The standing mast route leads through a system of canals in the Netherlands that are acccessible for sailboats with a standing mast. We entered the channels of the Netherlands in Vlissingen. We got to Vlissingen late at night and the current was pushing us away from our destination. It seemed like the sea didn’t want […]
Before we arrived to Oostende, we contacted Kris, a sailor-friend of ours who grew up there. He got us into contact with the nicest Marina in town which is the Royal North Sea Yacht Club. The harbour-master is really nice and welcoming and the Marina is great. We went to discover the streets of Oostende […]
We had heard a lot about the English Channel and while looking forward to this legendary stretch of sailable water we were also a bit scared of unexpected obstacles like strong currents or armadas of big ships. To make sure we didn’t make any mistakes, we decided to go through the seven thinking steps with […]
After a day of about 7 different train-rides Bernie’s Mom Isolde arrived in Pontrieux and joined the Naïma-crew. She brought us some really nice T-Shirts with the letters „I hiked the Atlantic“ written on them and fed her son with his favourite food: Mohnklösse! We took advantage of the few days that promised good weather […]
Brittany is a place that has so much to offer: crude landscapes – shaped by the tidal coming and going of the sea, rough nature and rock-formations that are curved by the ceaseless flow of water and winds. Special to Brittany are also its beautiful rivers that you can sail – if you calculate the […]
When Mani and Elena announced that they would come to visit us, we knew that some action-filled and fun days were ahead of us. We already share many sailing-memories with Mani who learned sailing with us on the lake of Zurich, joined us for some legendary Greece- and Croatia-cruising and shoveled an impressive amount of […]
The same day my parents left, my sister Martina and her husband Michi joined us aboard Naïma. A bit nervous, because we hadn’t seen them for 1 ½ years, we went to pick them up at the bus-station in Audierne and greeted them with fresh oysters on our boat. Although we hadn’t seen eachother for […]
The most wonderful thing about being closer to home is that people can easily come and visit. Our strategy was the following: We sailed directly from the Azores to Britanny, France to spend a whole month there, with an open invitation for friends and family to join us. My parents, Ruth and Reini, came to […]
What a great choice had we made! Port Tudy on Île de Groix is a cute little port, quite popular with French tourists. The port has an inner and an outer part. The outer part is open to the sea so all boats go up and down with the tides. The inner part has a […]
We felt at home in our little floating village, the small marina in Sao Jorge, where we knew almost all our neighbors. Yet, as we had to depart soon, we had already started to provision for our last Atlantic crossing. Fruit and vegetables were of much better quality now than what we had previously found […]
The 22 nm sail to Velas on the island Sao Jorge was quick even in light winds. The marina is small and a bit narrow to enter, but there are always helping hands and the atmosphere is great. Jose, the harbor master, is very welcoming and helpful. We knew some boats from Horta and even […]
In the midst of the Atlantic, there is a little green paradise called the Azores. It felt so good to arrive here. After 24 days of blue blue blue and shaky shaky shaky we spot the volcano of Pico on the horizon. Even from the distance we see what a lush green place this is. […]
We arrived in Horta on the Azores safe and sound on the 27th of June after 24 days at sea. The second part of our trip back from the Caribbean was definitely more interesting weather-wise. Every day we would look at the weather files and find a whole new picture. I guess the biggest surprise […]
We are under way since 11 days now and have had a very quiet journey so far. When we left St. Maarten on the 3rd of June, there were two other sailing boats leaving on the same day. One of them is a young single-handed sailor (he has two hands but he sails alone) with […]
Boat work is exhausting! And especially with an ocean crossing coming up, you want everything to be in order and want to do a thorough job, so it’s even more exhausting. We spent three weeks in St. Martin, getting Naïma ready for the passage to the Azores. We worked like crazy from morning to evening […]
Imagine Barbuda like a very flat island with a beautiful lagoon in the middle, crystal clear water and kilometers of white sandy beaches. We decided that even though it was getting late and we still had some boat work to be done, we definitely didn’t want to skip this beautiful island. We arrived after a […]
When we arrived in Antigua, the Antigua sailing week had just started. This event brings together all the speedy sailors in the Caribbean for an unforgettable week of Regatta-sailing. As we don’t really consider ourselves to be fast sailors, we didn’t intend to take part in the Regatta – until later on. We mingled with […]
Our friends Ogi and Elena came to visit us. We already conquered the seas of Greece and Croatia with them and now it was time for a Caribbean revival. After some minor logistical challenges (like figuring out where and when to meet), we met on the French islands „Iles Saintes“ just North of Dominica. There, […]