Back to the Start: 2016

We sadly bid farewell to Jumping Fish Bay in Greece

The Windjammers have experienced our shortest season yet, cruising in an area with few places for us Aussies to “run & hide” given Schengen’s time limitations of 3 months max.  Still “weather” experiences kept us on our toes too and ensured a modified float plan.  This sadly entailed excluding Southern France (the Mistral consistently blowing with regularity & some ferocity this year) although we managed time in Corsica before taking a familiar route through the Balearics back to Lagos in Portugal.

Discovered style in Barcelona,
architect extraordinaire, Gaudi.

And hunky types in Naples
(Yes, it's Hercules)

Italy’s west coast made good its promise of few anchorages so our travels were essentially moving from marina to marina with longish stops to take in major historical sites.  Somehow, we still never seemed to have sufficient time for our “must do” list.  At least we managed to see (but not climb) some seriously interesting volcanoes and enjoy one or two bottles of local plonk (I'm not sure there's an Italian equivalent for this word).  The history was fascinating, the art incredible, people generally friendly and scenery, especially along the northern coast, quite unlike the “Med” we had grown used to.

The view over La Spezia was too good to miss

So, this blog and photo fest is due for a long Mediterranean lunch break with the possibility of a further delay before the start of next season as our vague plan is to cross back to Trinidad.  This requires avoiding hurricane season (June to Nov) and some big steps to get to a Canaries or Cape Verdes springboard.  So our timings will need to be adjusted and we just may have to experience a winter...brrrrrr!

And Italy kept us very busy;
too much to do, so little time!
Pisa. Is this really a quiet day? 

In summary, the 2016 season started in Preveza, Greece with a very short stop in Sarande, Albania.  Thus began our weather experiences and first change to the float plan… At least the weather gods were kind to us as we slid across to Sicily.  Nicely ensconced in Syracuse, we learned of Italy’s transport shortcomings but managed to make the crossing to Malta for a most enjoyable land break.  

Historically, the Messina Strait has been a sailor’s nightmare so we shouldn’t have been surprised to feel its wrath.  Swordfishing locals though, gave us a farewell salute as WJ3 battled steep waves generated by wind against current - Charybdis at play!.  At least we weren't rowing, like Odysseus, Jason (of the Argonauts) or Aeneas. (This is your history test....)  Then our anchor wanted to stay in Vulcano but after some wrestling and with a much improved weather outlook on offer, we convinced it to join us in crossing to Italy’s west coast to begin the slow crawl northwards. 

Colourful towns, festive moods

We took longish stops in Torre del Greco (Naples area), Rome, and La Spezia (Tuscany) before modifying the float plan again to include Corsica for a few days sailing down its eastern coast. Sardinia's tip provided shelter before striking out for the Balearics and back to Spain. 

With long strides along the Spanish coast we quickly made Gibraltar, where the weather gods again smiled giving us the right winds and tide to sail through notorious Gibraltar Straits.  Another interesting weather system from the far NW (UK) threatened the Atlantic coast but we made Lagos, Portugal before it took its toll.  Tucked up in the marina we hardly even noticed it! 

Our yearly figures confirm yet another distance marathon and come in as follows:

From: Preveza, Greece Lat/Long: 38:57.09N 20:46 .04E  Date/Time: 03/06/16: 1745

To: Lagos, Portugal Lat/Long: 37:06.45N 08:40.27W  Date/Time: 23/09/16: 1045
Time Taken: (this year): 383 hrs  Distance: (this year): 2248.5nm
Distance Total: (since 2008): 18,278.5nm  
Weather: Challenging weather this year, mostly Mistral generated, kept us on our toes
Fastest Speed: We had a mixed bag with some really great sailing weather and some really dreadful conditions too.  But it’s the Med!  And mostly motoring continues at a sedate 6 - 6.5kts.

We will post as plans for 2017 develop, so keep tuned to this space!

And a few stray volcanoes on our way.  A busy year indeed!

Riposo Time

It had to happen…

Time to take a little afternoon nap, unplug hot-wired laptops and devote our energies to other obsessions.  The Cap’n has been duly nagged and has finally started work on his H460 site.  So, if this is your bag then you will find lots of “stories” about our annual & ever-ongoing repair and maintenance schedule.  Just be glad you’re not the one paying the bills. 

