Hope's and Howard's Sailing Adventures

The three-day passage from Porto Palo, Sicily to Chania, Crete ended up being benign. We had time on our side which meant we could take it fairly slowly a lot of the time in the light northerly winds.  However, the old iron genny ended up being used more than we would have liked during a 23-hour stretch of practically no wind at all in the middle.  We each took 3-hour.. Read More

A couple of days in Nynashamn saw us catching up on laundry, borrowing W&K’s bikes so we could explore a little of the coast near the town, and then taking the commuter train to Stockholm and back. There is so much to see in Stockholm but we knew the Vasa museum was a must see so that was where we headed first. The Vasa was a war ship commissioned by.. Read More

Our crossing of The Gulf of Bothnia from Finland to Sweden took into account the forecast of light, predominantly westerly, winds so we chose an anchorage bearing SW, once clear of the islands south of Marihamn.  Although we did experience some current in places, the sea was flat and Melodrama happily slipped along on a close reach until the wind completely died shortly before entering the many rocks and islets.. Read More

If you have been following our track, you may be wondering how we managed to hop from Sicily to Finland so quickly.  Having secured Mazu in Ragusa, and after three bus trips, two plane rides and a short train journey we arrived at HMVK Marina, close to the center of Helsinki, where we joined William and Karen onboard their beautiful, shiny Dehler 38, Melodrama.  We felt especially honored to find.. Read More

Siracusa was definitely worth exploring more, with its history almost covering three millennia. Most recently during the allied sea and air invasion in July 1943, its harbor was a major strategic target for Montgomery. Patton went after Licata. Siracusa was founded by the Greeks around 733 BC and was the birthplace and home of Archimedes.  Apparently Da Vinci plagiarized some of Archimedes ideas. There is a nice museum with working.. Read More

The Strait of Messina separates Sicily from the toe of Italy.  It is narrower at the northern end (barely 1.5 nm) and wider at the southern end (about 7 nm).  It also separates the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Ionian Sea and has a reputation, dating back millennia for fearsome whirlpools and winds whistling down the mountains that border it (e.g. Scilla and Charybdis in The Odyssey).  Interestingly, the eddies in.. Read More

It seems the Mediterranean summer weather pattern of northeasterly winds is settling in, as we experienced during our passage from Sardinia to the Aeolian Islands off the north coast of Sicily.  Unfortunately the wind was a bit on the light side, especially as we were sailing downwind on a SE-erly course so, while we enjoyed some leisurely downwind sailing, yet again, the engine assisted us more than we would have.. Read More

After being in a marina in Castelsardo our next stop, after about 5 hours of mainly motor-sailing was Porto Pozzo, where we picked up a mooring ball (€25/night). PP is on a long rocky inlet, with the small town at the southern end.  We had a very pleasant meal in an up-market restaurant overlooking the bay the first night of our two-day stay there. Our next port of call was.. Read More

The 35-hour passage from Menorca to northern Sardinia was benign, perhaps a little too benign in fact because we ended up using the engine somewhat more than we wanted …. for almost 21 of those hours.  Better that way than too much, I suppose.  It was a moonless night so the stars were shining brightly but the phosphorescence was lovely, maybe fewer but larger bursts of light than we have.. Read More