas we headed to Ithaca, admiring all the pretty islands on the way such as Meganisi, noting good anchorages for possible future trips but not stopping now as we wanted to head for the Corinth canal and possibly the Aegean. It was a windy afternoon spent travelling down to Ithaca, the wind gusts strongly off the high islands we were travelling between. Our anchorage on Ithaca that night was not very comfortable so we headed off early to Fiskardo on Kefallonia, which Rod the Cod said was protected from all winds. We arrived early and had the pick of the town quay for mooring. It's lucky we did as within half an hour the place was full, mostly with flotilla charter boats. This was a great place to relax after the previous long day at sea, it's a small village and life revolves around the harbour. The pavements are lined with cafes, so close to the edge that our passerelle (gangplank) was under a table! We took advantage of this by booking that table and going out for dinner once the girls were in bed - for the first time since we'd left Edinburgh we were out by ourselves! We were lucky too that by chance we had parked up by the most popular restaurant in town and the food was lovely.

Fiskardo harbour

Next morning we waited for the flotillas to untangle their anchors before heading off once again. We left it a bit late to find an anchorage on the south of Ithaca, the best looking bay from the chart was full, but fortunately we found good holding instead in a tiny little inlet by the SE corner of the island. We took lines ashore and had our own small private beach for our last night in the Ionian.

Croatia (with photos)

2010-09-14T15:32:00.007+01:00

After Venice we spent a couple of nights anchored back at Rovinj, exploring the town and continuing our pattern of swimming and relaxing. This Venetian town's network of alleyways is best visited in the evening once the heat of the sun has subsided, and there is plenty of atmosphere as the cafes, restaurants and shops fill with tourists.

Rovinj by night

From Rovinj we travelled south, covering over 400 miles to Corfu in 12 days to meet family in Corfu. It involved several overnight journeys, visiting some beautiful places on the way. We stopped only briefly between Rovinj and Split, since we had explored the area on our journey north. A climb up the hill on Ist rewarded us with fantastic 360 degree views of the surrounding islands. We revisited a lovely anchorage on Dugi Otok before continuing on past the Kornati Islands. We reached Split under sail (goose winging for the first time) and endured another uncomfortable anchorage in the harbour while waiting for fuel (the ferries create a great deal of swell). The girls and I jumped ship and wandered through the old town. The setting is very impressive, as the streets wind through Diocletian's Palace (Diocletian was a Roman Emperor who built himself a palace on the Dalmatian coast to retire to). Venetian mansions and a revamped pedestrianised waterfront of chic cafes completed the scene.

Split's not-so-calm harbour waters

Diocletian's palace

The tunnels beneath Diocletian's Palace

From Split we continued south past Hvar to Korcula, another island with a beautiful Venetian peninsula town. This journey gave us our most exciting sail yet, where after a flat calm start the wind got up to force 5-6 and we hit 9.5 knots on a beam reach with full sail up. Picture the scene, Louise at the helm, Colin poised with camera to capture the magic speed on the instruments, Isla enjoying the cool breeze through an open hatch in the saloon. Wait a minute - did someone say OPEN hatch? If only we'd remembered to close it before hitting the wake of a superyacht passing at speed in the narrow channel which we drove into, sending water crashing over the foredeck and consequently into the saloon. Instant low from our previous high!

We searched long and hard around the area for an anchorage with good holding, trying several bays, but the strong winds which gave us exciting sailing meant we needed to find a solid protected anchorage. Finally we found good holding in Uvala Luka, the bay closest to Korcula Town, and the busiest anchorage we've seen on our trip to date. Exploring the town early (ish) the following day was a joy, the narrow winding streets giving glorious views to the sea and the spectacular mountains of the Pljesac peninsula.

Korcula Town seen from the dinghy

Enjoying the views from Korcula Town

South east of Korcula lies Mljet, an island which is predominantly a National Park. The crossing was hot and still, so we cooled off in the water by swimming from a line off the stern. Mid-swim we were overtaken by Mystere yet again, who gave us a wave as they beat us to the beautiful, peaceful anchorage of Ploce which is made up of several islands lying in a crystal water. The pine forest extends down the hillside to the rocky shore here, as on many of the islands we have seen through Croatia and we shared our chosen spot with hundreds, or maybe thousands, of humming secadas.

A mid-passage swim

Views of Mljet

On our way to Dubrovnik we visited Trsteno, a small town with a picture postcard harbour and wonderful botanical garden. We were fortunate that it was a very calm morning so we could leave the boat anchored in the exposed bay and go ashore to explore. And what a wonderful morning we spent wandering through the charming lanes where cottage gardens were laden with ripening fruit and vegetables. The gardens were a delight, beautifully maintained and providing cool leafy shade to explore. These are Croatia's oldest botanical gardens, created by an aristocratic family in 1502, parts of it were destroyed (and later restored) during the 1990s war and a subsequent fire. In the same town are a majestic pair of 400 year old plane trees. After taking far too many photos and stocking up on local produce (figs, tomatoes, grapes and a jar of tasty lemon jam), we set off for Dubrovnik.

Trsteno harbour

Trsteno's gardens

A 400-year old plane tree, with Isla for scale (if you can spot her climbing the trunk)

We had been eagerly looking forward to Dubrovnik as one of the highlights of the Adriatic, an elegant Medieval town with impressive city walls and an old town with real wow factor. Our friends on Islay Mist recommended anchoring in the river (they spent a week there and had found good holding) so we headed there, deciding to take water from the marina first. Little did we know that this would lead to our closest call yet. We took advise from the fuel berth as to where we could tie up for water but, just as we were manoevering in, 2 marina employees called us to halt. This unhappily coincided with a sudden gust of wind and from nowhere 20 knots pushed us towards the boat we were planning to tie up behind. A dramatic push off from Colin which saw him briefly leave Skyran so as not to loose grip of the other boat and full speed ahead by Louise saw us safely away with nothing damaged except our pride and previously blemish-free boat handling record.

Having narrowly escaped disaster we abandoned the river location, deciding instead that we should spend our last night in Croatia in view of the old town. We couldn't get a good holding in the bay where several other boats were anchored, only succeeding in pulling up our anchor full of weed (and making us wonder just how well anchored the other boats were). Instead we tucked inside the island of Lokrum where there was good holding (we also took a stern line to shore) and enjoyed the views of the town and the large superyachts in the bay (complete with floating hot tubs!).

Lokrum

The centre of Dubrovnik is incredibly well preserved, though needed renovation after it was under seige during the 1990s war. There is so much more to explore than we managed in our brief time here. We decided against wandering the 2kms of old town walls - the risks to our backs of lifting up the girls to peer over the walls for every view was too high (that and the 2km at toddler speed taking all day). The first evening we soaked up the atmosphere in the cooler temperatures. It was the final day of the city's summer festival so we were treated to a free concert as the orchestra warmed up for their grand finale (which was after the girls' bedtime).

The next day we were up early to explore before the heat of the day and catch the first cablecar up the mountain to take in more of the views. The original cablecar had been destroyed during the siege; fortunately for us it had reopened this summer, shiny and new, allowing fabulous views not only of the city but the islands stretching away to the north. Also on Mount Srd is a Napoleonic fort and fantastically Communist communications tower which looks like a 1950s space rocket.

View from Mount Srd to Lokrum

Our sightseeing included calling in on the pharmacy of a Franciscan monastery. Established in 1317 it is apparently the oldest pharmacy in Europe. I couldn't resist buying their botanical face creams with anti-ageing properties (for the accelerated ageing I've experienced while sailing with the girls, I hope it works!).

With Dubrovnik being such a popular destination it was no surprise to see Mystere approach and anchor closeby (the sailing superyacht first seen in Venice). This was to be our last encounter - as each vessel lifted its anchor later that day, Mystere headed north and we south to Cavtat. It was coincidental to have shared the same schedule from Venice to Dubrovnik, given that they can travel twice our speed.

Cavtat is another pretty harbour and the southern most port to sign out with customs. We had heard that it could be busy but we were lucky, the harbour wall was relatively quiet and the process didn't take too long. Our time in Croatia was over and it was time to move on to Greece, we had a good weather window for the 2 day/night crossing to Corfu. It felt sad to be sailing away but the happy memories we hold of our time here are too many to count and we had the whole of Greece to look forward to.

