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SAILING THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
The unique experience of crossing such a busy Sea, the preparation, routes and challenges...
In between the South of Europe and the North of Africa, so much to explore.
Where have we been?
Sailing from Gibraltar to Lisbon, Portugal - Aka Orcas Lane!
Moment of panic, were they Orcas or just dolphins? Two more sightings with the binoculars confirmed they were Orcas coming in our direction
Ana
May 18, 2022
Sailing West along the coastline of Southern Europe - France to Gibraltar
Eyes glued on the water, Ella going crazy and there it was a huge whale surfacing 50-100 meters to our starboard!
Ana
May 12, 2022
Crossing the Bonifacio Strait and making way to mainland France
We took a sneaky short cut exiting the Ajaccio gulf by passing in between the Iles Sanguinaires (the Bloodthirsty islands, interesting name)
Ana
Apr 23, 2022
Crossing the Tyrrhenian
The boom jumped further to port side with a slam and stayed in that position. The German Mainsheet system looked weird but it was not broken
Ana
Apr 16, 2022
Crossing the Messina Strait
At this point we experienced 3 knots of current against us. Running the engine at 2000RPMs we were only doing slightly above 3knots of speed
Ana
Apr 15, 2022
Crossing the Ionian
Think it’s safe to say that at this point we both felt this was more than we had bargain for, the winds were way stronger than forecasted
Ana
Apr 7, 2022
Crossing the Aegean
I woke up due to the rolling swell and feeling really cold. John was furling the Jib, the winds had just picked up that extra notch
Ana
Apr 2, 2022
2020 Fuel, engine hours & nautical miles summary
So what do we have to say about our favourite taboo subject, that no one really wants to discuss, in the year of 2020? Seems like...
Sailing The Dream
Sep 16, 2021
2020 Budget
The time spent in lockdowns and repairs under insurance in cheap or affordable countries allowed us to keep the budget controlled.
Sailing The Dream
Mar 29, 2021
Italy - Costituto in arrival per il naviglio da diporto (ships arrival declaration/transit log)
Not much can be found online regarding the real need of having this document while sailing in Italian waters or the details on how to get it
Sailing The Dream
Feb 4, 2021
Greece, Itea - checking in
This had been the easiest check-in in Greece so far and we had finally managed to get on the Transit Log!
Sailing The Dream
Nov 18, 2020
Sailing through two Engineering marvels in Greece
As we were still passing over the submerged bridge the warning siren for the raise of the bridge sounded and we could already hear the...
Ana
Nov 13, 2020
2020-10-23>25 Syracuse, Sicily, Italy > Zakynthos, Greece
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Siracusa, Sicily, Italy to Zakynthos, Greece 276.4 nautical miles in 50 hours
Sailing The Dream
Nov 5, 2020
2020-10-18 Valletta, Malta > Portopalo, Sicily, Italy
After trying to sail under full sails we heard a loud grinding noise that seemed to come from under the emergency tiller cap (rudder top)
Sailing The Dream
Oct 19, 2020
Malta, Valletta - checking in and out
I will stamp you both on the crew list (not on the passport - so the time spent in Malta doesn't count for the Schengen time) but be sure to
Sailing The Dream
Sep 30, 2020
Another long haul across the Eastern Mediterranean
With visas expiring dates approaching, the Covid19 restrictions and including the fact that the Greek borders were closed to all vessels...
Ana
Sep 20, 2020
Turkey, Marmaris - checking in and out
We arrived quite late in the night and after a quick realisation that we couldn’t identify the customs dock in the middle of all the lights
Sailing The Dream
Sep 18, 2020
2020-06-28>2020-07-05 Hammamet, Tunisia > Marmaris, Turkey
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Hammamet, Tunisia to Marmaris, Turkey 887 nautical miles in 183h25 hours
Sailing The Dream
Jul 18, 2020
A Mad-Dash accross the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia - Turkey non-stop
After having stayed in Hammamet many months more than we had planned for due to the collision we suffered while in the Marina back in...
Ana
Jul 16, 2020
The Dream smashed!
My marina nightmare just became true and to make matters worse I was all alone on the yacht, John was on his way to Australia getting ready
Ana
Jan 15, 2020
2019 Budget
On our third year sailing and second year in the Mediterranean Sea, we kept the 2017 and 2018 target of a 2000€ monthly budget for the three
Sailing The Dream
Jan 10, 2020
2019 Fuel, engine hours & nautical miles summary
One year later the fuel consumption is still a taboo subject, no one really wants to discuss it.
Sailing The Dream
Dec 27, 2019
Wrap up of Season 3 - Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Well, we can say we had a season full of adventure from big storms at anchor to big fish at the back of the boat. I can say that the 2019 se
John
Dec 9, 2019
Last crossing of season 2019 - an eventful passage!
Now that it has been a bit over a month since the passages that brought us to another winter in Tunisia it’s time to think about the events
Ana
Dec 2, 2019
Greece, Preveza - checking in and out
The first time we arrived in Greece we chose Preveza on the west coast as our port of entry and then again as our port of exit on our...
