Having our stomachs full of what is probably the best pizza we ever had, and our minds assured that for the next 3-4 days the wind would be ideal for sailing northwest, we went to bed hopeful and ready for our next trip to…Menorca! Yes, after hours of discussion, analysis, counter-arguments, and research, we decided…
Magna Graecia
Methoni is an example of a great anchorage and I was sad to let it go. Alas, the wind changes, and the life of the sailor is bound to its whims. The forecast for the next 3 days looked promising to sail to Sicily, although we would take a rather longer route: we would first…
The land of Ks; Kythira, Kalamata and Koroni
Our first night sailing for the season was upon us. We had already agreed to both stay up the whole night instead of doing night shifts because of the short duration of the trip. I was equally excited and worried about this trip. Would the wind be OK? Would Elena sleep through the night? We…
Marvelous Milos
On Monday, 26th June, we left our peaceful anchorage in Polyagos to sail to what would eventually become our home for the next two weeks, Milos. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades. We had a pleasant, half/upwind sailing. We even managed to see one of the island’s highlights, the village Klima, a long…
Less is More
There is a complex of small islands and rocks, south-east of Naxos known as Lesser Cyclades or Small Cyclades. The main Lesser Cyclades are Ano Koufonisi, Kato Koufonisi, Irakleia, Schoinoussa, Donousa, and Keros. If you had ever been there, you would agree with the motto “Less is more”! The date is Saturday, the 10th of…
Wild, Wild East
Samos was lovely but we had to get a move on if we ever wanted to visit other islands. And so, on the afternoon of Saturday, 3rd June we released our lines and set course to Fournoi, a small little island a few miles southwest of Samos. But Aelos had other plans; we were caught…
Serene Samos
If I had to describe Samos in a few words, those would be peaceful, quiet, green, and serene. An island with rich history, wine production from ancient times, and homeland to Pythagoras, the famous mathematician, and Aristarchus of Samos, the known astronomer. But let me rewind first. The date is Friday, the 26th of May…
Ma(je)stic Chios and the “Richest” Greek Island
19/05/2023: We left at the first light heading south. What a trip! We sailed downwind, half wind, no wind (motor), and then finally downwind again while we were rounding the corner of our next destination: Oinousses. Entering Oinousses is quite spectacular, as the surrounding islets make the entrance almost hidden, the wind disappears and a…
In the birthplace of Sappho..
Despite our plans for Saturday, 13th May to spend it with our family friends and enjoy some seafood by the water, we instead released our mooring lines and set sail for Lesvos. Sailing life! Lesvos may have not been painted with the nicest colors in the last years due to the refugee situation but it…
Let me tell you about Lemnos..
Although we adored being on our private paradise island, the wind predictions were dire, meaning we had to get moving or otherwise we would be stuck in Chalkidiki for another week. And so we did, on Friday, 5th May, we put our anchor up and hoisted our sails with one reef on. If I had…
On the (water) road again..
Almost six months. Almost six months we spent in Thessaloniki, my hometown, surrounded by family and friends, enjoying sunny weather and tasty food. Months full of activities, trips, celebrations of Christmas and New Year, birthdays, and Easter. Months full of love and belonging, reconnecting and exploring. Half a year of our lives and it felt…
Home Sweet Home!
On October 19th, 2022, a day after we arrived at Oreoi, we released our lines and set sail to Skiathos. Skiathos belongs to Sporades and it’s a small, green, and vibrant island. First time I visited Skiathos I was 18 years old and I went with all my friends, (like a real adult) so it…
Melt (emi) down
They say that a cruiser’s plan is written in sand at low tide, forever changing with the tides. And in our case, it could not be further from the truth. We never planned to sail to Euboea. We never planned to cross Euboea. And moreover, we never thought that crossing it would take us almost two weeks…
A bridge too far
On the morning of 18th September, we set sail to Itea. We had the most wind so far, with gusts up to 30knots, but with one reef and some careful steering from Jelle, we did beautifully! We also crossed the Rio-Antirrio bridge, one of the world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges (2880 meters long!), a very…
Libra’s Odyssey
It took Odysseas 20 years to return to his beloved Ithaca from Troy but we hoped for a much shorter trip considering we started from Meganisi and we wouldn’t encounter any witches, mythical creatures and Poseidon’s Fury. Indeed, it took us a few hours of beautiful upwind/half wind sailing and speed that even reached 7.5…
The Ionian
The world moves on and so we did, and on Friday, 28th August we left our beautiful marina in Corfu and headed towards Syvota, a small village on the mainland. After a beach morning for Elena and myself, while Jelle was catching up on work, we moved forward to another beautiful bay, called 2 Rocks….
Kerkyra, Kerkyra me to Pontikonisi
Yes, the time had come to complete our first ( with Elena) long sailing trip, meaning to sail through the night! We made the boat ready, cleaned it well, and mentally prepared for our more than 180NM trip! And what a trip it was! We cleared the customs in Bar, Montenegro on Wednesday, 25th August,…
The Black Mountain
Our sail to Montenegro was anything less than spectacular and by that, I mean we motored all 25 miles into the Bay of Kotor. We did manage to sail one WHOLE hour inside the bay, which was quite exciting as we were going with 7.5 knots(!) but we soon had to stop in Zlenika and…
King’s Landing & Pool Bars
On 14th August we left the beautiful Saplunara bay, not unwillingly cause the swell did not guarantee us a good night’s sleep and headed to Dubrovnic, our last stop in Croatia. Dubrovnic is majestic. Yet another UNESCO heritage city, it’s surrounded by medieval walls, steep and narrow streets,, and sparkling waters. We managed to anchor…
Meeting the Jovicas
Before we left Hvar, we had talked with George, the father-in-law of Jelle’s sister ( yes, I know, all this family stuff is confusing) and he would be in Croatia the same period we would be! Unfortunately, we could not sail all the way to Metcovic where he was based but we settled for Blace,…
Hvar-e are we?
Sailing to Hvar was pure joy, with light winds of 10 knots but half-wind so we reached 6 to 6.5 knots of speed! The weather predictions were of strong westerly winds and afraid of the possible swell in the port of Stari Grad ( still the awful swell of the Supertar port lingered in our…
Cycladic Blue
It was a cloudy Sunday with good wind and at 8:00 we lifted our anchor from Despotiko and set sail to Sifnos, another island in the Cyclades group. Sifnos is a picture-perfect Cyclades island, with its quaint white-blue houses, pristine beaches, and gray-white winding alleys. We Med-moored (anchor in the bow and tied the stern…