Venice

2010-09-06T14:05:00.010+01:00

Our passage north from Pula to Rovinj was straightforward and we anchored in the bay for the afternoon. Rovinj is blessed with a beautiful setting, the old town was once an island but became connected to the mainland by a causeway during the 18th century as the town grew. It also has a beautiful bay surrounded by parkland. We spent the afternoon relaxing, swimming and playing on the (rocky) beach before setting off for Venice.

We had booked two nights at a marina within the Venetian lagoon on the island of Certosa and so, in order to get the best of our time there and to time our arrival with the tides, we decided to travel overnight and arrive in the morning. Checking out of Croatian customs at 7.30pm was straightforward and the overnight passage passed smoothly.

Leaving Rovinj

The next morning dawned a stunning sunrise and through our sleepy haze we excitedly anticipated reaching the lagoon entrance.

Sunrise (red sky at morning, shepherds take warning)

Entrance to the lagoon

There is a strong tidal flow in the lagoon, this is the first time we have had to consider tides during our time in the Med.

Our first stop was a cruise up the main waterway passing St Marks Square. Unlike 007, who was working on his laptop when he arrived by yacht in Venice in Casino Royale, we needed all our concentration to watch the other boats and negotiate our way through. Terrifying and exciting (terrifyingly exciting) and exhilarating sums up the feeling of steering a safe course through the myriad of different boats sharing the same waterways (at least for me, Colin took it all in his stride). The variety of boats ranged from kayaks, gondolas, vaporettos (waterbuses), cruise ships, ferries, and all the other private boats, water taxis and working boats. Everything in Venice travels by boat - the refuse and recycling collection, ambulances, dredging boats, and so on. All this traffic makes the water pretty choppy. The collision regulations rule of passing port to port doesn't apply in these busy waters and, just like driving in Tunisia, a more fluid approach was the best way to negotiate around everyone.

Travelling through the lagoon

View towards St Marks Square (this one's for you, Fee!)

Super-yacht Mystere moored by St Marks Square (more about her later...)

Happy skipper

Too much excitement for Maggie

Due to the shallow depths of the lagoon there are waterways marked out by wooden posts. We found our 'turn-off' from the main route (I held my breathe as I made the left turn across the main route with a ferry and several speedy water taxis bearing down on us, though needn't have worried, there's room enough for everyone), and headed to Marina Vento di Veneto on Isola di Certosa. The marina has a wonderfully peaceful setting only 500m from St Marks Square, yet is away from the churning waters of the main 'drag'. After settling in we headed off on the next vaporetto to explore some more.

We took the girls up the Campanile to get the stunning 360 degree views of the city, marvelling at the wonderful secret rooftop gardens and beautiful architecture surrounding us. When it came time to leave, and as we waited at the front of the queue for the lift down, the bell hovering just above our heads started to slowly swing. Surely, I thought, they don't actually chime the bells while there are people up here? But oh yes they do. At 7.30pm. The bell swung back and forth chiming and chiming, on and on like an apocalyptic cinematic scene. My thoughts returned to Maggie and her shrill hysterical screams and sobbing when we watched cannons and muskets being fired in Malta, and I anticipated her meltdown. Fortunately she just about held it together and the lift rescued us just in time - Maggie wide-eyed and clinging to me for dear life with her entire body. (By chance we happened to be in St Marks Square at the foot of the Campanile at 7.30pm the next day and I thought about the tourists crouched below the ringing bells sharing the same experience).

The Campanile

Those bells

Fantastic views

Safely back in St Marks Square we were treated to the dulcit tones of a busking soprano singer and cellist who were travelling from Italy to Edinburgh solely on the donations of their audiences.

Classical busking

As the adrenaline rush from the bells subsided we thought we'd visit the port officials as the pilot book was a bit vague as to whether we needed to report into the country (having arrived from a non-EU country). But all we succeeded in doing was confusing the officials at the entrance who spoke little english and thought that we had arrived by ferry and were looking for a hotel. And so typically of the friendliness of Italians they even tried to suggest where we might find one!
The following day the weather turned ugly. We found ourselves in the midst of a powerful thunderstorm while on a vaporetto and so we abandoned our plans for the day when the rain was particularly torrential and stayed on board for a bit of a tour. The vaporetto route took us to Murano, a separate island within the lagoon famous for its glassware. Some of the glass is exquisite, some bizarre and some highly imaginative. Taking the girls into a couple of these shops was more than our nerves could take (don't touch ANYTHING). We had some fun at [museum modern art] on Grand Canal. There is a lit floor in the entrance with changing colours and pop music playing, running around on that was enormously exciting for the girls.

Murano

The weather forecast showed more thunderstorms so we decided that we'd stay another night in the marina, and spent our unplanned third day having a relaxed time. We found a playpark with amazing views by the canals, and wondered the streets some more. Our lunch at a popular local cafe was shared with Luna, a hungry looking dog with no obvious owner but clearly known by and popular with everyone else in the cafe.

Face to face with Luna, who only had eyes for our sandwiches

Sunday dawned bright sunshine and so with sadness in our hearts (but relief for our bank balance), we left Venice and headed back across the Adriatic for Rovinj. The water is extremely shallow even once you have left the lagoon, averging around 30 metres depth. As a result the recent stormy weather had created a choppy sea and it was a lumpy bumpy motorsail east. We were making good speed, averaging 7 knots, when a large yacht with a very tall mast appeared on the horizon and sped past - Mystere which we had seen on our first day. And she was there again on the quay, attracting crowds come to stare at her, when we finally arrived back in Rovinj at 7.30pm, exactly 4 days after we had left (and just as those bells would be chiming again). Our long-weekend in Venice was truly wonderful and unforgettable.

Views of Certosa

On the move

2010-08-26T16:58:00.002+01:00

Since our last entry we have covered many miles. We've been to Venice and travelled south again through Croatia's islands to Dubrovnik. Now we have checked out from Cavtat and are heading non-stop to Corfu, 220 miles away. At a speed of 4.5 knots this will give us lots of time to write a full blog entry about our Adriatic travels...

Croatia

2010-08-10T22:03:00.008+01:00

Summertime in Croatia and it's holiday season. The mood is infectious. Croatia is like a holiday for us too, after all the (nautical) miles we've put in since we left Almerimar at the end of March. It's the perfect place for some serious rest and relaxation. So many islands on the charts, so many anchorages ripe for discovery. This is certainly the lifestyle we were envisaging when we first started to discuss the trip, though Croatia wasn't necessarily the country we were expecting to find it, it wasn't even on our first draft itinerary but we're so glad we came, it's our favourite sailing destination so far.

The last 3 weeks have seen us travelling north through varied landscapes from Split in central Dalmatia to the Istrian peninsula in the northern Adriatic. The Bachmanns (friends from Edinburgh -Isla and Viv have been friends through the nursery since they were toddlers) joined us for two weeks heading up to Zadar, and we've had a wonderful time. Days were spent in and out of the water, swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, scooping up lost items from overboard (mostly pegs), kissing bruises, mediating toddler wars, reading, planning the next destination, while the evenings were enjoyed drinking wine and eating secret grown ups chocolate (yes, still getting away with that one) while listening to the girls giggle in their cabin.

After collecting the Bachmanns from Split, where we sat uncomfortably at anchor in a lumpy swell created by the ferries coming and going, we headed back to the nearby island of Solta. From Solta we travelled north and then couldn't resist taking the opportunity for sight-seeing inland by taking Skyran up-river to Skradin, famous as the gateway to Krka National Park. We spent one night anchored in a tranquil spot on a lake before continuing on to Skradin. The National Park is famous for its waterfalls and it's only possible to travel there by taking one of the official boats. We arrived at the park at lunchtime and unsurprisingly it was packed with visitors, which detracted a bit from what is clearly an outstandingly beautiful place. We followed the sightseeing route through the park to take in the countless waterfalls. There were grazed knees, bumped heads and scraped arms (3 of the 4 kids were sporting injuries by the end of the day) but it was a worthwhile trip. Skradin was a scenic town to explore and Colin and I were enjoying the novelty of being away from the sea but still on the boat.

