Summer 2016


As I’m writing this having finished the Croatia leg of our summer sailing, I can confidently say that the Krka waterfalls was my highlight. It was also great to be back in a river again. Emerald likes her rivers what with the many weeks we have spent up the Fal, 18 months […]

Skradin and the Krka Waterfalls


18th June: (A blog from back in time – trying to clear a backlog!) After filling up with diesel, it was mid morning before we were away from Vela Luka and a westerly wind had set in. It was a F4 as we motored away from the town and if […]

Sveti Klement, Split and Trogir


Vela Luka on the north end of Korcula island was our chosen bolthole for some strong southerly winds that were forecast to blow for Thursday into Friday. We knew we’d be on buoys for a few nights at 150kn a night but at least we’d be safe from the risk […]

Vela Luka and Korcula



11th June 2016: On our way from Cavtat to Mljet with a southerly F4 we had our first sail in Croatia, woo hoo! It was a bit rolly though and after 20 miles as the wind eased we had to give up, the wind angle and wind strength were not enough […]

Polače, Mljet



Otranto An overnight passage messes with our body clocks, especially when it’s just one night and we can’t get into a watch system rhythm, so we usually need a day of rest to recover. The harbour of Otranto was perfect for an afternoon nap – the sea was calm and a beautiful […]

Otranto and Brindisi



27th May to 1st June We are beginning to strongly dislike the Ionian Sea. Of the three crossings we have made, none can be described as having been enjoyable. The first was a dull slog where we only sailed a quarter of it, the second was beset with no wind […]

Ionian Sea Passage Making


We’re now in Italy having left Malta a week ago but as we liked the country so much we thought we’d write a  short summary of our favourite bits. We would definitely visit again if we happened to be passing, although our planned route back out of the Med won’t take us […]

Malta Summary


Mellieha Bay The lanscape of Mellieha Bay is very different from that of the south of Malta. Gone are the soft, yellow cliffs and gently sloping fields to be replaced by a much more rugged and craggy terrain. The bay is huge – which presented us with a dilemma – […]

Malta – Mellieha and Comino



Birzebbuga Could this be our new favourite anchorage? Well almost….. We had a mostly uneventful motor down the rocky coastline from Rinella Creek. The swell picked up as we rounded the south of the island and had us doing a nodding dog but the distance wasn’t too far before we […]

Malta – Birzebbuga


Emerald must have been saving up her breakages this winter. After the leaking rudder we have had problems with old petrol for the outboard, a perished outboard fuel line and worst of all…. a blocked loo! Just a few blogs ago I wrote how Colin had had his worst day […]

Malta – Rinella Creek


Thursday morning was mass exodus day from Marina di Ragusa – the first calm weather day since Saturday. We were in the first batch of departees at 6am when the marineros came on duty and could help us and others without those new-fangled bowthruster gizmos to turn in the narrow […]

Sicily to Malta