Greece,
Peleponnese,
Sailing
We have to capture a boat that was dragging down on us with nobody aboard and get into a sticky situation.
Greece,
Peleponnese,
Sailing
We're back with more adventures, giant spiders, underfunded coastguards and beautiful Greece.
Greece,
Italy,
Peleponnese,
Sailing,
Sicily
Finally escaping Licata, we fix some more stuff on the way and cross the sole of Italy over to Greece.
Catamaran,
Sailing,
Tunisia
We try catamaran sailing, get a taste of Tunisia and are intercepted at sea, forced to turn around and promptly fined for breaking the law.
Family,
Lithuania,
Xmas
A two week interlude in the snow with many pictures.
Boat Maintenance,
Licata,
Sailing,
Sicily,
Winter
Having arrived at our winter berth in Licata, we dig into boat maintenance work, despite much rain and socializing.
Licata,
Messina,
Portopalo,
Ragusa,
Sailing,
Sicily,
Siracusa,
Taormina
We get flushed down the Messina Strait and make it around the rest of Sicily to our Winter berth, despite some rubbish weather.
Boat,
DIY,
Tip
Quick boat hack: How to make a holder for fragile drinking glasses, such as champagne flutes or wine glasses.
Egadi,
Lipari,
Sailing,
Sicily
Sailing around Sicily and some active volcanoes.
Lightning,
Sailing,
Thunderstorm,
Trapani,
Waterspout
In this one, we get a very wrong forecast and sail through lightning and waterspouts before arriving at Sicily very tired, only to find no place to stop and sleep.
Police,
Sailing,
Sardinia
We have the calmest ocean passage ever but encounter unfriendly natives.
Formentera,
Ibiza,
Mallorca,
Menorca,
Sailing
We arrive in our cruising destination for the summer, where we spend about six weeks enjoying the lovely waters of the Islas Baleares.
Anchor,
Denia,
Sailing
We try to leave mainland Spain for the Baleares, but get stuck and have to abandon our anchor and chain.
Alicante,
Mar Menor,
Sailing
The little sea and the big city.
Almerimar,
Cartagena,
Garrucha,
Sailing
We stop at a dusty and desolate marina with yellow dragons before arriving at Cartagena.
Adra,
Almerimar,
Herradura,
Motril,
Sailing,
Storm
Trapped in a gale with nowhere to go.
Caleta de Velez,
Cave,
Duquesa,
Fuengirola,
Nerja,
Sailing
We sail sideways across the strait of Gibraltar, discover why the pilot book recommends to skip the Costa del Sol and find a good reason to stop there anyways.
Africa,
Ceuta,
Gibraltar,
Sailing,
Spain
We cross the strait of Gibraltar southwards for a quick stop in Spanish Africa (Ceuta).
Anchor,
Anchoring,
Boat Maintenance,
Chain
A few words about our anchor gear and quick review on how it is doing after 2 seasons of use.
Gibraltar,
La Linea,
Sailing
We explore Gibraltar, fix the boat and walk a lot.
Cadiz,
Damage,
Gibraltar,
La Linea,
Rota,
Sailing,
Tarifa
We ride the wind and current into the Mediterranean, but smash our boat into a wall upon arrival.
Albufeira,
Cadiz,
Culatra,
Portugal,
Rota,
Sailing,
Spain
We get caught by a fisherman, anchor in a Regatta, leave Portugal, arrive in Spain too early and almost make it to Cadiz.
Albufeira,
Edvin,
Portimao,
Sailing
A much needed shakedown sail, where we break stuff, make new crew sick and find some fun anyways.
Belfast,
Eindhoven,
Faro,
Germany,
Lithuania,
Snow,
Travel
We take a break from boat fixing to get stuffed in snowy lands.
Albufeira,
Boatyard,
Haulout,
Portugal,
Repairs,
Winter
We haul out in Albufeira and rush through two weeks of work in one.
Albufeira,
Algarve,
Marina,
Portugal,
Sailing,
Winter
Choosing a winter berth in the Algarve.
Antifouling,
Boat,
Coppercoat,
Refit
Tales from the Refit: How well did our DIY applied Coppercoat work?
Antifouling,
Boat,
Coppercoat,
Refit,
Sanding
Tales from the Refit: DIY application of Coppercoat copper based antifouling on a 40 foot monohull. With just one person in one (long) day.
Antifouling,
Boat,
Coppercoat,
Refit,
Sanding
Tales from the Refit: Stripping old Antifoul and preparing the hull for Coppercoat. This includes a lot of hand scraping, building shoulder muscles by holding a heavy sander over my head and finally applying fairing and primer.