Channel marker on the Krka River

Swimming in the falls at Skradinski Buk

From Skradin we refuelled and watered at Sibenik, having emptied the water tanks on the way with a major family laundry event. From here we headed for the Kornati Islands, another national park. This is a chain of desolate, devegetated islands where sheep once roamed, renowned for their stark natural beauty. We spent a day anchored in a bay for lunch and a swim before heading to one of the official overnight anchorages, Uvala Opat on Otok Kornat. We had imagined dining in a rustic Croatian restaurant but it turned out that this bay's restaurant was a much more upmarket affair. The fish they suggested for us for 8 people was enormous and would've cost £250 (they were choosing to ignore the mini appetites of the 4 children standing in front of them!). We chose the alternative of a mixed fish grill and that evening we feasted like kings (when we were able to eat it, the kids were very mobile that night). The cost was eye-watering (the bread from the table and leftover water came back to the boat with us) but it was worth it, the food was outstanding.

The Kornati Islands, "On the last day of the Creation God desired to crown his work, and thus created the Kornati Islands out of tears, stars and breath". George Bernard Shaw.

Breakfast with a starfish which had attached itself to the anchor

We enjoyed our time in the Kornati Islands but it was cut short by, of all things, rain. We can't even remember the last time we saw water falling from the sky (we reckon it must be Sardinia back in May), but it transported us from Croatia to Scotland in an instant. And it wasn't just raining, it was accompanied by strong gusting wind and quickly steepening sea. We were finally experiencing an Adriatic squall, which we'd seen forecasted on the Navtex (weather forecasts) almost every day since entering the Adriatic back in Otranto. Spotting another peaceful spot we managed to escape the white horses and relax again. And eventually the weather relaxed too; the sun came out and after a swim and climb up the hill for some we continued north to Telascica Bay on the south end of Dugi Otok, our third national park in a week. Colin identified a promising narrow inlet to one side of this large natural harbour on the chart and it proved to be perfection. We stayed two days, and it was bliss.

View of Skyran in the Kornati Islands

Cuska Duboka, Telascica Bay, Dugi Otok

The snorkelling here was particularly good and Till made a very exciting discovery of an octopus on one outing. It made a tour around the boat (an underwater tour I should add!), giving lots of photo opportunities for those in the water. Till was also involved in some urgent work which required climbing the treacherous, landslide-prone hill we were moored on, in order to get a signal to send an email back to the office. Fortunately he took a camera with him as well to get some great shots:

Our tentacled visitor

Till's view of the Kornati Islands

We spent several more nights making our way up Dugi Otok, which was a welcome return to lush green vegetation after the barreness of the Kornatis. One night we anchored in such clear waters that at 4 meters deep the sea bed was so clear you felt you could reach in and touch it. There were amazing fan mussels and spider crabs, Till brought some examples up for the children to see.

At the north end of Dugi Otok we took a walk up to a lighthouse through a pine forest to watch the sunset.

A shipwreck we snorkelled, Dugi Otok. A seahorse with a missing tail.

As we came to the end of the Bachmanns' trip the weather deteriorated. During their final evening we sat inside watching an electrical storm approach, sipping wine while the lightning lit up the distant sky. With strong strong gusts of wind, Colin leapt up during the night when he mistook one particularly close and very loud thunderclap for us being hit by our neighbour who was anchored close by. Our anchor held well through the night though, and when we lifted it the following morning we discovered just how secure it was - there was an old steel mooring cable well and truly wrapped round it, which he had to cut off with boltcutters to release it in the pouring rain. We were well and truly saturated by the time we reached the mainland (people and boat, with all her curious little leaks which are gradually being repaired), and in torrential donwpours and heavy hearts we bade farewell to the Bachmann family.

A wet goodbye

And so there were 4. Suddenly the boat felt so spacious and quiet, though we'd never felt it cramped or noisy when they were here, and the two weeks had flown by. Sitting on deck on the island of Silba we were faced with a dilemma - should we start to travel south again, coinciding with the annual festival at Sali on Dugi Otok, or continue north? A glance at the charts drew our attention to how close we'd come to one of the ultimate Mediterranean destinations. Venice. Could we possibly leave this area without taking Skyran to meet the Queen of the Adriatic? The answer was, of course not! So we have a new direction, and a new purpose in our (metaphorical) stride as we set our sights on fulfilling a dream. James Bond sailed a boat into Venice, and so (hopefully) will we.

On our journey north we have reached Pula on the Istrian peninsula. Pula is famous for its Roman amphitheatre - the first Roman ruins since Tunisia! We are anchored in the bay, from where we can see the amphitheatre picturesquely lit up, set amongst the cranes of the working port and adjacent to beautiful Venetian buildings and outstandingly functional, ugly twentieth century Communist architecture.

Irresistible photo opportunity in Pula, with the amphitheatre in the background

Tonight's view from the cockpit, the amphitheatre lit up (centre)

As we sat having dinner this evening the local rowing club were out training. After almost a month holidaying with Croatians and Italians amongst the islands it's a refreshing change to be in an urban setting and a working city. From here we travel to Rovinj then Venice on Thursday. The next few days are all about city life.

Holidaying with the Bachmanns

2010-07-20T11:02:00.005+01:00

Susi, Till, Vivi and Emil have joined us for a holiday, we're travelling from Split to Zadar together. The girls are thrilled to be reunited.

More later...

Croatia

2010-07-17T15:28:00.003+01:00

We had one last night in Brindisi which we spent anchored within the harbour, there was some gentle movement which helped us find our sea legs again after 6 nights in the marina. When we spotted people visiting the castle overlooking the harbour we decided to take the dinghy over to investigate. Our curiosity was rewarded with a free art exhibition and the opportunity to explore the old building which was fascinating.

The following morning we waved Islay Mist off before setting off ourselves, destination Ubli on Lastovo, Croatia. Once again after the first hour under sail we motored the rest of the 28 hours as outside the harbour the wind wanted to send us to Albania before dropping off altogether. We're getting used to overnighters now and this one was straightforward. We had anticipated that we would be crossing a busy shipping route but we only saw 3 boats in our combined watches. The morning of the second day was glassy flat and the dolphins came calling once again. We took the opportunity to get a bit of cleaning done - girls and boat.

Our arrival into Ubli did not disappoint. The island is heavily wooded and the trees were pulsing with the cicadas' call. The sea here is crystal clear and the anchoring safe and sheltered. This island used to be within a military zone and forbidden to tourists, and within the bay where we anchored there is still a dock tunelled into the cliff which was used for hiding submarines and torpedo boats - part of the camoflage netting is still visible.

This anchorage was the perfect place to launch our new kayak which the girls love, and we could recover from the lack of sleep with a lazy swim and paddle.

Since our arrival we have island hopped our way north to Solta and (about time) have had some good sailing conditions. It has been a pleasure to be doing short hops with flexibility of destinations.

We stopped for a couple of hours in the harbour at Hvar Town. This is one of Croatia's most popular tourist destinations and so we were expecting it to be busy. And it didn't disappoint. Colin didn't come ashore so as to keep an eye on Skyran. It's just as well he didn't: the water was constantly churning with the wake of boats criss-crossing and absolutely packed with charter boats attempting to anchor including one which tried to lay its anchor over ours.

Meanwhile onshore the girls and I were rapidly overheating in the late afternoon sun, and so after taking on a few supplies we headed off and found a peaceful spot in a bay a short distance away. We returned early the following morning for a bit of exploring - we thought that 8am would be pleasantly warm but not so, we'll have to set our alarm clocks even earlier if we want to escape the heat here. We only briefly explored, it's a pretty place but everything was so expensive, a bottle of water cost £3.50. Clearly the glamorous locations are out of our budget.

Croatia is shaping up to be a relaxed place to spend some time. So far the sailing has been good, the anchorages sheltered and the water deliciously inviting. We are all getting lots of swimming opportunities and the girls are loving it (& so are we!). And when they're not swimming they are sitting cooling off in salty sea baths. The people are generally friendly though after Italy they seem to lack a certain joy, maybe a legacy of their recent past, either that or they're suffering from the heat too!

Malta to Italy

2010-07-11T10:32:00.004+01:00

Another update on our progress. Anna joined the crew in Valletta and after a night there we then anchored up in the Blue Lagoon. That night we had our first dinner guests on board with Peter, Ruth & Will from Time Warp, who brought some delicious food. The following day was a holiday in Malta and it seemed that everyone with a boat descended on the Blue Lagoon. The wake was insane! We set off that afternoon for Sicily with the intention of reaching Corfu and reached Siracusa on Sicily after an overnight passage. We enjoyed two nights anchored in this lovely town (note to anyone in our footsteps, following this town has the BEST laundrette ever, so friendly and cheap).

