Archive for the 'Yachting' Category

Back in Cornwall

Friday, April 18th, 2008

After a very nice couple of months in Antibes and a few interviews I have now taken a new job on another yacht. It should work out that I will be able to spend a lot more time at home than on my previous boat and it will be good to get back to work after my time off.

I will also be in Cornwall for a few weeks this spring, giving a chance to catch up with friends and family, and of course enjoy a few pints of Cornish ale.

During my time in Antibes I had the chance to do quite a bit of mountain biking, mainly in the Valmasque Park above Antibes. There are some great trails there and I am looking forward to exploring further afield later in the summer.

yachttrails.com

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

The beta of the ‘online yachting community’ website Yachttrails.com has just gone online. It’s a great idea so please sign up and have a look.

A few photos from summer 2007

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

During summer 2007 Dream covered quite a few miles. Starting in Venice we cruised the Adriatic (Croatia and Montenegro), we then visited the South of France, Turkey, Greece, Montenegro & Croatia (again) and Italy.

I have put together a few photos from our travels which were taken by Nikki Simpson who is one of the stewardesses on Dream.

This is the Croatian town of Rovinj which we visited during one of our first trips of the summer in June.

After out first few trips in Croatia we headed around to the South of France and spent a month or so in the western Mediterranean before heading south to Corsica and the city of Bonifacio which is perched on the cliff overlooking the Straits which bear its name.

At the end of July we headed East to Turkey and Greece. Starting in Gocek, Turkey we cruised the South West of Turkey including the town of Marmaris (see right); before we headed through the Greek Islands.

After Greece we headed back to the Adriatic and for another two trips in Montenegro and Croatia. Montenegro is developing itself into a favourite tourist destination, especially for Russians and the beaches and resorts are a lot of fun.

In between we had a few days in Venice which is one of the most beautiful places in the Mediterranean. I have now been to Venice a number of times and it is still one of my favourites.

We had a chance to explore some more of the canals and back streets and found some more great shops, restaurants and bars.

It was September by the time we left Venice and there were some beautiful sunsets over St Marks square and the Campanile di San Marco.

San Remo & crossing the Atlantic

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

At the end of the summer season Dream headed up to San Remo for a week or two before crossing to the States. San Remo is a beautiful little town close to the Italian / French border, and of course it is also only around 40 miles from Antibes, where Vix and I are based now.

Whilst in San Remo some of the crew and I went mountain biking in the hills above the town. There are some world class trails there with the peaks rising to 1299 metres. We cheated a little and got a lift most of the way up but then rode some very technical downhill on the way back to sea level.

After leaving San Remo we headed south to Gibraltar for fuel (and fish and chips) and then on towards Ft lauderdale. Due to adverse weather we stopped in the Canary Islands for a day or two and then found our plans changed so set off from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria to St Maarten in the Caribbean. About four days out from St Maarten our schedule changed again and we turned northwest to Nassau in the Bahamas. We managed to get a little bit of fishing in whilst waiting for the high tide in Nassau and then it was a great relief to tie up in the Atlantis marina on Paradise island.

France, Monaco & Naples

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

With the summer starting to wind down, Dream finished up her trip through Croatia and Montenegro, then headed back around the southern tip of Italy and into the western Mediterranean (this is Dream in Hvar, Croatia).

We had a week or two before the next trip so I took the chance to fly up to France and see Vix. It happened to be whilst the Monaco Yacht Show was on, so we caught up with a lot of friends and ate far too much good food.

When I got back to Dream one of the crew had brought me an Apple iphone back from the States so I have been fiddling with that and getting it to work here in Europe.

Montenegro & Croatia

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

With the weather getting a little cooler but most of the ports and anchorages nice and quiet, we have spent the last few weeks cruising from the Corinth Canal up to Kotor in Montenegro (see left).

We had a few days to enjoy Montenegro before cruising up through Croatia to Venice, around the time of the Venice film festival.

The last week has been spent on the return trip including two days in Hvar, which is one of the nicer towns we’ve been to in Croatia.

Turkey and Greece

Monday, August 20th, 2007

Although we only spent a few days in Turkey we got to see some beautiful spots (and some of the hottest weather we’ve had in a while). Starting our trip in Gocek we visited Marmaris and Bodrum before heading to Santorini in Greece.

Our trip through Greece was also only a few days long but we saw the islands of Mykonos, Spetsai, Hydra and Poros before dropping off our guests in Athens. I then got the chance to drive Dream through the Corinth Canal (see photo) and we headed north again towards Croatia.

Heading east

Wednesday, August 1st, 2007

This photo of Bonifacio was taken by Jamil who is the deckhand on Dream. We spent a night in Bonifacio during a trip around Corsica at the end of July, before we headed east for the three day passage to Turkey.

Dream will be cruising the SW coast of Turkey and the Greek islands for a week or two before heading back to Croatia and the Adriatic.

Italy & back to France

Thursday, July 12th, 2007

The south of France has been hit by one Mistral after another this year and we have been dodging the worst of the bad weather whilst cruising up and down the Cote d’Azur. Dream also visited Santa Margherita, where Vix and I got married, it was a little overcast (see above) but it was lovely to be there again.

Dream recently spent a day or two anchored off Cap Ferrat (see left) where there are some of the most expensive properties in the world.

Vix popped back to the UK for a quick visit but is now back in Antibes and looking forward to starting her new yacht management job in Monaco at the end of the month.

Naples, UK, Antibes, Monaco & San Remo

Saturday, July 7th, 2007

Whilst travelling a fair bit, as you can see from the title of this post, it’s been hard to find a few minutes to take some photos and get them posted here.

After Cavtat Dream headed around the southern tip of Italy and up to Naples on the west coast. We had a few days there so I had the chance to pop home for a very quick visit (about 36 hours, so sorry for not catching up with everyone), before flying down to France to see Vix who is living in Antibes.

Back on Dream we then cruised our way up to the Cote d’Azur and picked up guests in Monaco for a ten day trip. As I write this we are in San Remo, Italy tied up next to Mirabella V (above), the worlds largest sloop. That mast is 90m / 292ft high!