Author: Toni

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutesPalermo, Sicily, Italy Our passage to Palermo was half a day of discomfort. With the wind on our nose, Dreams crashed and bashed her way through the waves slamming down with a force that put me on edge despite knowing it sounded worse than it actually was. Feeling physically and mentally rattled and exhausted, arrival…

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutesCarloforte, Sardinia, Italy Heading off to bed at 11 pm I noticed a lightening storm out at sea and took comfort that if it came this way at least we didn’t have the tallest mast in the marina, so our chances of being struck were minimized.  At 12:30 am I was woken by the sound…

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutesCabrera is an island in the Balearics with a rich history and an iconic 14th century castle built to protect the island from the attacks of Berber pirates. Declared a National Park in 1991, a small number of park employees and military personnel live and work here but you will find no hotels, resorts or…

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesToday was the perfect day.  Today was what I envisaged for all the years we were working and saving up to buy a boat.   After an overnight passage from Cartagena to Formentera in the Balearic Islands, we anchored in a peaceful bay and slept like the dead for 11 hours.  Woke this morning to clear skies…

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesMarbella is a town of two halves, the old and the new.  Old town Marbella is a labyrinth of cobbled streets filled with cafes and restaurants, frequented by as many locals as tourists giving it a somewhat authentic feel.  Classy boutiques outnumber the tourist tat shops and being Sunday, the organs from the catholic church in…

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutesAfter 7 weeks in Queensway Marina Gibraltar while we got upgrades added to Dreams we’d started to feel like we were putting down roots. We’d become very familiar with the town and got to know a number of other people staying in the marina. So much so, our evenings were filled with happy hour gatherings…

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesWe’ve arrived in Rota in the Andalusian region of Spain after a 22 hour passage from Lagos in Portugal.  For most of the passage we were able to sail with a pleasant downwind breeze keeping us moving between 5 and 7 knots, a real treat after all of the motoring we have had to do.  …

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutesWe had a very civilized arrival in A Caruña. Nice calm seas which meant I could prepare the boat for marina docking with ease as opposed to the ungraceful crawling around the deck I’ve had to do on some other approaches.  By the time we were secure at the dock we realized we were melting…

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutesAside from being a good spot to take a break, we’d decided to stop at Bilbao in order to see the Guggenheim museum. Back in the 90’s Bilbao was struggling with increased poverty and social economic problems due to the decline in mining and industry. Then along came the Guggenheim’s who wanted a museum presence in…

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutesJust as dawn was breaking on February 1st we slipped away from the dock in La Rochelle and set sail for our first port of call, Bilbao in Northern Spain. The forecast was for light winds on our nose so we anticipated motoring this first leg, all 30 plus hours of it.  We’d also been encouraged…