From Siracusa we set off for Corfu. During the day the conditions were very calm, the water barely rippled in places, and we were treated to amazing displays of agility by the tuna who were leaping out of the water. During the night however the wind picked up more than had been forecast and so we made the decision to divert to mainland Italy instead. We continued our passage through the following day, once again the wind dropped and the sea was glassy. This time we were treated to leaping Swordfish and more wonderful dolphins.

On the morning of the third day we decided that, rather than making for Brindisi we would stop at Otranto, on the southern part of the heel of Italy. After taking on water we moved to anchor in the bay and get some well-earned rest. And how lucky we did as we found ourselves anchored with another Scottish boat, Islay Mist from Shetland, with two girls Alisha (6) and Kaylee (5) on board. Since then we have travelled north to Brindisi together and spent a week in the marina due to strong northerly winds. The girls have been getting along fantastically as we are on the same pontoon only one boat apart.

We haven't seen much of Brindisi centre, but have found lots of goodies for the boat (and one or two things for ourselves) at the out of town shopping malls. We've also replaced the outboard which was stuck in reverse, and got the fridge fixed (it had expired its coolant gas in Tunisia). I think we have many reasons to thank the winds for blowing us off course from Corfu. And we couldn't have covered so much distance in such a short time without Anna on board helping out with the night watches. Thanks Anna!

Our onward plans are to Croatia to meet with Viv and family who will be joining us on the boat. And we'll undoubtedly be seeing Islay Mist again as we're more or less on the same schedule.

2010-06-28T10:16:00.002+01:00

Our time in Malta is almost up, and despite having a mostly reliable internet connection I haven't had time to write a proper blog update. Obviously there's been too much to see and do. Having friendly neighbours in the marina and a new washing machine to play with probably had a lot to do with it, as well as an interesting city to explore.

Our plan now is to travel to Sicily and Corfu. We have Colin's sister Anna on board for a week, having an extra crew member will help with our overnight watches. This should mean that there will be lots of time to write a proper entry for Malta but in the meantime I have added some Malta photos to our online albums - follow the link on the right to see them.

Malta

2010-06-21T22:30:00.003+01:00

After a straightforward crossing from Monastir we've arrived in Malta. Grandad, Uncle Robin and cousin Fin are settled on board and after three nights of anchoring around Gozo, Comino and the blue lagoon, swimming and relaxing we have settled into a marina at Valetta (with a wifi signal on board, what luxury).

More to follow...

Last Tunisia entry

2010-06-21T22:09:00.005+01:00

From Douz and our creature comforts we headed east and north to the coast via dusty desert roads and the town of Matmata, famous for having been a Star Wars location. We had lunch in a cave where we were served all the usual Tunisian specialities: brik (a fried pasty with egg inside) followed by couscous and for dessert makhroud, a date filled semolina cake soaked in honey. By the time we'd reached Matmata the air temperature had dropped from the intensity of Douz; even so it was much more pleasant to sit in a relatively cool cave to eat.

Matmata

Once we had reached the coast the density of population immediately increased, and the roadside entrepreneurs returned, mainly selling petrol. We arrived in the early evening to Sfax, the second city of Tunisia. Our hotel was in view of the Medina walls, located in the shoe shop district. Despite my best efforts I couldn't find a pair of sandals to replace my much-loved and lost flip flops. We wandered the Medina's streets, which were heaving with Saturday shoppers and few tourists. The district we found ourselves in seemed to be the tailors and haberdashers, nothing to tempt us into buying. The buggy was a bit of a handicap to getting around, and it was getting hot again, so we headed away for Colin to get a haircut. Amazingly this took over an hour (including eyebrows) and made us late for checking out of the hotel though the staff were kind enough not to complain. And so we hit the road once again, for the final leg back to El Kantaoui, passing El Jem and an impressive Roman amphitheatre on the way.

Sfax

Haircut, with World Cup football on TV (perhaps that's why it took 1.5 hours...)

El Jem

After a night settling back into the boat we hung around the marina, took the girls to the nearby zoo then, after paying up our bill which turned out to be double what we were expecting (although they knew we were a catamaran they didn't mention the 80% multihull surcharge when they originally told us the cost...), we set off in good conditions to Monastir, the next marina. This hadn't received a good write-up in the pilot book but it's much more appealing to us. El Kantaoui was busy with (mostly eastern European) tourists and the immediate surroundings to our berth was noisy from restaurants. Here in Monastir it's peaceful and we are close to the main sights of the city.

Monastir was the birth place of Habib Bourguiba, the country's first president, and they have built an impressive mausoleum for him and his family (he died in 2000). It's adjacent to the ribat, a large fort complex, which has featured in a number of films (including Life of Brian).

View towards the mausoleum entrance

Inside the mausoleum

Ribat

We've enjoyed our time in Tunisia, and we hope to return one day to see the bits we missed. But now it's time to leave for Malta where we are meeting John, Robin and Fin and look forward to celebrating Maggie's 2nd birthday. It will be good to have more freedom of movement again too, in Tunisia there is a great deal of bureaucracy, arriving and departing from ports, and no option of anchoring.

Hot in the south Tunisian desert

2010-06-11T23:59:00.007+01:00

We felt that we couldn't leave Tunisia without seeing some of the south and interior of Tunisia, and having got the boat safely into the marina at El Kantaoui we've hired a car for 4 days.

After negotiating the confusing urban sprawl that surrounds El Kantaoui and neighbouring Sousse we headed south and, much to our delight, managed to squeeze in more Roman ruins at Sbeitla. This site, in the heart of Tunisia, has some spectacular buildings which are still quite complete, which made for some impressive views. However, as we had arrived at lunchtime we didn't hang around for too long, instead finding all the shade that was available to admire the scenery.

Sbeitla

And so onwards to the South. Which turned out to be seriously hot. Opening our air conditioned car door was like opening the oven door with the fan going and getting in. We timed our trip here with unseasonally hot weather, the temperature more typical of July and August. All the locals we spoke to were complaining about it. Today's forecast was 46C - a week ago it was 10C cooler.

Still we didn't let that spoil our trip, we saw plenty of unusual sights through the car windows and spent two nights in the region, one night in Tozeur and the second in Douz.

Sheep on a motorbike!

Safety-conscious goats recreate the Beatles' Abbey Road album cover!

Roadside camels

Say cheese

The roads around Tozeur are busy with tour groups

The journey between Tozeur and Douz crosses the salt lake of Chott El-Jerid with unusual pink streams where the water evaporates in the searing heat

At Douz we've found a wonderful oasis for ourselves, a hotel with two swimming pools, one indoor - essential for the girls - and a huge room to spread out and relax in. The girls loved it. Even the bath was a luxury for them, they had space to stretch out in after bathing in their blue buckets.

Bliss...

Sidi Daoud and Kelibia

2010-06-07T12:42:00.005+01:00

Since leaving Sidi Bou Said we have found ourselves staying in fishing harbours which have many advantages. Not only are they significantly cheaper than the marina, but the welcome we receive is so friendly. The pungent surroundings are much more interesting, with the neighbours as interested in us as we are in them.

Maggie's day bed

Our first stop was Sidi Daoud, about 30Nm from Sidi Bou Said. This harbour provided us with some welcome shelter from an uncomfortable sea - one particularly big wave came over the side soaking everyone in the cockpit (fortunately for me I was inside) resulting in much screaming from the girls who had been sleeeping on cushions on the floor. Safely tied up alongside we invested some dinar in the local fisherman's catch, only to realise once the girls were in bed that we didn't have the energy to invest in the gutting and preparation of the little fish. Hotdogs for dinner once again.

