Canary Islands to Cabo Verde – Fish, sunshine and warm water!

Post author:Gavin
Post published:December 16, 2010
Post category:Atlantic Cabo Verde Fishing Travel

Tuesday, 16th December 2010 - most things were done, the weather window looked OK for at least 4 days and it was time to set sail for the 900 or so miles from Las Palmas to Mindelo in Cabo verde. A few last minute things, we got the scuba diving compressor serviced, printed up some promotional materials for the best electronic chart swapping network in the world - www.chartswap.net and finally stopped at the local Fuel dock for some cheap diesel, water and a couple of ice…

Two weeks in Morocco, new friends & fun times in the Canary Islands

Post author:Gavin
Post published:November 24, 2010
Post category:Atlantic Cabo Verde Fishing Morocco Spain Travel

Morocco is a colourful land of contrasts - be it the deep blue Atlantic ocean meeting the red dry desert, the proud Berber culture mixing with westernised ideals, the traditional Muslim people living their lives next door to Christians and less adhering Muslims, the extremely rich and the extremely poor, the list goes on... It seems that most cities perpetuate this contrast by having an old or often ancient side to the city as well as a new, more modern city. MOROCCO - 17th to 30th October…

Sailing with the Girl with the dragon Tattoo

Post author:Gavin
Post published:October 22, 2010
Post category:Atlantic Fishing Morocco Spain

Where were we.... Italy. It seems like a lifetime ago already as i write this from the capital of Morocco. There's a surprisingly pleasant wailing (a muslim call to prayer) in the mosque tower near the marina adding colour to my already colourful evening. Earlier, John from Solstice next door dropped off half a freshly caught Mahi Mahi for me for dinner, I cooked it up and have washed it down with plenty of Vino and am not allowed to get up from the nav station until…

Living la dolce vita – a slow sail south from Rome.

Post author:Gavin
Post published:September 27, 2010
Post category:Family Italy Sailing Travel

After a memorable week of Villas, lakes and family fun in lake Como - it was equally great to be back by the seaside again and back on Squander. To make things even better mum & dad were staying with me onboard in Rome for a few days and then driving down to Vietri sul mare to visit their friends where they would again jump onboard for a week. Back on Squander! Aaron, an old mate from Sydney, has been living in Rome for the past 4…

A family Reunion in Lake Como

Post author:Gavin
Post published:September 18, 2010
Post category:Budget airlines Family Italy

Nothing like a good wedding to bring the family together - having reentered the realms of family living slowly by first spending a few days with Agatha & JB, the three of us boarded an EasyJet flight from Rome to Milan where Mum and Dad were waiting for us with open arms. A great reunion and an exciting time for all as we shared countless stories - Mum & Dad had spent 3 weeks in Poland and driven from Poland, through Germany, France, Switzerland and onto Italy…

Sailing to Rome via Bonifacio Strait

Post author:Gavin
Post published:September 18, 2010
Post category:Italy Sailing Travel

Goodbye Ibiza... we woke up later then planned in Cala Llonga and pointed Squander North East, aiming at northern Sardegna (Sardinia) via Mallorca. We had a tight weather window that would allow us to get to Mallorca in one day where we would hide from the bad weather that was forecast to hit the area the following evening. From there we would pick the next good weather window, scrape past Menorca and continue sailing through the night onto Sardegna. We've been watching the storms that roll down…

Three men and a lady – heading for Ibiza!

Post author:Gavin
Post published:July 31, 2010
Post category:Travel

It was 6:00pm, on post world cup final Monday when we finally stirred on Squander and started thinking about moving on from Cadiz... but it was all too hard and so we decided to stay one more night. The next day we got up, did a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up and left Puerto de America marina on our way south towards the Med... we had a great sail and by sunset were faced with either pulling up at Barbate for the night or…

Lagos, Villamoura, Portimao & football fever in Cadiz!

Post author:Gavin
Post published:July 17, 2010
Post category:Atlantic Portugal Sailing Spain

After a somewhat last minute departure from Terceira in the Azores, we had a brilliant run all the way to Portugal and mainland Europe. We weren't planning on leaving so soon but were forced to make a decision as Dmitry and Luis had to be back in Europe by the beginning of July and the Azores high pressure system which kills all wind was looking like settling in for a week or so - the decision had to be made - we go now or not for…

The Azores – a tale of two cities, great people & Festas.

Post author:Gavin
Post published:June 28, 2010
Post category:Atlantic Sailing Travel

After 2 short weeks at sea, we arrived in the Port of Horta in the Azores refreshed, slightly smelly and very thirsty - that kind of well earned thirst that used to be so well depicted in the old VB (Victoria Bitter) commercials in Australia... you know the ones. You can get it diggin', You can get it riggin', Or straining 'till you thought you'd burst. You've sure got a thirst.... A hard-earned thirst needs a big cold beer, and the best cold beer is Vic -…

Crossing the Pond – Bermuda to Azores (Video Blog)

Post author:Gavin
Post published:June 12, 2010
Post category:Travel

10 June 2010 - three of us (Dmitrij, Simon & Gavin) arrived in the Azores, landing in the small island of Faial in the port of Horta. We have so far crossed approximately three quarters of the Atlantic from Florida to the Azores, via the Bahamas and Bermuda. Crossing the Northern Atlantic was always going to be a challenge - the unpredictable and ever changing weather patterns, the bitterly cold temperatures that keep you awake on watch at 3:00 am , the occasional 12 hours of driving…