Also our vast collection of photos has finally developed all the characteristics of a large and unruly family – so time for taming is now necessary!  Add all this to a spot of very late spring cleaning and you have two candidates, spinning rapidly towards earning an OCD sticker – each. 

This means our very vague float plan is all you are going to get until quite possibly, late May.  So chill out too with a large cocktail Caribbean style (Oh I do so miss those afternoon painkillers), float about in a pool of some kind (I used a tinnie once – sorry Dad!), and drown out birdsong with your snoring!

See you in the spring (err... winter, no wait... summer)

Only in the Caribbean!  BVI from memory...
and drink of the day was a "painkiller"...

Ciao Baby

Three Volcanos & a Bottle of Vino

CIA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Well, here it is, January and time to think about the what, where & when of this year’s trip away to visit WJ3.  This year it’s all about Italy with a haul out somewhere west of that – possibly Spain.  So there’ll be some overnighting and a big schedule spread over a few short months.  Yes, there’s not many options to escape Schengen this year, so we’ve allowed for a max of 4 months away.  The plan is also rather sparse with fewer anchoring possibilities than Greece.  That said however, we will take advantage of marinas and make longish stops to visit those essential tourist hotspots.  Given that we’ll also be travelling over peak tourist season, it’s a safe bet we’ll not be lining up or making bookings weeks in advance – it will be a case of exploring “undiscovered” Italy.  This worked well in Venice so there’s no reason to fret just yet!  With any luck, we can move with greater speed (meaning spend less time waiting for repairs or the weather to improve) and have more time to find a suitable storage facility for WJ3 this year.  

So, after that long winded introduction, here is a first and rough draft of our sail plan 2016, with times stretched to the max. 


Stage 1: Greece to Malta (3 weeks – June)

Time to splash, bid farewell to hospitable Greece and make a quick “out of country” stop in Albania to ensure WJ3 meets her EU VAT conditions.  Our plan then is dictated by weather - will we coastal hop Italy’s boot or sail directly to Malta…   


Stage 2: Malta to Sicily (2 weeks – June/July)

After a week or so exploring popular Malta, we’ll head over to Sicily and book ourselves into Marina di Ragusa on its southern shore, a very popular wintering spot for fellow cruisers.  From here, we can hire a car and explore Sicily’s rich cultural offerings.  Moody Mt Etna being an essential visit.


Stage 3: Sicily to West Coast Italy (5 weeks – July/August)

Once we’ve ticked off the list of “Things to Do” in Sicily, we’ll head back up the Straits of Messina, take a detour to see Stromboli lit up, then coastal hop along Italy’s west coast with 3 main marina stops -as close as we can afford to get to Naples (Mt Vesuvius, of course), Rome and Pisa (to explore Tuscany & Renaissance Italy).  

Italy - always so dramatic & colourful

Stage 4: Italian & French Riviera (3 weeks – August/September)

We mentioned last year Italians in their designer everything (including yachts) and the west coast of Italy will be no exception – it’s their home after all – but the Rivieras will be exceptional.  It will be a time for us to gawk and smirk but with stratospheric prices on all things I’m guessing we’ll dally modestly but keep moving.  With any luck there’ll be time to do a short coastal walk along the Cinque Terra, locate rich relatives in Monaco (as if) and learn the fine art of food preparation – French style.    

We've coped with lots of visitors before... (St Marks Square, Venice)

Stage 5: Med France to Spain (3 weeks - September)

Then begins the search for WJ3’s winter home for the season!  There’s not a lot of options and our only turistico-ing stop is planned for Barcelona.  We won’t stay too long; Gaudi’s famous Basilica Sagrada Familia might inspire GS into re-renovation mode.   Mind you, that creation too remains unfinished!  If in danger of over-staying our visa, we might have to finish off with a mercy dash to Gibraltar (who knows?).

Valiant Visitors: 

Keep in touch by email if you’d like to catch us.  WJ3’s map and tracker will be updated regularly (with any luck) so that you can see exactly where we are.  We will try to fit in with your plans but sadly are strictly “regulated” by our 90 day visa.  This means we can’t wait anywhere for too long, or indeed change this itinerary too drastically.  (Indeed there are plans to speed it up already!)  Notes on what to bring (and what not to bring) can be found in the updated Visitors Guide.  BYO Chianti & rustic bread….