Our planned departure the following day was unsuccessful when, just outside the harbour entrance, the fanbelt broke on one of the engines, the second time in only a few engine hours. We were motoring into wind and sea and as one engine was not enough to make headway and clear the shallow channel out came the fenders again and back in we went. A moment of stress came when it looked like the engine wouldn't restart for manoevering in the harbour (the boat is very hard to steer at slow speeds with one engine), but phew it came through for us and we were back alongside where we'd left off. Colin quickly changed the belt and one of the fishing boat mechanics offered to look at the alignment of the pullies which looked OK but could have been causing the breaks. After some contemplation by all, it was decided that the problem this time was hopefully a dodgy fanbelt rather than the engine, fingers crossed, we'll have to wait and see if it happens again to know for sure. However, the messing around meant we missed our (already late) window for departure so we decided to spend another night enjoying our fragrant surroundings. We took a trip into the nearby town of El Haouaria where there were Roman caves to see. Colin could barely contain his excitement at the thought of still more ruins, but these sounded a bit unusual being the quarries where stone was excavated to build the Colosseum in Rome with 1km of underground tunnels leading through the cliffs. Unfortunately they seemed to have been permanently closed to tourists for some time (much to the surprise of our 'local' taxi driver), so that left us with a stroll through the town's streets. Clearly they don't see many tourists here - that much was apparent from the excited screech of 'touristes' by a schoolgirl to her friends inside a shop and the girls once again received many 'bizous' (kisses or strokes on the cheek). Our second attempt at the local fish (a small tuna this time we think) worked out with Colin doing a workmanlike gutting and preparation under instructions read out by Louise. The fish was delicious though and left us with full stomachs (as well as a smelly boat for a few days!)

We left Sidi Daoud on the 5th June in much calmer conditions, managing to sail for the first hour and with no drama, travelled round Cap Bon to Kelibia, passing enticing stretches of golden sand. Kelibia is another, larger fishing port with a dedicated yacht quay, which, like Sidi Bou Said and Tabarka, draws the locals to see the visiting boats and have their photos taken by their favourite ones. It's located beneath the watchful gaze of a large stone fort. The views from the fort are fantastic and from the fort we wandered back down to a neglected Roman site, where the lovely mosaics are literally crumbling away in an open and rubbish strewn square.

Kelibia harbour, with the fort in the background

Views from the fort

Crumbling mosaics

More views of the harbour

Our second day here was spent at one of the lovely beaches we'd passed on our way here, El Mansourah. Being sunday there were quite a lot of people, plenty of families and lots going on. The quad bike racing through the sunbathers on the beach was a bit worrying to our British standards - no stringent health and safety concerns stopping the fun here (note to parents/grandparents, we were well out of their way, eating crepes in the cafe, yum!).

On our return to the harbour around 5pm there was another boat rafted alongside us, by 8pm there were 6 of us in two lines of 3 boats. Cosy. This is the most boats we've seen in transit since arriving in Tunisia. Funny how we've converged on the same small fishing port.

Rafted up

Our forthcoming plans are to move south, to El Kantoui, a secure marina where we hope to leave Skyran for a few days, rent a car and take a small trip inland and southwards, to find oases, camels and Berber markets, in the region where they filmed parts of Star Wars and The English Patient. We can almost feel the Saharan sand whipping against our faces already.

Skyran and Oflo

2010-06-07T12:32:00.004+01:00

Oflo's arrival

Oflo and Skyran side by side

Tammie and Meg with the girls

Bon voyage...

Tunisia - Tabarka and Bulla Regia

2010-06-06T15:52:00.000+01:00

Tunisia - Sidi Bou Said photos

2010-06-06T15:43:00.003+01:00

Mosaics at the Bardo Museum, Tunis

The girls in a princess' bed

With Scott and Tammie in Carthage's museum

Isla

Traditional architecture of Sidi Bou Said

View of marina and Cap Bon, Sidi Bou Said

2010-06-02T22:17:00.000+01:00

In the end we spent 9 nights in Cagliari, initially due to the wind and then to allow time to repair the boat as unfortunately we hit the pontoon during the gales, resulting in damage to the fibreglass which allowed water into the boat. This was due to our initial berth being exposed to the wind and waves travelling across the harbour and the marina's mooring lines were inadequate. This marina was described in the pilot book (the 'Lonely Planet' for boats) as a friendly family-run marina but the marina we found ourselves in was anything but. The marina seems to be on a steady decline with no investment, mooring lines snapped, the rubbish disposal facility was a shopping trolley, and a general air of indifference to any visiting boats. The best aspect of our time here was meeting a liveaboard community who had overwintered here and due to the poor sailing conditions had not yet begun their summer cruising. Not only did they provide a friendly welcome, but they passed on useful information for Tunisia, our next destination, and helped out with the repairs we needed to make. Les on Celtic, another catamaran, more or less repaired the damage to the fibreglass for us and did a fantastic job.
Meanwhile we gradually explored Cagliari ice cream shop by ice cream shop. We found the Botanic Gardens were a lovely welcome relief to the noise of the streets. The beach was closeby, a short bus journey away. And on our last day we realised that there was another family in the marina, with two sons aged 8 and 3, who the girls really enjoyed playing with. It was a shame we didn't meet on day one, however the gales were so ferocious that it wasn't possible to walk around the pontoons. In fact, at their worst, it was almost impossible to step off the boat onto the pontoon.

When the weather had finally settled we set off for Tunisia. We left mid-afternoon and travelled south again to a beautiful beach where the girls played for a couple of hours, and then it was an overnight passage to Ille de la Galite, 108 Nm from Cagliari, 13 hours later. Lonely Galite rises out of the sea to provide fishing and shelter for local fishermen, but after being visited by the Guarde National and the Tunisian navy we weren't allowed ashore as we hadn't cleared customs (not usually supposed to be a problem). A shame, but after the girls admired the beach for a couple of hours, we did some stitching of the torn bimini and had some food, we set off for Tabarka, a further 5 hours away.

Tabarka is a small north coast town close to the Algerian border which gave us a very warm welcome. The officials that we met were friendly, helpful, and distant memories of GCSE/O Grade French came flooding back as there is very little English spoken here. As we were tied alongside the harbour wall, in the heart of the marina, surrounded by restaurants, this is a busy little spot for passersby stopping and chatting to us.

We spent 2 nights in Tabarka, and felt really pleased that we had come here as it was a diversion from our intended plan of meeting friends near Tunis, further east. We wandered the busy shops, picking up wonderful fruit, baguettes and cake, all delicious and so cheap after European prices. We then semi-spontaneously hired a car to explore the Roman city of Bulla Regia, as we knew nothing about it other than it would be interesting to see. Any trip away from the coast provides us with a change of scene, and this was particularly enjoyable. The landscape was heavily forested, the roads lined with eucalypts, making it feel more Australian than African.
Bulla Regia is a Roman city around an hour south of Tabarka which is famous for its well preserved underground villas. The Romans built these to escape the summer heat which we could well understand as when we were there it was hot hot hot. There was almost nobody else there, and we had so much freedom to wander through the ruins, which still have many mosaics intact.

The following morning we walked up to the old Genoese Fort (from the 16th Century) which overlooks Tabarka. It's not possible to visit inside the fort, however the guard on duty allowed us in for a quick 'cinque minutes, vitesse!', which was very kind as he kept worrying that his boss was coming.

On from Tabarka we reached Sidi Mechrig, motoring in blazing sunshine across a glassy smooth sea. The bimini repairs were urgently finished off to give much needed shade to the cockpit (but subsequently it has been shady ever since). We anchored off the beach just outside the fishing harbour to allow some beach time for the girls. The beach is overlooked by the remains of Roman baths, with three arches still standing. Amazingly the site is littered with broken pieces of Roman pottery (of course we didn't collect any at all!)

As we came into Sidi Mechrig harbour it seemed like the whole male population had come to see us arrive, so the pressure was on to dock neatly! Of course Colin's driving skills rose to the occasion. This small fishing harbour does see cruising boats each summer and we were the first this year. (Anchoring in Tunisian waters is generally not possible overnight, unless it's outside a harbour that doesn't have space inside). The local boys were really keen to get a closer look at the boat, and the girls, and after lots of 'bonjours' they were shooed away by the Guarde Nationale. This was a good spot for us to spend the night, again everyone was friendly and we could watch the boats come and go, selling their catches directly from the boat.

Next morning we set off east, and after being turned away from Bizerte (which is closed while they build a new marina) we travelled to another small fishing port called Ghar El Melh. We didn't get to see much though as we were met by the Guarde Nationale boat informing us the harbour was full but we could anchor closeby. Fortunately it was a calm night as the coastline is more or less straight with no shelter for us, and any little bay was blocked by fishing nets. We travelled on from here to Sidi Bou Said, close to Tunis, early the next morning and the small and less friendly marina where we have now been for 6 days.