Sailing The Dream
Nov 30, 2019
2019-10-19>21 Siracusa, Sicily, Italy > Hammamet, Tunisia
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Siracusa, Sicily, Italy to Hammamet, Tunisia
258.3 nautical miles in 43 hours
Sailing The Dream
Nov 17, 2019
2019-10-18&19 Rocella Ionica, Italy > Siracusa, Sicily, Italy
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Rocella Ionica, Italy to Siracusa, Sicily, Italy
96.6 nautical miles in 16 hours
Sailing The Dream
Nov 11, 2019
2019-10-14>16 Preveza, Greece > Rocella Ionica, Italy
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Preveza, Greece to Rocella Ionica, Italy
266.8 nautical miles in 46 hours
Sailing The Dream
Nov 9, 2019
A return to Greek waters and getting hit by two boats
We ran to the bow to grab some fenders and in panic watched the catamaran align itself perfectly with our bow, less than a meter between the
Ana
Nov 5, 2019
Greece, Corfu - checking out and back in
This was our first attempt on getting "stamped" in the Transit Log, but unfortunately, things didn't go as smoothly as we had expected.
Sailing The Dream
Oct 14, 2019
2019-08-29&30 Brindisi, Italy > N. Othonoi, Greece
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Brindisi, Italy to N. Othonoi, Greece
87 nautical miles in 18 hours
Sailing The Dream
Sep 11, 2019
2019-08-21&22 Tivat, Montenegro > Brindisi, Italy
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Tivat, Montenegro to Brindisi, Italy
123 nautical miles in 26.25 hours
Sailing The Dream
Sep 9, 2019
Italy, Brindisi - checking in
We went to this door on the side of the building, entered the room and found a small lobby with one armoured door on each side and an empty
Sailing The Dream
Aug 31, 2019
Montenegro, Zelenica - checking in
The place in itself was a bit eerie, feeling very much like an abandoned dock next to a vacant parking lot.
Sailing The Dream
Aug 30, 2019
60 days in Croatia, 40 free anchorages
The moment we decided that Croatia was our big destination for the 2019 season a cloud of concern formed in the back of our minds. Two aspec
Sailing The Dream
Aug 25, 2019
The Mighty Sirocco
there was only time to grab the wheel as a violent gust of 54 knots hit us from a completely unexpected direction, completely the opposite d
Ana
Aug 11, 2019
The powerful Bora winds
The winds went from a very light breeze on less than 10 knots to 40 knots, The Dream was caught by the wind sideways and dragged across the
Ana
Jul 21, 2019
Croatia, Umag - checking out and back in
Lots of fenders out, I prepared for the moment to jump and cleat the stern while already holding a super long line to cleat the bow
Sailing The Dream
Jul 18, 2019
Italy, Trieste- checking in and out
And then he started talking in Italian at the speed of light with Johns brother in law and laughing lots.
Sailing The Dream
Jul 10, 2019
Sailing to the end of the Adriatic Sea
In less than two weeks we crossed the country from South to North, roughly 300 nautical miles and were arriving Trieste Italy, finding ancho
Ana
Jul 7, 2019
First summer storm of the season
Our regular forecast app indicated winds of 25 knots for the afternoon and intense thunderstorms while the European Weather Bureau painted a
Ana
Jun 23, 2019
Adriatic Sea bound
After spending a month and a half in the Greek waters of the Ionian Sea and enjoying the life of being back at anchor despite the mostly clo
Ana
Jun 21, 2019
Montenegro, Tivat - Check-out and duty-free fuel
The reason to check out of Montenegro in Tivat and not in Zelenika was very simple and can be resumed to one thing only: duty-free fuel.
Sailing The Dream
Jun 17, 2019
Montenegro, Bar - checking in
We arrived at Bar, Montenegro's first Port of entry when coming from Albania, just before lunchtime. We packed our sails, prepared the f
Sailing The Dream
Jun 16, 2019
Croatia, Cavtat - check-in
Immigration police were super nice and spoke great English, but as they finished taking care of the passports and were explaining to me wher
Sailing The Dream
Jun 16, 2019
2019-06-03&04 Sarandë, Albania > Bar, Montenegro
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Sarande, Albania to Bar, Montenegro
157 nautical miles in 31.30 hours
Sailing The Dream
Jun 16, 2019
2019-05-29 Corfu, Kérkira, Greece > Sarandë, Albania
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Corfu, Grece to Sarande, Albania
15 nautical miles in 3 hours
Sailing The Dream
Jun 16, 2019
Hit by a Greek 70ft tour boat
We just couldn’t believe we had just been hit by another boat while at anchor, a boat steered by a “professional captain” in a protected anc
Ana
Jun 16, 2019
First time crossing a floating bridge
That meant that the channel was quite narrow and that the depths immediately to the side of the markets were in several places, not enough f
Ana
Jun 16, 2019
Sailing into the storm, a passage to Greece
In the early morning it struck, the thunderstorm from hell with lightening all around us striking within just a mile or so away, the rain tu
Ana
Jun 12, 2019
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