Albufeira,
Culatra,
Portimao,
Sailing,
Vilamoura,
Winter
Heading back to Albufeira for winter, we carelessly ignored the radio beacon broadcasting a warning to stay away from Vilamoura. Oh, and some statistics at the end.
Jellyfish,
Rio Guadiana,
Sailing,
Video,
Vila Real de Santo António
Video of our Rio Guadiana exploration.
Alcoutim,
Ayamonte,
Rio Guadiana,
Sailing,
Sanlucar,
Tavira,
Vila Real de Santo António
We heave to at sea to hop in the water and unblock the toilet, then visit Tavira before exploring up and down the Rio Guadiana.
Albufeira,
Algarve,
Alvor,
Culatra,
Lagos,
Portimao,
Sailing,
Tavira
We explore the Algarve and suffer a culture shock.
Rio Tejo,
Sagres,
Sailing,
Sesimbra,
Sines
We exit the Rio Tejo, misunderstand a cargo ship, visit three anchorages starting with an S, turn the corner and solve an unexpected rudder problem.
Lisbon,
Sailing
We explore Lisbon for a few days.
Aveiro,
Berlenga,
Cascais,
Figueira da Foz,
Leixoes,
Lisboa,
Nazare,
Peniche,
Porto,
Portugal,
Sailing,
Viana do Castelo
Northern Portugal from Viana do Castelo to Lisboa. This is a long one.
Computers,
OpenCPN,
Sailing
What our OpenCPN chartplotter setup looks and works like.
Baiona,
Barra,
Portugal,
Sailing,
Spain,
Viana do Castelo
Our last stop in Spain. And first stop in Portugal!
Fiesta del Agua,
Sailing,
Spain,
Vilagarcia
Turns out sailing isn't the only way to get wet and sleep deprived.
Boiro,
Corrubedo,
Muros,
Rias Bajas,
Sailing,
Spain
We visit sandy beaches, awesome anchorages, less awesome ones and Hiper China.
Arduino,
Barograph,
Barometer,
Electronics,
Hack,
NMEA
A simple boaty hack for a very easy to build digital barometer with NMEA 0183 output. Also reports temperature.
Muxía,
Rias Altas,
Sailing,
Spain
A fountain in the heads and getting stuck far too long in Muxía.
A Coruña,
Cedeira,
Corme,
Rias Altas,
Sailing,
Spain
We explore some Spanish Rias and some tapas madness.
Biscay,
Falmouth,
Galicia,
Passage,
Sailing,
Spain
We sail for four days straight across the Bay of Biscay.
Anchor,
Cornwall,
Falmouth,
Mullion Cove,
Sailing,
Scillies
We aim for the Scillies and end up back in Falmouth, with some adventures in between.
Falmouth,
Repairs,
Sailing
Preparations for Biscay and fresh burn scars.
Plymouth,
Repairs,
Sailing
We stop in Plymouth for a few days to repair and resupply.
Cherbourg,
Portland,
Sailing,
Torquay,
Weymouth
Where the hell we've been and what we've been up to since Cherbourg. Includes treehugging.
Cherbourg,
Sailing
We boost around the corner into Cherbourgs Port Chantereyne, acquire some bread and fondle some nuclear missile launch tubes before scrubbing our own bottom.
Anchorage,
Sailing,
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
We escape the swell in Fécamp and sail through the night to a nice quiet anchorage outside Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue.
Fécamp,
Normandy,
Sailing
We motor from Dieppe to Fécamp, find many merry fishermen and more french food.
Brighton,
Channel,
Dieppe,
Sailing
Our first channel crossing and the real start of our cruising life.
Eastbourne,
Sailing,
Shakedown
Shakedown sail to Eastbourne.
Startup
Wanky Startup ideas.
Boat
Picking up blogging again. Probably.
Apple,
FreeBSD,
Hack
How to get a Apple USB SuperDrive to work with FreeBSD.
Plantology
How to start with hydroponics, indoor gardening and growing your own food.
Security
How to replace Skype functionality with open source software and open protocols to regain privacy in instant messaging and voice/video chat.
Network
How to configure an old Cisco 877 as ADSL modem in PPPoE bridging mode. Retaining the ability to manage it over the network, of course.
Apple,
iOS
How the iOS 7 UI is fucking terrible with a few handy examples.
Security,
SQL
PostgreSQL remote vulnerability warning.
Apple,
Web
Switching to Firefox without losing Safari's useful integration with OS X.
Hack,
Hardware,
Network
How I built my own router using an old Atom box, FreeBSD, a power drill and some Wifi parts.
BSD,
Hack,
Raspberry Pi
Early disk images for FreeBSD on the Raspberry Pi.