The day that we arrived here our friends on another catamaran also arrived. Scott, Tammy and the crew of Oflo are on the last leg of their circumnavigation, and it was very exciting when we realised that our paths would cross. It has been fantastic for us all to have some company and the girls love having new friends to play with. Tammy, Scott, Meg and co have been very patient with them!

Sidi Bou Said is only a short distance from the capital, Tunis, and even closer is Carthage, the ancient Phoenician city which became part of the Roman Empire. We spent a day in Tunis visiting the amazing Roman mosaics at the Bardo Museum and then the Medina which had closed for the day so while we didn't shop we could explore around the streets and take in the architecture. The museum was being renovated and so many of the most famous and impressive mosaics were off limits, however one of the staff would take you to see them for a couple of dinar. Another day we spent the afternoon wandering Carthage, first to the slightly disappointing museum, and then to the thermal baths which were the largest in the Roman Empire. These were well worth the visit, to wander around and imagine the scale of the building from the height of the remaining columns.

Roman ruins aside we have had a great week catching up with friends and both boats will leave tomorrow, Oflo to head west towards Gibraltar and us south to see some more of Tunisia.

Cagliari

2010-05-17T14:33:00.001+01:00

We are stuck in Marine del Sole by incessant gale force winds, and it looks like we'll be here for a week while we prepare for Tunisia

Sardinia

2010-05-17T14:02:00.010+01:00

It had started to rain shortly after we arrived in Calasetta, and our first impressions were that it had little to offer us except a pizzeria that wasn't serving pizza. But we turned out to be wrong: our first foray had been during the siesta and, as we were to discover, the people everywhere were warm and friendly. The local policeman gave the impression of stern authority in his uniform, but the frostiness melted away at the sight of our little blonde girls and he blew them a kiss as he drove past. In fact their blondness in this town drew a lot of attention and the occasional affectionate caress from the elder ladies. After finally warming up to speaking Spanish, it's frustrating to barely have a single Italian word between us, but the staff and customers in the laundrette didn't mind and so commenced a group discussion of our laundry requirements! They embraced us as their own, and couldn't have been friendlier. Maybe if we had siestas in Britain we'd be a much friendlier place too.

After replenishing some supplies, the sails finally saw the light of day, and reaching 7.1 knots at one point, we sailed to Carloforte on Isola St Pietro (distance 4 Nm). We found ourselves in the company of some rather large catamarans and ships, and it was a nice place to relax for an evening. Being saturday night, the local population were out and about enjoying the warm dry evening. The atmosphere was lively and it was good for us to stretch our legs after the long journey followed by a day of rain. I later read in the guidebook that Carloforte is famous for its tuna (apparently they have tuna massacres at this time of year, which attract the more curious tourists) but we dined on their finest pizza instead.

Carloforte

The next day we set forth south only to find ourselves battling into a Force 6/7 wind and rough sea, so our plans were quickly altered to the nearest sheltered bay. This gave us a much more pleasant afternoon on the beach and by evening the wind had died to nothing and the sea was glassy smooth again.

A well-earned swim

Trip to the beach

The next morning we set off after breakfast so as not to give the wind a chance to pick up, and travelled 22 miles south along the coast to Porto Pino. This is apparently a popular day trip destination during the summer, but the day we were there it was almost deserted - deserted apart from Pepe the (presumed) homeless puppy who decided to spend the day with us, including sitting with us at lunch and then again on the beach. At first his presence wasn't welcomed by the girls, especially Maggie, but slowly Isla became fond of him, and was sorry to leave him when we returned to the boat. We could hear his pained cries across the water, sound travels too well. Excitingly the dunes here yielded the girls' first pirate treasure, some suitably aged Lira!

Colin finds a way of entertaining both the girls simultaneously, and exercise for himself

Ciao Pepe, a sad goodbye for both parties

Our course and the sea the next day gave the boat an uncomfortable motion, and as we travelled round the coast towards Cagliari the grandparents and youngest crewmember succumbed to its cruel effects. We all felt the relief as we finally anchored in Malfotano, a beautiful sheltered bay. With a policeman and diver in attendance we mistook an archaeological dig for a crime scene! We didn't manage to find out if they had discovered anything significant, such is the hinderance of our pitiful Italian. Once everyone was feeling better we climbed up to an old watch tower built high on the cliff, and were rewarded with fabulous picture postcard views. Then it was back to the beach for the girls to get well and truly sandy. Our pirate booty at this beach was an unfortunate tourist's camera, which we tried to find the owners of so far without success but we have some leads...

Tranquil Malfotano

The walk up to the watchtower

Grandpa builds the girls a magnificent sandcastle...

...which Maggie contemplates whether she should stand on (she didn't!)

We moved on again the next morning on calmer waters to Nora, which was the largest Roman city in Sardinia. This is where Grandparents Sing left us for the safety of a stationary hotel room and (hopefully) an easy bus journey to Cagliari airport.

Blooming Nora

Roman ruins

Maggie runs down a Very Old Road (complete with Roman sewer)

Nothing tastes as good as pocket money ice creams

All gone, and sticky hands to prove it

The onward journey from Nora saw us picking our way through some of the giants of the sea, a crowd of oil tankers anchored off Sarroch awaiting refill, to reach Cagliari. We are safely tied up in Marina del Sole, Calgliari, having seen nothing of our surroundings so far due to a day of constant heavy rain spent watching films on the laptop. We even had to dig the heater back out of storage again, when is summer really going to begin??! We happened to spot a flock of flamingos flying overhead which gives an enticing glimpse into what we may discover when the weather clears.

Adios Menorca, Buon Giorno Sardinia!

2010-05-07T20:46:00.000+01:00

Just a quick entry to say that we have arrived in Sardinia safe and sound.

We left Mahon at 0430 Thursday and arrived Calasetta, on Isola di Sant Antioco, at 1243 Friday. The crossing was pretty rough at times - the weather was worse than forecast, and there were some waves which we couldn't see out of. Thankfully all this improved for the overnight shifts which were surprisingly pleasant, with a sky full of a billion stars and the wake full of dancing phosphorescence.

Unfortunately Isla fared the worst, suffering sea sickness intermittently throughout the journey. Conversely Maggie was almost endlessly sunny and bright.

217 nautical miles and 32 hours later we're tied up in a glassy smooth harbour, with Grandparents Sing on board, looking forward to some well earned sleep.

What is this?

2010-05-04T21:56:00.003+01:00

Does anyone know, or can find out, what this is? It was floating through the shallow water at Formentor, Mallorca, amongst the jellyfish, and bits of it appeared to be breaking off.

Wild and stormy in Mahon

2010-05-04T21:28:00.002+01:00

Just had our stormiest night yet on the boat, a humbling experience which really brought home the power of mother nature, and which we thankfully experienced in the safety of a harbour.

We knew there was a storm brewing and so postponed our departure for Sardinia. We'd prepared ourselves for the expected 30 knot winds by bringing down the bimini, which we'd almost lost last time there was a storm in Pollensa, and Colin moved the boat from alongside to bow to and well off the pontoon.

We were woken up at 4am with the wind howling, rain lashing and lightning flashes, with the bow and stern lines jerking us forward and aft. The noise was incredible. Colin was up for 2 hours keeping watch. The wind instrument reading peaked at 53 knots, with sustained periods around 50 knots (Force 10!). The town blacked out with a power cut for a while and it was generally pretty fierce.

We were lucky to suffer only minimal damage, a snapped (and lost) flagpole and a burnt out wind generator. Some others in the harbour were not so lucky. One boat was holed by repeatedly bashing against the concrete harbour wall, and the neighbouring boat to us which was on a mooring buoy rather than the pontoon slipped its mooring and travelled half the length of the harbour til it hit an island further out. Wandering through the marina today there were obviously a lot of boats which had taken a beating too. Tonight the water is flat calm, and the wind instrument reads 0.0. Hopefully we'll sleep a bit better tonight. (By the way, the girls slept through the entire storm!).

View of Mahon from pontoon

2010-05-03T22:40:00.000+01:00

19 April - 3 May, Mallorca and Menorca

2010-05-03T21:57:00.015+01:00

The 5 days following our last entry were spent in Puerto Pollensa relaxing and getting stocked up for our trip to Menorca. There were a couple of wet and windy days, one particularly wet day when there wasn't much to do except take shelter in the nearest cafe and consume, consume, consume! Fortunately we were so familiar to the waiters, having been regularly since we arrived, that the free biscuits for the girls were flowing once more.

The weather got wilder still, and we spent the night listening to the wind tear at the bimini. Fortunately it more or less stayed in place with a little fixing by Colin, and the anchor held firm. The next morning, as the wind instrument reading hit 49 knots and promptly stopped working, we moved into the marina.

With Jenny/Granny, (Uncle) Robin and Luke finally on board, we spent another night at anchor in Formentor before setting off in flat calm waters to Menorca which has been an absolute pleasure and the ideal place to relax for a week.

Formentor jellyfish

Ciutadella was our first port of call, located on the West Coast. This is the island's second main town which was the capital until 1722, when the British moved it to Mahon on the east coast. The harbour has a narrow entrance and uses a traffic light system to allow boats to come and go around the ferry timetable. This was policed by a port official who clearly enjoyed his job, razzing around in a rib. We opted to anchor in the first bay at the entrance to the harbour.

View from Ciutadella anchorage

A 15 minute walk, making the most of Maggie's new wheels, found us in Ciutadella's historic centre, where we met Colin, Jenny and Isla who had arrived more stylishly by tender. The central square, the Placa des Born, is impressive and elegant, with the town hall and 19th Century palaces, theatre and other buildings, making it a great spot for ice creams and lunch. The network of surrounding streets were pleasant to wander around.

Placa des Born, Ciutadella
Later the same day, while some of us slept off our 3-course lunch, we moved round to the south of the island and the delightful Calas Macarella and Macarelleta. With our shallow draft we opted to anchor in the smaller cove. The natural beauty of this spot is absolutely idyllic: shallow, turquoise waters, golden sands and pine trees, the rocky coastline providing privacy and shelter from the rest of the world. How pleased we were with our good fortune at finding no one else anchored here and with bow and stern anchors secured, set about the important task of relaxing. The guide book states that 'many people consider this one of the most perfect spots on the Menorcan coast', and I think we'd all agree. In fact, Colin and I would go further to add the whole of the Balearics. And judging by what happened the next day, film crews would agree too...

A walk around to Macarella allowed us to take in the beauty of our surroundings. On our return to Macarelleta we discovered that we had in fact anchored on a nudist beach, and our presence was probably a bit disappointing to the sole nudie who had taken up a discreet position towards the back of the beach. Planning to spend the day here (clothed!), Robin dug a deep paddling pool in the sand and Colin swam back to Skyran for supplies. However it wasn't to last: a rib arrived with a polite crew onboard who explained that they were intending to use the beach to film a commercial for Estrella beer (keep an eye for it Eck), and would we mind moving ourselves and our boat? It seemed churlish not to move, and the free chilled beers went down well. We were then replaced in the bay by a beautiful classic sailing yacht with an equally beautiful crew going ashore to stage a beach party and could pretty much understand why they wanted us out of their shot!

Macarelleta before the film crew arrived

Isla makes a natural bow sprit

We made a couple of excurions in the dinghy to the next bay, Cala Galdana, for ice creams, supplies and for the children to play in the parks. This is tourist central, with a huge hotel at its centre visible from 10km away. It's a shame that it has become so overdeveloped, it overwhelms what was obviously once a spectacular bay. But then that's tourism - to quote our guidebook there were 6,000 visitors in the 1950s and 1.1 million in 1990, and they all need somewhere to stay.

Onwards from Macarella we anchored in another bay, Calascoves. This is famous for having prehistoric burial chambers cut into the rocks. This was a tight spot for anchoring, and required a line to hold us on the rocks as well as our anchor.

Calascoves

Mini crew

After another peaceful night (this was a spell of calm settled weather) we took a wander about the cove then headed to Mahon, stopping en route on the Isla de L'Aire, famous for its black lizards, which are unique to this small island. Luke couldn't believe his luck for spotting so many 'dinosaurs' and spent a lot of time feeding them foliage. A LOT of time, as there are so many and they don't seem to mind people. Still we managed to coax him up to the lighthouse for a good photo opportunity.

I. del Aire lizard

Our arrival in Mahon exceeded any expectations we previously had. The natural harbour is impressive. It has a heavily fortified entrance, reflecting the turbulent history it has seen, having been ruled by Spain, France and Britain since the 18th Century. Further on there are small bays, with holiday homes, and finally on reaching the city, the buildings cling to the cliffs.

We dropped anchor in the shade of the old British hospital on a small island in the harbour, only to be joined by Alain from Ocibar, informing us that we would most likely be moved on by the port authorities and that he could offer us a reasonably priced berth on the floating pontoons at S'Altra Banda. At first sceptical, we couldn't help but be charmed by his courteous approach and on further inspection accepted the invitation. Besides, none of us was thrilled at anchoring in 15 metres depth in a busy shipping harbour, regardless of what the chart said about it being a safe anchorage. This turned out to be a very good move. We are staying in the company of the most helpful people. Not only have they been delivering us regular weather forecasts but they even offered to take our laundry home with them to do as the launderettes were closed over the May Day holiday weekend. We've enjoyed clear views over the old town and the journey across the harbour to town in the dinghy is short and painless.

Mahon has something for everyone in our crew, whether it's the lovely shops to wander amongst for some light retail relief, to the squares with pigeons for the children to chase, and the delicious bakeries with enormous pastries (does that make us easy to please?!).

Nemo the mermaid

The final day with Jenny, Robin and Luke was spent in a hire car exploring the island. It's good to have a change of scene and explore inland. And what a lot there is to see too, for such a small island (only 53km from east to west). We managed to squeeze in the Fornells watch tower, an impressive Bronze age burial chamber known as the Naveta des Tudons, and the highest viewpoint on the island, Monte Toro (though in the mist of cloud we could see very little), before we dropped Jenny, Rob and Luke at the airport for their connecting flight to Palma. After saying our sad goodbyes, we still had a bit of time left with the car to visit the Talayotic settlement of Trepuco and Fort Marlborough, part of the network of British defenses from the 18th Century.

Naveta des Tudons Bronze Age burial chamber

Trepuco

Fornells watch tower
The children were given free books about the various produce on the island issued by the tourist council. These proved popular and in one case unintentionally entertaining for Colin and I - the Menorcan meat book contains a phrase probably not often found in children's books "It looks like a party... look it's a slaughtering"!

And so now it's time for us to leave the Balearics and head east south east to Sardinia, to meet with Grandma and Grandpa Sing who are already there. Our first intended departure has been delayed due to forecasts for gales. Hopefully we'll be there by the end of the week.

We love Menorca

2010-05-02T22:21:00.007+01:00

Very quick entry this time to say we've had a great week with some of Colin's family, discovering the gem that is Menorca. We found the most beautiful anchorage which we congratulated ourselves on and had hoped to keep to ourselves until a film crew turned up to film a beer commercial there! We've spent a few days in Mahon, and are about to head east once again, destination Sardinia...

Stunning Cala Macarelleta

Soller to Pollensa

2010-04-21T10:12:00.006+01:00

15 - 17 April, Soller

We spent 3 nights anchored in this tranquil harbour, enjoying the scenic setting and relaxing after the journey from Ibiza. We took a trip on the wooden tram up to Soller town, passing the lemon and orange groves and enjoying some non-coastal scenery. We hit food gold by going on saturday as it was market day and the first thing to greet us as we stepped off the tram was an enormous stall of cakes, breads and pastries. Bingo.

Soller tram

Cakes, yum

After showing a little self restraint we wandered on to soak up the atmosphere of the main square and winding streets of the town, enjoying coffee and ice creams and watching more trams arrive. After another call past the market stalls we returned to the port laden with our purchases only to find our buggy had been stolen from the dinghy. How naive of us to think no one would want our old beaten up Maclarens.

18 April, Formentor

This beautifully calm day was the perfect time to move onwards as we have a date with a new storm sail in Pollensa. The scenery along the coast is stunning, the Tramuntana Mountains reaching to the coast produce dramatic cliffs broken up with small rocky bays and caves. We tried to sail but after spending an hour travelling at 1 knot we put an engine on. Rounding the Cap de Formentor, the most northerly point on Mallorca, we set our sites on Formentor beach as an anchorage. Having visited here 2 1/2 years ago we knew it would be a beautiful place to stop and we were lucky to have only one neighbour far across the bay overnight.

Cap de Formentor

Formentor

19 April, Puerto Pollensa

After enjoying the morning on the beach, which was gradually filling up with day visitors, we headed off with sails up and after hitting 4 knots the wind gradually dropped and so yet again on went an engine. This was only a short hop, and we were kept entertained by the fire service sea planes practising scooping up water and dropping it in the bay. We have anchored here while we wait for the storm sail to be delivered and stock up on more supplies for our trip to Menorca. We are also still waiting to see if Granny, Uncle Robin and Luke will be able to join us.

Bath time in Pollensa

Photos

2010-04-16T12:03:00.004+01:00

Leaving Altea and following the coast north

Arrival in Formentera and the chaos on board after our first offshore crossing

Espalmador

Ibiza in the rain but still looking good

Breakfast at sea

Soller port

Arrival in the Balearics

2010-04-16T11:45:00.001+01:00

After spending 5 nights in Altea our various deliveries arrived and we set off on our last leg north along the mainland coast. We spent one night in Denia before heading for the Balearics, our first offshore passage.

We crept out of Denia marina at 6am. The sea was a bit rougher than we'd have liked with the wind a Force 5 virtually on the nose (it seems to blow from wherever we want to go). The crossing took about 10 hours but our reward was the most beautiful turquoise water and golden sandy beach on Platja De Ses Illetes north of La Savina on Formentera. Our anchor was down like a shot. Bliss. Colin took the girls ashore to play on the beach while I cleared up the carnage of toys, snacks etc that had spilled out from every nook and cranny to keep the girls going during the journey.

We moved a short distance that evening to a snug bay on the tiny neighbouring island of Espalmador and this became our home for two nights. This really was the most idyllic of bays, the kind of place that (sailing) dreams are made of. Calm turquoise waters, an almost deserted sandy beach, no wind and only a couple of neighbours to share it with. Plus the mooring buoys gave added peace of mind.

(Monday 12th) Following a good explore of the island we set off for the hedonistic glory that is Ibiza. Of course this is off season and we are avec our girls, so we didn't go wild. The sea did that for us. We anchored in Cala Talamanca north of Ibiza Town, and had an uncomfortable night rocking and rolling in strong winds, expecting the anchor alarms to go off to tell us we were on the move. The anchor held well though and next day, in the rain, we had a walk round Ibiza's old town, which was much more charming than we'd expected. Our plan was to then continue north to a better protected bay for a quieter night, but the wind was increasing, and the sea state was so uncomfortable that we set our sights on one of Ibiza Town's marinas. The next day we motored up the coast but yet again didn't make our planned anchorage: we were motoring into a wind which was increasing to a F7 with the bows ploughing into the waves, the bigger of which washed over the foredeck and even made it up onto the coachroof. Marina Santa Eulalia here we come...

Fortunately the wind dropped over night and so, as we motored out of the marina at 5.30am heading towards Mallorca, we found a more comfortable sea. Or so we thought, but our youngest crew mates disagreed and as their sea sickness struck we changed our plans slightly and headed for the west instead of east coast of Mallorca to ease the motion on the passage. And so after 12 hours we've made it to Soller. And it's so lovely, we're anchored in a protected bay set amongst the Mallorcan mountains. We plan to spend a day or so here exploring and waiting for our guests, Granny, Uncle Robin and Luke, whose flights are delayed due to volcanic activity in Iceland.

Life aboard

2010-04-08T10:34:00.000+01:00

Now we are settling into our daily cruising schedule. The girls are waking up at 8am, breakfast takes a couple of hours, then it's off to the beach and play parks, shopping for milk, bread and so on, then a late lunch, Maggie's nap, and before you know it, it's 4pm. We are setting realistic targets for each day, everything takes forever here, whether it's the long trek to the Post Office (Isla sets the pace) or a trip to the chandler (costly in terms of time as well as money).

Things have reopened after Easter and with any luck our liferaft, anchor hook and spare engine parts will start arriving and we can head towards the Balearics.

The girls are enjoying the great Spanish hospitality, a free bracelet here, chocolate biscuits there, it's so refreshing to take them into a welcoming culture.

Life aboard with the girls means listening to their choice on the stereo. Mamma Mia mostly. Maggie used her special toddler senses to find the way to get Super Trouper, her favourite song, on repeat on the ipod. 15 minutes and a reset finally put an end to it.

The first week aboard

2010-04-08T09:24:00.016+01:00

Fin and Isla's fingers admiring (reserving) the cake

After a hectic week enjoying kind hospitality with Uncle Mike, Freda, Phyllis and Jim (the Great Grandparents) in Stromness, and Granny in Dundee (thanks for the fab boat cake, Robin & Rebekah), plus an impromptu night in Inverness (after our flight from Orkney was diverted due to fog), we finally caught the flight to Alicante - but only just, after queue jumping security and yet another Isla-on-Colin's-shoulders airport sprint.

With the girls safely taken care of by Grandad John, Granny Ruth and Auntie Anna in Alicante, Colin and I set off for Almerimar, near Almeria, to take Skyran north to Alicante.

Almerimar marina office

Naturally Mother Nature decided to show us who really dictates the schedules, and gales kept us in the marina for the next 3 nights.

We awoke to a beautifully calm morning on Wednesday, and so with great excitement, and more than a little apprehension, we cast off from the pier, and headed for the marina office, a journey of about 2 minutes. The engines behaved, and with no wind at all we were safely alongside the tower in the blink of an eye.

Phew.

20 minutes later we made our proper departure from Almerimar.

Skipper at work

With almost no wind and a glassy sea we motored 10 hours around the Capo de Gata headland, to the small town of Garrucha, experiencing minor engine wobbles and twice accompanied by dolphins. Unable to radio ahead we were relieved to find the office still manned, and found a berth for the night at the fuel berth.

Garrucha was celebrating the start of Semana Santa (Easter week) and by instinctively following a man wearing a black cape and long pointy hat (well, you have to find out where he's going, don't you?), we came across the beginning of the procession of the Saints from the Church accompanied by a marching band. With the town lining the streets and the seemingly precarious way in which the Saints were borne on platforms lit by burning candles, this was an unexpected and entertaining way to spend the evening.

Our Torrevieja neighbours

Next morning we left Garrucha bright and early and set off into another tranquil sea. We only managed a brief spell of sailing as the wind was exactly the wrong direction for us again. The 12 hour journey to Torrevieja went well, despite a few more minor engine problems (both engines are leaking a small quantity of seawater and the port engine has a faulty sensor so that it reports overheating when it isn't).

Spotted! Honesty is the best policy...

The final leg to El Campello (near Alicante) was an easy 5 hour motor and we made a late lunchtime reunion with the girls and family. And a reunion with the 12 boxes that we had sent by freight. Small panic as to where it's all going to go...

After a day unpacking and shopping for supplies with John, Ruth and Anna (all the essentials, including shorty wetsuits and a table tennis set - ok not all of it was that essential) we all set off mid-afternoon on Sunday heading north to Altea. This was the first trip for the girls on Skyran. Maggie managed to sleep almost the entire 4 hour journey and Isla cosied up for a snooze with Anna, even though it was a bit rough and very noisy, with yet more motoring into a head wind.

Those of us still awake marvelled at the size of Benidorm, it has a Manhattan-esque stature on this coastline. Surely all the occupants of the high rise blocks can't all fit on the same beach at the same time?

And so here we are in Altea, which seems like the ideal spot to rest up for a few days and sort out some housekeeping. The boat chores are mounting and there's still some unpacking to be done.

After a delicious tapas dinner, we bade farewell to John, Ruth and Anna and set off back to the marina, just the four of us now til Mallorca.

2010-03-11T22:29:00.000Z

Crane in day!

2010-03-10T21:55:00.000Z

Skyran is back in the water where she belongs, following hard work by Colin, Mike and John.

Photo to follow

New name

2010-02-21T09:52:00.001Z

My photoshop skills know no bounds

Jan 2010 visit

2010-02-21T09:40:00.000Z

Welcome

2010-02-15T21:44:00.000Z

This is the first entry in our blog, testing out a new name for 'Crazy of Cardiff'

Yacht Skyran

It means to shine brightly, like the glittering sky or sea, in Old Norse (Orkney)